Starbucks Heard Your Complaints — This Fruity Syrup Is Back For Good

Starbucks could be accused of many wrongs, but never minimalism. Hot on the cold-foam tail of its new Filipino-inspired coconut drinks for spring and Winter 2025 additions like the Dubai Chocolate-Inspired Mocha and Matcha, the global coffee brand announced on February 3 the debut of two new year-round drinks for 2026. Perhaps more importantly for fruity coffee fans, these menu changes also mean the return of raspberry syrup. And this time, it's back for good. Or, at least, that's what Starbucks says right now.

The syrup is making its return as a key ingredient in the new Iced Double Berry Matcha, which features strawberry puree, refreshing matcha, and a raspberry cream cold foam that incorporates the syrup. The fruity matcha's sister drink is an Iced Banana Bread Matcha, a similar latte drink that will bring cozy vibes to your coffee run. It features brown sugar syrup matcha over ice, topped with banana cream cold foam and caramel. And though the raspberry syrup is only an official part of one drink for now, you'll also be able to add it as a nondairy or protein cold foam topping, if that's you're thing.

While the new iced matcha drinks both sound like hits, the question remains — will they settle the minds of raspberry syrup lovers who took to their keyboards when Starbucks bid it goodbye in 2023?

The thing is, Starbucks has form when it comes to bringing back raspberry syrup. After slashing it from menus in 2023, the global coffee brand brought it back in the limited edition Raspberry Cream Cold Brew in July 2025. However, this was a very short release: Starbucks customers and employees posted on Facebook about their stores being raspberry-syrup-free zones as soon as August 2025.

This teaser return must have been somewhat successful, given the arrival of the new Iced Double Berry Matcha. However, it's notable that these permanent menu additions also come on the back of some significant cuts to Starbucks' year-round offerings. While this might mean the brand is very sure the new Iced Double Berry Matcha and Iced Banana Bread Matcha will be big hits, it also shows willingness to slash drinks that don't do as well as corporate hopes they will.

For now, it's best to just enjoy the return of raspberry syrup, which has, in the past, proven a versatile addition to many of Starbucks' drinks. When it launched the Raspberry Cream Cold Brew in Summer 2025, the company also suggested a few additional ways to use the syrup. Starbucks-approved customizations included White Chocolate Mocha with Raspberry Syrup, Strawberry Acai Refresher with Raspberry Syrup, and Iced Green Tea with Raspberry Syrup. On Reddit, however, there's a lot of enthusiasm for the "Cotton Candy Frappe", which many users ordered regularly back in 2023 and earlier. As it's a simple Vanilla Bean Frappucino with 1 and ½  pumps of raspberry syrup, it's not one of the overly complicated secret menu items that annoy baristas.