Today’s the launch day of the Starbucks S’mores Frappuccino. I don’t have my review ready yet as I’m still drinking my too-early-in-the-morning Frappuccino. Don’t forget to ask for your free edible cookie straw.
And yes, the drink is good, very, very, very good.
The countdown is at one day before the American public is reminded of their youthful summers via the S’mores Frappuccino. Until the crafted drink is available, there’s the bottled version that has to be just a specter of the real deal. I mean how can this premade version of the S’mores Frappuccino go up against marshmallow whip cream, chocolate sauce, and graham cracker syrup and toppings?
Let’s do a quick taste test of this S’mores Frappuccino that’s available at groceries right now. Visually, this Frappuccino is lighter in shade, more like the Bottled Vanilla Frappuccino, and expectedly, you don’t see any of the unique qualities of the prepared Frap (meaning the graham cracker sprinkles). You just see a light brown liquid. It’s 290 calories in 13.7 fl oz.
First sip. It tastes graham-y. Yes, really. The scent of the drink throws me off a little. There is a graham cracker like smell to the drink, so your head is thinking of a solid cracker but then your tongue feels a liquid.
I’m getting a aftertaste/feel after a few sips. My tongue feels kinda dry, not sure why. In general though, this bottled S’mores Frappuccino tastes like the other bottled Frappuccinos. Somewhere in between vanilla and caramel. I don’t taste the chocolate and maybe that aftertaste is supposed to be the marshmallow. In fact, I think it is indeed that.
I’m already not a fan of these bottled Frappuccinos, and the new S’mores flavor hasn’t convinced me otherwise. My recap: typical bottled Frappuccino taste, a graham-y scent, and a marshmallow-y aftertaste for +$3.00 per bottle. I’ll pass, but I am looking forward to a more authentic experience on Tuesday.
Yup, for about a buck more, you can get a cookie straw to suck up your Frappuccino. Seems like you might even get one of these straws as a gift.
I’m waiting for the day when even the cup is edible ala sour dough soup bowls. Just imagine the environmental savings of this! Well, yeah, your drink would probably cost around $8 and contain 1000 calories, but you know you’d get it.
The nostalgia of summers past is rolling out at Starbucks with their upcoming S’mores Frappuccino. Starting on April 28, 2015, Starbucks will inspire you with the nostalgic experience of roasting S’mores. That means that you’ll be sucking down:
marshmallow-infused whipped cream and milk chocolate sauce, a creamy blend of graham, coffee, milk and ice, then finished off with more mashmallowy whipped cream and a graham cracker crumble.
Not really a summer memory I can recall in Hawaii. Maybe if Starbucks made a rainbow shave ice inspired drink then I could relate more. But no matter, I’ll try one of these S’mores Frappuccino, especially since the Hammer signal was beaconing this morning. Although it was a bit too early for my radio listening, other Pulpy fans told me about reviewing this drink for one Gregg Hammer.
Notch another one for Team Swoosh. With Duke’s 68 to 63 victory over Wisconsin, a team wearing Nike shoes has now won 14 of the last 17 NCAA men’s basketball tournaments. That’s an impressive 82% winning percentage dating back to 1999.
1999 Connecticut (Nike)
2000 Michigan State (Reebok Answers)
2001 Duke (Nike)
2002 Maryland (Nike Shox Stunners)
2003 Syracuse (Nike Shox)
2004 Connecticut (Nike Lebron Zoom Generation and Air Force Operates)
2005 North Carolina (Nike Retro Jordan X)
2006 Florida (Nike)
2007 Florida (Nike)
2008 Kansas (Adidas)
2009 North Carolina (Nike)
2010 Duke (Nike)
2011 Connecticut (Nike)
2012 Kentucky (Nike)
2013 Louisville (Adidas)
2014 Connecticut (Nike Kobe 8 or Venomenon)
2015 Duke (Nike)
The Blue Devils wore all kinds of Nikes on the night of the Finals. I spy the 2015 Hyperrev, a Kyrie 1, and most impressively, a custom “universe” Lebron 10 on the feet of guard Quinn Cook. So much for my sentiment about not seeing LeBrons in the tournament.
Quinn Cook (@QCook323) // @dukeblueplanet
Custom @NikeBasketball LeBron 10#CollegeKicksOnCourt pic.twitter.com/einba5P6QQ— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) March 14, 2015
Congratulations to Duke for yet another championship, capping off One Shining Moment.
