Snack Drink Review: Starbucks Vivanno Smoothies

First let’s get the rant out of the way: why do these need their own cute brand name? Isn’t Starbucks already a brand name?

Now, I’m not a big fan of Starbucks. I don’t like the whole corporate-monolith thing. I don’t like their burnt coffee and their espresso drinks that mostly taste like milk. I’m not saying I don’t go there - they are the only game in town in too many places for that to be possible – but I don’t really like them.

But I do have to say that they do a decent job with chocolate things. Their mochas solve the problem of their lattes having no real flavor – when made well, they’re very good chocolate drinks.

And I wasn’t disappointed in the chocolate-banana smoothie. It was chocolaty and it had just the right hint of banana - not so much that you’d worry about it being too healthy or anything. It had a nice texture, sort of like a milkshake, or like they use a frozen banana, which comes out a lot like ice cream when put through a blender (DO try that at home, by the way. It’s a great thing).

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