This week Starbucks introduced a limited-time drink, the Unicorn Frappuccino. As soon as it was released, the Unicorn started blowing up social media. Scrolling through Facebook and Instagram feeds, one could view selfie upon selfie of friends showing off their childhood fantasies turned into blended beverages.
So what exactly is all the buzz behind the Unicorn? On Starbucks’ official website, the Unicorn Frappuccino is described as the following:
The elusive unicorn from medieval legend has been making a comeback. Once only found in enchanted forests, unicorns have been popping up in social media with shimmering unicorn-themed food and drinks. Now Starbucks is taking the trend to a new level with its first Unicorn Frappuccino® blended beverage, available starting Wednesday, April 19, through Sunday, April 23, while supplies last.
The Unicorn Frappuccino blended crème is made with a sweet dusting of pink powder, blended into a crème Frappuccino with mango syrup and layered with a pleasantly sour blue drizzle. It is finished with vanilla whipped cream and a sprinkle of sweet pink and sour blue powder topping.
Like its mythical namesake, the Unicorn Frappuccino blended crème comes with a bit of magic, starting as a purple beverage with swirls of blue and a first taste that is sweet and fruity. But give it a stir and its color changes to pink, and the flavor evolves to tangy and tart. The more swirl, the more the beverage’s color and flavors transform.
This limited-time offering is as fleeting as a rainbow, available April 19-23, while supplies last in participating Starbucks® stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Just as quickly as the Unicorn Frappuccino was released, however, came plenty of warnings from naysayers, who tried to deflate their friends’ moments of mythical ecstasy by posting the drink’s nutritional information. While the Unicorn Frappuccino may look pretty, what it does to one’s insides apparently is not so pretty!
A 16 ounce Unicorn has 16 grams of fat, with 10 of those grams being the dreaded saturated fat. Additionally, the Unicorn contains 62 grams of carbohydrates and 59 grams of sugar. (Yes, you didn’t misread that. 59 grams of sugar!) According to the American Heart Association’s website, “The American Heart Association recommends no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance come from added sugars. (Your daily discretionary calorie allowance consists of calories available after meeting nutrient needs.) This is no more than 100 calories per day for most American women and no more than 150 per day for men (or about 6 teaspoons/25 grams a day for women and 9 teaspoons/37.5 grams a day for men).”
While it may only take a few delectable minutes to consume the fairy tale frappuccino, just how much time does it take to burn off said frappuccino? The Coronado Times’ investigative team went to Proteus Fitness and Training Academy at 841 1/2 Orange Avenue to find out whether a moment of Unicorn on the lips equated to a lifetime on the hips.
Alex, the gym manager at Proteus Academy, gave some helpful pointers in terms of what exercises would be needed to burn off the Unicorn Frappuccino. “On average, 1 minute of burpees done correctly can burn an average of 10 calories. So it would take approximately 40 minutes of burpees performed continuously and correctly to burn off the 410 calories in a 16 ounce Unicorn Frappuccino.” (In case you’ve never attempted burpees, click here for a helpful guide. By the way, performing 40 minutes of burpees continuously and correctly is pretty much as mythical as unicorns themselves. They are H-A-R-D, hard!)
One gram of sugar contains 3.87 calories, which means that 228.33 of the 410 calories in the Unicorn Frappuccino come from sugar. Alex says, “Obviously a person’s weight and fitness level affect individual calorie burn. Consider running a 10 minute mile, a 120 pound person could burn almost 120 calories in those 10 minutes, while a 180 pound person could torch 170.” Not a runner? Wonder what that equates to in terms of jumping jacks? Basically you would have to do high-intensity jumping jacks for almost half an hour straight just to burn off the sugar calories of the Unicorn Frappuccino! (You would have to continue doing jumping jacks even longer to burn off the remainder of the calories.)
Before making the decision to consume the 16 ounce Unicorn Frappuccino, Alex recommends asking yourself, “Is this worth it to me?” If the answer is yes, he suggests that you then ask yourself, “Am I willing to put in the required time in the gym or great outdoors to work off the calories?”
Alex put our investigative reporter to work (literally . . . physical work) as he showed some other exercises, including weight lifting, that would shed the sugar calories. In the spirit of true journalism, our investigative reporter, who works out regularly, tried a few sips of the Unicorn Frappuccino so she could understand the magical flavors that would drive one to work out so vigorously. While it may have been due to the fact that the local Starbucks had run out of the “blue fairy powders” on the day she tried it, she herself was not a fan. As she scrunched up her nose, she said, “It’s sooooo sweet! Why would you drink that?”
As our investigative reporter worked up a sweat, she cleverly reminded us that unicorns aren’t only found at Starbucks! She was just grateful that she only tried the 16 ounce drink rather than the 24 ounce Unicorn Frappuccino, which contains 76 grams of sugar!
Your opportunity to try the pink and blue and purple beverage will vanish on Sunday, April 23.
