As reported in the Brooklyn Paper, Starbucks has introduced a brand new non-caffeinated drink: The Brooklyn
Manhattan has its eponymous bourbon and vermouth. And Brooklyn now has its … ice milk and caramel syrup?
Apparently, a Starbucks vanilla bean frappuccino — with a caramel swirl! — will be our borough’s star in the culinary firmament.
Created by a Starbucks district manager after noticing high school girls customizing the traditional vanilla bean frappuccino, “The Brooklyn” consists of nothing more than the ubiquitous chain’s existing drink, enhanced with a bit more sugar.
A Starbucks on Court Street broke the “news” this week by putting out an A-frame sign heralding, “The new all time favorite drink…the Brooklyn.”
Oh, and did we mention that it’s 40 more cents ($4.90 for a venti!) — and 20 more calories (620, but who’s counting?) — than the standard frappuccino.
The whole thing may feel like a scam — or a way for Starbucks bean counters to stave off the vanilla bean frappuccino blues — but hours after the sign was deployed outside that Court Street Starbucks, customers were genuinely abuzz (and there’s no caffeine in a “Brooklyn,” either!).
Actually, Brooklyn has its own classic cocktail (as do the Bronx and Queens), and it is delicious: rye, dry vermouth, maraschino, and amer picon. Rotten ol’ Starbucks, trying to destroy history…