5 Starbucks Drinks to Enjoy with Raspberry Syrup While It’s Available Again

A lot was discussed during Starbucks Leadership experience 2025 — an event that brought more than 14,000 of the coffee chain’s leaders to Las Vegas for three days. But, apart from images of iced cold brew and cream drizzling down and around the Sphere, the declaration of the first ever Starbucks global barista champion, and the proclamation of over $5 million in grants the Starbucks Foundation expects to give out this summer, one of the top announcements was the return of raspberry syrup to the Starbucks menu this July.

Under what Starbucks is calling its “Back to Starbucks” strategy, the coffee giant is determined to distinguish itself as a quality coffeehouse. To do that, the brand is focusing on reimaging and modernizing its food — including the testing of pastries, baked fresh in-house — and also, its drinks. The return of the raspberry syrup is, in turn, just one small part of that. But, even if it’s only one, limited-time syrup of many more to come in the future, there are infinite ways to use it this July and before it’s gone again.

From plays on the 2025 spring menu’s iced cherry chai, to an alternative to the ever-trendy combination of strawberry and matcha, and from a fruity infusion in your lemonade to your cold foam, the return of Starbucks’ raspberry syrup comes just in time to give your favorite summer Starbucks order a burst of berry flavor. Find them all listed below.

Starbucks recently pulled the matcha lemonade from its regular menu, but with both matcha and lemonade still available to order separately, it’s still possible for the barista to make it for you. Ordered as a lemonade with matcha scoops added to it, you can call it a secret menu drink if you like — only, with the raspberry syrup added to it, it’s not likely to stay a secret for very long. In this drink, the tart and sweet flavors of lemonade are balanced by the earthy and umami flavors of matcha to create a green drink that tastes nothing like it looks. Then, infused with the sweet, tart, and summer berry flavors of Starbucks’ raspberry syrup, it gets even more flavor dimension.

Even with everything this drink already has going for it, there are ways to take it up a notch. Given that the fan-favorite, Summer-Berry Refreshers are also a returning menu item this summer, you can take advantage of the boba-inspired, raspberry flavor pearls that come in them by adding them to different drinks — your raspberry matcha lemonade being one of the best. To have even more fun experimenting with different textures in this drink, you might also consider topping your lemonade with either a classic vanilla, matcha, or raspberry-infused cold foam. With it, you’ll get a combination of creamy, cold, and chewy textures along with the dimension of fruity, tart, and earthy flavors already present in this drink.

Everybody knows that chocolate and coffee go together — it’s exactly why Ina Garten’s chocolate cake is so next level. But it’s also why, no matter where you get your coffee, you’ll always find mocha on the menu. Made from a combination of chocolate and espresso, the juxtaposition of bitterness and sweetness makes the two incredibly complementary. But, do you know what else is complementary to not just chocolate, but coffee as well? Berry flavors like raspberry. In fact, berry flavors such as strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, and cherry are all flavors that occur naturally in coffee beans. However, the very same berries are also commonly sold coated in chocolate during holidays such as Valentine’s Day.

Having said all of that, an iced or hot mocha is the perfect drink for you to add Starbucks’ raspberry syrup to this summer. On the other hand, if you’re not the biggest fan of chocolate, it’d also pair well in Starbucks’ white mocha recipe. Combined with the chain’s signature white chocolate mocha sauce, the fruity and tart flavor of the raspberry syrup gets tempered by the creamy, dairy-based sauce to create something not too sweet, but just sweet enough. Again, this drink can be enjoyed iced or hot, and whether you go the mocha or white chocolate mocha route, you can also toy with the idea of adding toppings such as whipped cream or cold foam for even more texture.

Adding on to the prior note about berry flavors being naturally present in coffee beans, Starbucks’ returning raspberry syrup is an obvious choice to add to any coffee or espresso-based drink. That could be anything from a piping hot cup of its iconic Pike Place Roast to a cold brew or an Americano to a classic latte. But, as good and simple as all of those are, they can feel a bit boring, especially when you see all of the other drinks coming out from behind the Starbucks counter. The best answer to that is to opt for a bit of raspberry syrup-infused cold foam as a way to top off any of your iced coffee drinks.

Many people don’t know it, but Starbucks can make almost any flavor of cold foam you like. Its classic cold foam recipe is, essentially, made by blending milk and vanilla syrup, which can be substituted for any other syrup it has on its menu, giving you free rein to add raspberry. However, coffee and espresso drinks aren’t the only Starbucks beverages that could use it this summer. As mentioned above, matcha also lends well to a bit of berry sweetness, and while it might not be as trendy as the classic combination of matcha and strawberry, Starbucks’ returning raspberry syrup packs all the same summer berry flavor.

Made from a base of black tea, dressed up with a combination of herbs and spices including cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper, chai might not be the first drink you think of ordering in the summer. Due to the warm, slightly spicy nature of this drink, it’s generally associated with fall flavors. But with the introduction of its Iced Cherry Chai, an iced chai latte with a topping of cherry cold foam, in early 2025, Starbucks showed that traditional chai flavors pair equally as well with the flavors of spring. Summer is no different, either, especially since you can customize it with a bit of the raspberry syrup this July.

Starbucks’ raspberry syrup invokes a similar complementary flavor as the cherry powder originally added to the cold foam Iced Cherry Chai drink, making it a natural substitute while it’s available. As noted in some of the other drinks mentioned on this list, you can order this drink as an iced chai latte and ask for a customized raspberry cold foam on the top, or you can skip out on the frothy foam topping and simply get the raspberry syrup added directly to the drink. Either way, your chai will get a tart and sweet, summer-berry twist — and, you can also ask to add raspberry flavored pearls for even more of that berry flavor and fun texture.

Not everybody enjoys coffee, but whipped up with sweetener, ice, and milk, and dolloped with a hefty amount of whipped cream to look and taste like a milkshake, otherwise known as the famous Starbucks Frappuccino, nobody can resist. Made in flavors like mocha, caramel, and classic coffee, there are plenty of options to choose from, many of which are made with a unique powdered coffee that would pair naturally with raspberry syrup. However, there is an option that doesn’t contain any coffee at all, making it the ideal choice for kids and those with caffeine sensitivities, but also anyone just craving something sweet: the Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino with raspberry syrup.

Starbucks’ Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino is the coffee chain’s equivalent to a vanilla milkshake, but when given a pump or two of raspberry syrup, it gets an easy and bright summer refresh. Similar to the Strawberry Creme Frappuccino, which would also taste delicious with the addition of this syrup, the creamy, cool textures of the Frappuccino work to balance out the tart and sweet flavors inherent to the berry-flavored coffee syrup — no coffee necessary. However, if you do appreciate a bit more complexity in your Frappuccinos without the coffee, you might also consider adding the raspberry syrup to a Matcha Creme Frappuccino, where the umami flavor of the powdered green tea complements its sweet berry flavor.