Don’t let the flavors of Starbucks’ new Frappuccino Lite Coffee Drinks excite you. Creamy Vanilla Gelato, Double Chocolate Gelato, and Sea Salt Caramel Gelato sound enticing, don’t they? Adding “gelato” will probably force your eyes to do a double take if you pass them on the store shelf. But all it does is create a facade that these coffee drinks have something special about their flavors. I’m here to tell you that they don’t.
What they do have is around half the calories of their non-lite Frappuccino counterparts. All three varieties have 100 calories per bottle and no added sugars. Here’s how the press release describes the gelato-inspired flavors:
- The Sea Salt Caramel Gelato offers a creamy texture with a luscious caramel taste, complemented by subtle notes of sea salt.
- The Creamy Vanilla Gelato features a smooth and silky texture with a robust vanilla flavor.
- The Double Chocolate Gelato boasts a deep, velvety chocolate flavor with a smooth and creamy texture.
Sounds great, right? Well, I hate to break it to you, but these pretty much taste like the Vanilla, Mocha, and Caramel varieties of the regular bottled Starbucks Frappuccinos, except not as sweet or flavorful. As someone familiar with those glass-bottled Frappuccino drinks since they were my gateway drug to other coffee drinks, my taste buds know those flavors well, and I have to say that these have 75 percent of the flavor and sweetness of those. Also, the artificial sweeteners used aren’t noticeable. So I’m happy to say these coffee drinks do “lite” well.
If I have one issue, it’s the same minor one I have with the original Frappuccino coffee drinks, and that’s not having the caffeine content printed anywhere on the bottle. I had to go to the PepsiCo beverage website to look it up. Anyhoo, Double Chocolate has 40 milligrams, Sea Salt Caramel has 60 milligrams, and Vanilla has 55 milligrams.
Honestly, I rarely pick up a bottled Starbucks Frappuccino nowadays because I crave more caffeine than they offer. But I’m sure I’d pick up a Frappuccino Lite over a regular version if I’m desperate for a fix. They taste almost as good as the non-lite versions, and they accomplish that with half the calories and one-third of the sugar.
Purchased Price: $3.29 each
Size: 9.5 fl oz bottles
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10 (all)
Nutrition Facts: Double Chocolate – 100 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 135 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein, and 40 milligrams of caffeine. Sea Salt Caramel – 100 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein, and 60 milligrams of caffeine. Vanilla – 100 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein, and 55 milligrams of caffeine.
I agree with everything said here except Most people including me are NOT Expecting these drinks to taste like gelato mixed with coffee. They probably called theme “Gelato” to separate these from the full sugar Versions. I and Pretty much everyone else expect these drinks to taste Exactly like the Full Sugar Versions and I personally think they have done an Amazing job at recreating the Flavor Of the Full Sugar Frappuccino without All the Sugar!!! My personal Rating is 9/10 for Every Single Lite Flavor!!!! 😀
I enjoy the taste except for this lump of. I don’t know if it’s fat if it’s creamer or what it is, but it’s a ball of creamy and greasy combination that when I first drink it and it went in my mouth about gagged. I’m sure it’s just creamer that’s clumped in there but it’s really gross looking and when you shake it up there it goes into small tiny pieces but it’s still there
They also trick people with the smaller package size. It isn’t really too much lower in calories when comparing the calories/sugar per ounce.
I’m seeing more and more comments where posters are confusing their opinions with facts, and anyone who disagrees with them are just wrong and/or stupid.
C’mon, people… You can do better.
The reason I am here is that I was looking for the caffeine content which I also noticed is not included anywhere on the labels. Thank you for doing the hard work and posting that information.