Say Goodbye to This Starbucks Flavor

We won’t beat around the bush: Starbucks is officially removing raspberry syrup from its menu. We first learned about this news from TODAY, and after reaching out to Starbucks, we can confirm that raspberry is indeed headed toward retirement. The flavor syrup is in the process of being phased out, so depending on how popular it is at your local Starbucks, it’ll be gone within a matter of days or weeks.

“As a standard course of business, we continually evaluate the ingredients in our stores, and have decided to discontinue raspberry syrup,” a Starbucks spokesperson told The Takeout via email. “Customers can expect limited inventory at stores throughout March as we remove it from our menu.”

What flavor syrups can you add to your Starbucks drink?

Starbucks did not provide any further details about whether any other flavors would be replacing raspberry on the roster. The raspberry syrup was the only fruit-flavored syrup customization available for coffee on the Starbucks menu, at least here in the United States. The remaining current syrup lineup is: 

• Vanilla
• Toasted vanilla
• Brown sugar
• Caramel
• Cinnamon Dolce
• Hazelnut
• Peppermint
• Toffee Nut
• Sugar Free Vanilla

Bad news for fans of the many creative TikTok concoctions that made use of Starbucks’ raspberry syrup, including the Raspberry White Chocolate Mocha, the Chocolate Raspberry Chai, and the Venti Vanilla Latte with Oatmilk and 2 Pumps of Raspberry (okay, that one needs a shorter name). But the discontinuation of the syrup also points to the possibility that raspberry just might not be a trendy flavor anymore.

Has raspberry syrup fallen out of fashion?

Raspberry-flavored lattes were something I drank in college, back in the early 2000s. That’s when independent coffeehouses were starting to become cool in my university’s town. My palate has changed significantly over the years—I drink black coffee like a boring person now—but that option to customize my drink with unique flavors made coffee suddenly interesting to me in a way it hadn’t been before.

After the Starbucks announcement, I checked the menus of other major coffee chains to see if raspberry syrup was still an option, and what I found surprised me. Neither Dunkin’ nor Peet’s Coffee nor Panera Bread currently offer raspberry syrup as a customization. Those chains favor nut, vanilla, mocha, cinnamon, and caramel flavors, just like Starbucks. No fruit flavors are available at those chains at all—the closest thing I found was a lavender syrup at Peet’s, and that’s not even a fruit.

This isn’t to say that raspberry syrup can’t be found at your neighborhood coffeeshop. Take a peek over that counter and I’m sure you’ll see a buffet of flavor syrups, perhaps including fruit ones, likely from a brand like Monin or Torani. But when it comes to the national chains, syrups must be ordered and supplied at scale, and it looks like raspberry simply wasn’t selling enough to justify the cost.

Have we outgrown berry-flavored coffee? I’ll still have a lil’ sweet spot for it, if only due to nostalgia. Farewell, Starbucks raspberry syrup, and thanks for bringing back college memories.