Review: Starbucks' Fourth Of July Firework Frappuccino Is A Patriotic Fizzle Of Flavor

While cold weather conjures up a need for warm coffee brews, when the weather turns sunnier and leads into summer, cooler heads must prevail with chill drinks to match. The permanent Starbucks menu has all the seasons covered. All the same, the company also likes to tease its customers and curious onlookers with thirst quenchers that arrive as limited time offers.

This summer is no exception, with the caffeinated chain dropping early summer menu info back in April. Just this season's beverages were rolling into stores this May, news let slip of a quartet of Frappuccinos to follow in July. Three of these new fraps have names that spell out the flavors that lie within: Caramel Mocha Strato Frappuccino, Strawberry Matcha Strato Frappuccino, and Brown Sugar Strato Frappuccino. The fourth — a new Firework Frappuccino — seems pegged for a particular festive federal holiday. But, with a moniker like that, there leaves a little more to the imagination as to what it actually tastes like.

Double-F named things sound pleasant to the ear, and have proved success in all kinds of mediums, from the Foo Fighters to the Family Feud, Final Fantasy, the Fantastic Four, The Fast & Furious, and even the good old fast-forward button, which has saved us all a lot of time in life. We wanted to know, will the Firework Frappuccino be the latest and greatest FF, or is this a drink you should just fast-forward straight through until the next round of cool drinks appear in the dawn's early light? Tasting Table took a few straw pulls to find out wether or not you should place your vote on this bevvie.

Recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

The name and concept of the Frappuccino came thanks to the fine folks at Coffee Connection. That company was acquired by Starbucks, who ditched its slushy drink, but kept the catchy name and tinkered with a better blended beverage. Starbucks launched its take on the Frappuccino in 1995 with coffee and mocha options, and in the ensuing three decades, delivered many more refreshing flavors.

The summer of 2025, sees Starbucks introduce four special fraps to stores. The first one out of the gate is the Firework Frappuccino. The Firework Frappuccino is a great mix of fruit flavors, accented with a little of tropics. It consists of Starbucks Summer-Berry Refresher blended with coconut milk and poured over raspberry-flavored pearls. It's then topped with strawberry purée and vanilla sweet cream cold foam.

In a statement, Amanda Conaway, Product Manager of Starbucks, says "This is a summer vacation in a cup. From the popping pearls to the creamy vanilla sweet cream, it's a vibrant, textured beverage inspired by the sights and sounds of summer."

The Firework Frappuccino is a limited time offering beverage, available at participating nationwide locations of Starbucks starting July 1. It will remain on menus, while supplies last, through July 7. After that date, it will be removed from menus, and who knows if or when it will return again.

Like all Frappuccinos made at Starbucks, the Firework one is made fresh in house, and can be ordered anytime Starbucks is open for business. It is available in three sizes — the 12-ounce Tall, the 16-ounce Grande, and the 24-ounce Venti. While there are standard elements that come with the beverage that cannot be customized, such as the coconut-milk base and the flavor of the cold foam itself, customers can customize the vanilla sweet cream cold foam to be non-dairy if preferred. Prices for the drinks and add-ons vary per location, but the starting suggested retail prices ads $5.45 for a Tall, $5.95 for a Grande and $6.45 for a Venti.

The drink can be ordered at Starbucks in-store at the counter, or at the drive-thru where available. It can also be ordered in advance for drink-in or carry out using Starbucks' app and website.

Starbucks' Firework Frappuccino is made up of many ingredients, and highlights include: ice, white grape juice concentrate, spirulina concentrate, a vegetable juice concentrate that consists of sweet potato and carrot, green coffee extract for flavor, carrageenan, stevia extract, coconutmilk, cane sugar, and 2 percent or less of coconut water concentrate, sea salt, crème frappuccino syrup, strawberry purée sauce, raspberry pearls, vanilla sweet cream cold foam, milk, and vanilla syrup.

A Tall Firework Frappuccino contains 280 calories, 49 carbohydrates and 47g of sugar. A full list of nutritional facts, ingredients and allergens for can be found on starbucks.com, on menu boards in stores, and in the Starbucks app.

On a super-hot June day, I stepped into a Manhattan location of Starbucks for a taste test of the new Firework Frappuccino drink. It was judged, ultimately, by the following criteria: flavor, texture, appearance, value, refreshment, and the likelihood I would order it again.

The Firework Frappuccino was quite the colorful sight. By appearance alone, it served its patriotic duty, displaying some variants of reds, a bright white foamed top, and a tall midsection of blue, although definitely not the familiar old glory variant emblazoned on U.S. flags. The blue was actually kind of off-putting, a sort of pale blue-raspberry looking slush, with a red algae floating at its top, and orbital pearls hanging around at the bottom.

I dipped my straw part way through the foamy top to experience it by itself. It tasted like a fluffier version of Cool Whip. I dipped my straw further down, where I met up with the main liquid base, which tasted like coconut-milk, and a hint of blueberry. Loose fragments of strawberry purée made cameo appearances, and a dash of fun was added, texturally, when one of the chain's boba-like pearls shot up through the straw like a mini cannonball. When the pearl popped, a splash of raspberry coated my mouth, registering the most dominant flavor the drink had to offer.

As I pressed on with further sips, the elements of the drink started to blend in together more, and the combination of flavors resulted in what I can best describe as a sugary, overly sweetened concoction that tastes like melted Bomb Pop popsicle. That alone nailed the intended "Firecracker" flavoring, but with an almost too fluid body, it didn't really come through with the expected more icy frozen aspects of a standard Frappuccino.

I am always down for celebrating the 4th of July, in both body and spirit and body, especially the former by way of delicious culinary delights. The holiday is a true kickoff to summer, and my palms are already ready to have a Hebrew National hot dog in one hand and a DogFish IPA beer in the other. The hot weather during this timeframe necessitates constant cool and sweet relief, and the baristas at Starbucks will have many beverages to dispense to meet the moment. While the Firework Frappuccino is certainly a well-intentioned, spirited, and cooling drink, I am not sure this is the drink to meet this moment.

The Firework Frappuccino reminded me too much of the Summer Skies Drink, which debuted last summer and returned this one. It had a similar look with its murky blue hue, and a taste that reminded me of a super sweet berry flavor of Kool-Aid. Ultimately that beverage wasn't my cup of tea, and this year's red, white and mainly blue brew, wasn't either. While the Firework Frappuccino is a caffeinated drink intended for adults, with its melted popsicle taste, it seemed a better bet for the kiddos set.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a kid at heart, and when I first heard the name of this drink, I thought for sure it would have some snap or crackle to it by way of Pop Rocks. It turned out to have no pop, did not rock, and seemed to be missing any kind of explosive element to make it a winner. Maybe Starbucks is saving those types of bombastic theatrics for 2026, when the United States will be celebrating its semiquincentennial.