Starbucks' New Coffee Ice Cubes Will Upgrade Your Cold Brew

Drew Swantak/Thrillist
Drew Swantak/Thrillist

If, for some reason, you're worried about somehow not drinking enough cold brew or iced coffee this summer, it looks like Starbucks may just have you covered with a special new ingredient: ice cubes made out of coffee. Really. Or dare we say finally

Starbucks is officially testing the frozen coffee cubes, or Coffee Ice, as an upgrade for iced coffee and iced espresso drinks as of this week, according to a report by USA Today. The common iced coffee hack is meant to prevent your drink from getting watered-down on a warm day and provide an extra caffeine boost, you know, because you're literally adding coffee to more coffee. So far, the cubes are only available as a limited test at 100 Starbucks locations in Baltimore and St. Louis, where they'll set you back an extra 80 cents. No word yet on whether they'll hit menus nationwide. 

When reached via email on Thursday, a Starbucks spokesperson emphasized the limited size of the test launch, so don't get your hopes up if you live outside of Baltimore and St. Louis.

"As a company, we often test new products, programs and ideas to gather feedback from our customers and partners (employees)," the spokesperson said. "Starbucks is testing coffee ice for a limited time this summer only in 100 stores in Baltimore and St. Louis. Customers can add ice that's been made using Starbucks coffee to any iced Espresso or Brewed Coffee beverage for 80 cents."

With any luck, Coffee Ice will be popular enough to warrant a nationwide launch and, ultimately, save your $6 iced latte from melting into watery swill. In the meantime, you can always make your own coffee ice cubes, if you're not doing so already. It's super easy

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and would really love to try these in a Frappuccino instead of regular ice. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.