Microtrends are an inevitable cycle that always ends with the soft whimper of overexposure. While Dubai chocolate took over the world in 2024, I fear Starbucks has forced the sweet treat to embrace the “grindset” as it transitions to its corporate era.
As an addition to the U.S. winter menu, Starbucks launched a Dubai chocolate palate for matcha and mocha on Jan. 6. The former blends matcha with pistachio sauce, topped with a chocolate cold foam and a salted brown-buttery crumble, while the mocha is topped with a pistachio cold foam and the same nutty crumble.
Dubai chocolate is a pistachio and kataifi filling shelled by milk chocolate, which was inspired by knafeh, a traditional Arab dessert. Though FIX Dessert Chocolatier has been selling the treat since 2021, it wasn’t until December 2023 that it blew up when Ukrainian influencer Maria Vehera posted a taste test of the “Can’t Get Knafeh Of It” bar.
From chocolate-dipped strawberries with pistachio butter to Labubu-shaped Dubai chocolate bars, the flavor has seen many iterations – all of which contributed to the snack’s popularity to the point of the term becoming a staple in brainrot culture.
Posts about fanum tax and Livvy Dunne were just a swipe away from a performative male, who carries a Bell Hooks novel in one hand and a matcha in the other.
Herein lies the apparent target audiences for Starbucks’ newest drinks – those enamored by brainrot and performative males.
Starbucks has been pushing in recent years to stay on top of trends, though each attempt tends to arrive just slightly too late. As Dubai chocolate became more mainstream and accessible to the public, its general appeal decreased. If the coffee chain had released these flavors during early to mid-summer, there would be a lot more buzz than is present now, after over a year since the trend originally took off.
Even worse than being mostly irrelevant, Starbucks couldn’t even manage to make the drink half decent.
Though I would consider myself a matcha connoisseur and a casual appreciator of the viral sweet treat, Starbucks’ Dubai Chocolate Matcha ended up falling flat. While I don’t particularly enjoy the chain’s matcha, it especially misses the mark here. The cold foam ends up overpowering every other flavor, making it taste more like a malt than a matcha. To make matters worse, the pistachio is entirely too subtle for it to even begin to be considered similar to Dubai chocolate.
As I took my final sips, I couldn’t help but think it lacked the main appeal of Dubai chocolate: the sensory experience. The crunch of the kataifi contrasted by the pistachio cream that envelops it is what makes the treat so delectable. Such a mouthfeel simply isn’t compatible with a handcrafted iced drink, no matter how many ways you try to replicate it. Though frappuccinos are considered dated, I think they are the only drink that would translate the texture effectively.
With so much brainrot talk, I feel it’s only right to rate the drink based on the merits of TikTok sensation the Rizzler: Starbucks’ Dubai Chocolate Matcha gets a measly two out of five big booms from me.
