"Two drinks are joining Starbucks' Dubai lineup: an Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha and an Iced Dubai Chocolate Matcha. Each sounds appealing enough with the Dubai name attached to it, and each obviously takes its inspiration from the viral chocolate craze. The mocha is topped with a pistachio cream cold foam and salted brown butter topping, while the matcha is topped with chocolate cream cold foam and salted brown butter topping."
"This may be obvious, but in case you're wondering - no, neither drink features kataifi, a key element of Dubai chocolate. I didn't have many qualms with this. The crunchy filling would just get soggy in a drink. Still, its absence did make the drinks feel like they were missing something crucial, a flaw that would become more pronounced once I tried the drinks - more on that in a bit."
Dubai chocolate craze peaked in 2025 and prompted many brands to release Dubai-flavored items. Starbucks released two Iced Dubai drinks on January 6, 2026: an Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha and an Iced Dubai Chocolate Matcha. The mocha is topped with pistachio cream cold foam and a salted brown butter topping. The matcha is topped with chocolate cream cold foam and a salted brown butter topping. Neither drink contains kataifi, a key element of Dubai chocolate, because the crunchy filling would get soggy in a drink. The absence of kataifi makes the drinks feel incomplete. Early tasting produced mixed reactions.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]