Mmmmm! Starbucks Green Coffee Bean Extract Beverages

I don't know about you, but life without Starbucks is much like life without the internet to me. I still remember my first Starbucks experience. It was the 1990's and I was at a American Dental Association trade show in New York City at the Javitz Center. There was a Starbucks Kiosk and let me tell you, a fan was born at that trade show! Since then there's been many Starbucks phases for me over the years, there was the Expresso phase, the Caramel Macchiato phase, the Frappuccino phase, the Lemon Pound Cake phase and then as those delicious coffee drinks caught up with my waistline, there's been the skinny mocha latte phase, the bold coffee and finally the unsweetened green tea phases, alas!

I thought that Starbucks had finally done it all, that there were no new horizons to conquer, but once again, they proved me wrong! There newest line of beverages is perhaps, their most exciting!

We are all familiar with the energy-producing, caffeine-laden, bold roasted coffee that Starbucks is notorious for. The bold coffee flavor is actually a bi-product of the roasting process. Starbucks has now revolutionized a way to harvest the energy-inducing benefits from the green coffee bean without roasting the goodness out of it! This new line of beverages has all the natural caffeine benefit without the coffee flavor so it can be mixed in to refreshing, low calorie beverages. Recently, green coffee bean extract thas been recently touted as an incredible antioxidant and potential weight loss product and featured on an episode of Dr. Oz. Starbucks however, is very cautious in their accolades to Green Coffee Bean Extract. Their Director of Global Beverage Innovation, Brian Smith's take on Green Coffee Extract is both humble and humorous, he is quoted answering the question "What other benefits does Green Coffee Extract offer?" by saying "I wish I could say: Wit. Wisdom. Invisibility. Clairvoyance. Nobel Prize–winning smarts. But none of that would be true. Green Coffee Extract is really about offering you a bit more natural energy with a twist on coffee that is perfectly refreshing and thirst-quenching."

Let me introduce you to this new Starbucks lineup. There are three new products, handcrafted Starbucks Refreshers, Sparkling Beverages and Via Instant Beverages.

The handcrafted beverages come in two flavors: Very Berry Hibiscus Starbuck Refreshers made with whole blackberries and real fruit juice and Cool Lime Starbucks Refreshers with slices of lime and fruit juice. The Cool Lime flavor has just 40 calories in a Tall 12 oz size, 50 calories in a Grande 16 oz size, 80 calories in Venti 24 oz size and 100 calories in a Trenta 32 oz size. The Very Berry Hibiscus flavor has a few more calories, it has 60 calories in a Tall 2 oz size, 70 calories in a Grande 16 oz size, 100 calories in Venti 24 oz size and 120 calories in a Trenta 32 oz size. The handcrafted beverages also have 45 mg of caffeine in the Tall, 60 mg in the Grande, 85 mg in the Venti and 110 mg in the Trenta

The sparkling beverages come in three flavors: Raspberry Pomegranate, Strawberry Lemonade and Orange Melon. All three are refreshing, fruity and sweetened with stevia so they are low-calorie, in fact the can has only 60 calories!. Besides all the lovely caffeine, they have 25% of the USRDA of Vitamin B6, Niacin, Panthothenic Acid, and Vitamin C!

Finally, for refreshing energy on the go, there are Very Berry Hibiscus Starbucks VIA Refreshers instant beverage and Cool Lime Starbucks VIA Refreshers instant beverage. Just add to 16 oz of cold water and enjoy! These refreshing take alongs have only 35 calories!

Some things to consider are:

• The Handcrafted Refreshers do not contain any Vitamin B6, Niacin, or Panthothenic Acid and they have limited amounts of Vitamin C
• The VIA Refreshers Beverages do not contain any Vitamin B6, Niacin or Panthothenic Acie but they do have 110% of the USRDA of Vitamin C.
• As of this writing, caffeine content for the VIA Refreshers and Sparkling Refreshers was not available on Starbucks site.

These delicious, refreshing, tasty beverages are a terrific way to re-energize and recharge. Low calorie, perfectly in time for summer, you'll find Starbucks Refreshers a new spin on how to do Starbucks!