I Tried Starbucks’ New Lavender Drinks for Spring 2024

Everything is coming up lavender on Starbucks’ spring menu for 2024. Four new highly-anticipated drinks launched on March 8, all featuring lavender as the main ingredient. I picked up the drinks on the day they launched to see if they lived up to the expectations. Read on for my taste test and find out if they’re worth ordering.

Taste Test

Lavender Creme Frappuccino – $6.25

The Lavender Creme Frappuccino is similar to Starbucks’ other frappuccinos — it’s creamy and thick, similar to a milkshake but a little more icy. It’s made with whole milk, three scoops of lavender powder, two pumps of vanilla syrup, ice, and whipped cream.

This was my favorite out of all the Starbucks spring menu drinks, but I still wasn’t a big fan. I could taste the lavender, which was a bit perfumey, but the vanilla flavor mellowed it out and made the drink more enjoyable.

This drink doesn’t have caffeine, so if you’re looking for an energy boost, look at one of the other Starbucks lavender drinks.

Iced Lavender Oatmilk Matcha – $5.95

Let me start with this disclaimer: I strongly dislike the taste of matcha. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by the combination of matcha and lavender in the Iced Lavender Oatmilk Matcha.

The drink comes with oat milk, three scoops of matcha powder, and lavender cream cold foam. It had a slightly seaweed-y taste, but that might have been the matcha, which I’m not used to drinking.

If you enjoy matcha, you might like this drink. The texture was nice and creamy, especially with the cold foam on top. Since matcha is such a strong flavor, it played well with the lavender, which was more of a background flavor here.

Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte – $5.75

The Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte is made with two shots of Blonde espresso, three scoops of lavender powder, and oat milk.

I disliked this drink — I couldn’t taste much espresso, and it had a sour, soapy taste. The aftertaste of lavender was fairly pleasant, but the flavor otherwise was perfumey and just tasted off.

I’ve always thought that Starbucks’ oat milk is overpowering and takes over the flavor of whatever drink it’s in. The Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte definitely bolsters my theory. If I had to order this again, I’d get it with regular or almond milk.

Lavender Oatmilk Latte – $5.65

Starbucks’ new Lavender Oatmilk Latte is made with steamed oat milk, two shots of Blonde espresso, and three scoops of lavender powder. This didn’t have much lavender flavor — or much of any flavor at all besides oat milk.

This is another drink that’s fallen victim to overpowering oat milk. I felt like I was drinking hot milk with the slightest tinge of perfume.

Grab or Pass?

Unfortunately, all four of Starbucks’ new spring drinks got a hard pass from me this year. They managed to either taste like perfume, warm milk, or a mixture of perfume and milk. That’s not really what I crave in the morning (or any other time of day).

If I had to recommend any of these, I’d say the Lavender Creme Frappuccino is the best to try. Since it has a nice texture, it’s “almost” enjoyable. And, like I said, I hate matcha, but if you enjoy the flavor, you might end up loving the Iced Lavender Oatmilk Matcha. For now, I’ll stick to literally anything else on the menu.