Why do I bother with this Kicks Analysis? Throw out the numbers and just play the game and keep playing even if the shot clock expires! That’s why Adidas is even with Nike going into the 2015 NCAA Tournament Finals where Duke plays Wisconsin. Nike versus Adidas. Fifty fifty chance.
Adidas’ representation went like this:
While I’m still not a fan of the Adidas styling, if I had to jump on the three-stripped bandwagon, I would wear the new-ish D Lillard 1.
Seeding has stabilized with the Final Four of Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Michigan St. The Blue Devils, the Badgers, and the Wildcats are all top seeds while the seventh-seeded Spartans kept on marching. This marks the end of Under Armour’s excellent run with the downfall of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. That’s three Nike teams, Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan St. and one Adidas-wearing Wisconsin team left.
I already commented on the dearth of team shoes this year. Rather, players are wearing shoes matching their playing style and fashion sense. Although the one truism is that Air Jordan kicks are still marquee. You’ll see some Kobes, KDs, and surprisingly even fewer LeBrons. The closest team shoe I’ve noticed is the Nike Zoom Hyperrev 2015.
Arizona Wildcats Kobe X player exclusives
Texas Hyperrevs
Surrounded by Air Jordans
Harvard Hyperrevs
Nike Kyrie 1 behind UAB’s mismatched kicks
Mismatched Nike Zoom Run the One and LeBron Soldiers
Cheery swooshes
Air Jordan 11 Legend Blue
Not too long ago, the Starbucks location in the heart of Kailua town closed for renovation. That was then, this is now.
Regular patrons, what do you notice right away? Yes, you have to retrain your brain and walk to the far end to place your order. It’s no longer the drink pickup area that’s now near the entrance.
You now go counterclockwise and pass by the counter of goodies.
Not sure what’s so special about this special edition Starbucks card. The “renovation complete” commemorative edition?
The small interior tables have been replaced with a higher seating capacity counter.
And look at the newest edition, the first Clover brew in Kailua!
I like the main lighting in the store…
Along with the accent lights over the Clover.
The reclaimed wood look prevalent in other Starbucks is here.
But something else is different. What is it?
Oh yeah, I know… There’s no longer a second doorway! The street facing entrance is now a picture window framing the condiment bar.
So go ahead and retrain your brain on your next visit.
There’s nothing really telling about the kicks distribution in the regions of the 2015 tournament. See for yourself. Nothing eye popping, right?
While scanning images from the early round games, there weren’t true team shoes represented where the entire team wore the same shoe model. In general, players just wore whatever sponsored shoes matched their personal and playing styles. These were the team exceptions to the individual norm – Oregon and UAB.
Being so close to Nike HQ and the alma mater of Phil Knight, Oregon gets the best custom kicks, and the Ducks were decked out in KD7.
While UAB didn’t quite have the same team shoe, they did collectively wear purposely mismatched Nikes. Throughout the entire season, the Blazers have worn “reversed” kicks to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer.
The sweet, sweet sixteen of ’15 looks like this:
Nike commands 62.5% (10 out of 16) of the field, Adidas has 25% (4 out of 16), and Under Armour is still holding on with two teams in the Sweet 16 (12.5%).
How does this compare with the start of the tournament? Nike lost ground going from a 75% showing down to 62.5% so that means movement for Adidas and UA. Adidas upped their numbers going from 17% to 25% and Under Armour getting a slight bump from 8% to 12.5%.
In 2015, while Nike is worn by 75% of the participants, the swoosh doesn’t have a lock on the top five seeded teams. Only starting from the sixth ranked teams is Nike worn by all represented teams (Providence, SMU, Xavier, and Butler). Interestingly enough, Under Armour has efficiently picked its spots. With its five teams, UA has three teams ranked fifth or better. That would be Notre Dame (#3), Maryland (#4), and Utah (#5). The other UA teams are St. Johns (#9) and S.F. Austin (#12), the sole UA team from the 2014 tournament. It’s no wonder Under Armour stands to make $83M if its teams do well. It’s too bad Utah and S.F. Austin went head to head in the Round of 64. Adidas teams are well dispersed with no more than two teams in each seed.
Gotta like the hyper green Curry Ones worn by S.F. Austin.
