Starbucks Employees Are Already Putting The New 'Absolutely Atrocious' Orange Drinks On Blast

Recently, Starbucks announced a new line of summer drinks in hopes of channeling chill summer vibes through the power of citrus. Its orange cream beverage lineup features an orange cream cold brew, iced orange cream latte, iced orange cream chai, iced orange cream matcha, and orange cream Frappuccino. The drinks don't launch until July 28, but Starbucks employees have already formed strong opinions on the new drinks. 

In a Starbucks Reddit thread, self-identified employees of the coffee giant expressed vehement distaste for the new recipes. The original poster wrote, "I just completed my training for the orange cream drinks and decided to try a couple for myself because I was skeptical, and oh my god ... what were they thinking ... the orange is SO strong, it tastes like chemicals or medicine."

They went on to detail which drink in particular was the worst, writing, "The worst offender was the orange latte. When I swirled the powder into the espresso, it genuinely smelled like burning plastic, and the only way I can describe the taste is the puke-flavored jelly beans you get in the BeanBoozled packs. Absolutely atrocious. I can stomach a lot of things, but the orange drinks are genuinely undrinkable. Who is greenlighting this?" Instead of the orange flavor bringing a zesty citrus flavor for a brighter cup of coffee, Reddit users compared the ingredient to sawdust. It's probably safe to say that Starbucks fumbled the orange and coffee flavor combination that is quite popular outside of large coffee brands.

The new drink lineup from Starbucks — namely the iced orange cream latte — already seems like the next espresso drink Starbucks employees will be sick of making. But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying citrus coffee outside of the chain. In the same Reddit thread, one commenter noted that Starbucks just didn't quite hit the mark, explaining, " ... Coffee and orange are actually a great pair when it's done correctly. Tons of specialty coffee shops have drinks featuring orange, and it's very tasty. However, Starbucks espresso has almost [no] flavor profile, and they don't know what they're doing. Please give it a try elsewhere."

Choosing orange flavor for your coffee elsewhere doesn't mean you have to run to the store for some Coffee Mate orange cream coffee creamer. You can make this Starbucks drink (or something similar) right at home. The sweet citrus flavor of orange and the bitter, bold flavor of coffee are complementary in a homemade orange-infused cold brew coffee. To make this drink, submerge two oranges, sliced into multiple pieces, and 100 grams of coarsely ground coffee, and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours. Be sure the water-to-coffee ratio is 1:7 for best results. Once the waiting is over, filter the grounds and oranges, and what you're left with is a delicious summer cold brew with a citrus twist.