Starbucks Baristas Gives Warning To Customers: Featured Drink Taste Is ‘Traumatizing’

While there’s never a shortage of tasty, creative seasonal drinks to look forward to at Starbucks (hello, Pumpkin Spice!) it’s only natural that a few less than delicious ones will find their way into the mix every now and then. Not every drink can be everyone’s cup of tea (no pun intended), and that seems to be the case with the new Cold Brew with Lemonade, according to employees on the internet.

In fact, one TikTok creator was so shocked by the taste of the featured drink it made her gag. Yikes! Barista @kayli.cernan posted a video of herself trying the concoction for the first time. “New featured drink…. immediately no,” she wrote in the caption.

The video, which amassed more than 141.3K views, shows Kay begrudgingly making the unique drink before taking a sip and gagging with disgust. Okay, so we can assume this shouldn’t be at the top of our must-try list next time we pull up to Starbucks…

And it seems that many others have the same opinion, including fellow baristas. “I was already horrified when I first saw the weekly update,” one user wrote, with another saying the “long lasting aftertaste is hell.” Another commenter even called this drink “traumatizing to try.” Yikes! That bad?!

Apparently it is that bad. Back in February, when the Cold Brew with Lemonade was a “barista pick” (drinks only Starbucks Rewards Visa Card members can buy), baristas took to Reddit to express their distaste for the beverage, going as far to call it a “sick joke.” The infamy!