Starbucks wants you to give olive oil coffee a shot. Really. The global coffee chain is rolling out a new line of “Oleato” beverages made with extra virgin olive oil, starting in Italy and then branching out worldwide. Each drink is truly made with a spoonful of oil, adding 120 calories to the total. With some drinks, there’s even a visible slippery sheen of oil in the cup.
There’s an Oleato latte with oat milk and olive oil, an Oleato ice shaken espresso with oat milk, hazelnut flavor and olive oil, and the Oleato golden foam cold brew, made with a version of Starbucks’ sweet milk foam infused with two olive oil servings. Versions of those drinks will arrive in Southern California this spring, with more details about the US launch to come. They’ll roll out in other markets in the UK, Middle East and Japan this year.
Like other major chains, Starbucks often tweaks its menu, rolling out limited-edition items seasonally or introducing new ingredients like oat milk. But this launch is much bigger, Brady Brewer, Starbucks’ chief marketing officer, said in an interview with CNN. “It is one of the biggest launches we’ve had in decades,” he noted. “Rather than a flavor or a product, it’s really a platform,” he said, meaning that customers will be able to use olive oil to customize some drinks.
The company is betting that people will hear about the concoction and try it because they want to know what it tastes like. And, perhaps, because they’ve heard that there are health benefits to extra virgin olive oil. Perhaps you’ll give it a try?
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