What is the Starbucks Aerocano? Meet the air-whipped twist on the Iced Americano
Launching on National Coffee Day, Sept. 29, in Starbucks coffeehouses across North America, the new Aerocano transforms Starbucks® Blonde Espresso and ice into a velvety coffee inspired by a beverage that became a sensation in South Korea.
It’s richly textured and exceptionally smooth, delivering a velvety first sip followed by a clean, smooth finish. And it’s coming to Starbucks coffeehouses across North America on Sept. 29, just in time for National Coffee Day.
Meet the Aerocano.
Crafted with Starbucks® Blonde Espresso and ice, the Aerocano is air-whipped to create a light, velvety texture and a signature cascading effect. It was inspired by the Americano – shots of espresso and water – a staple on the Starbucks menu since 1984. The Aerocano reimagines the classic through barista craft, to create a completely different sensory experience.
The result is a modern take on the Iced Americano that highlights similar ingredients in a new way. The aeration elevates the texture of the espresso and creates a light layer of foam – and a unique, delicious first sip.
The Aerocano will join Starbucks core menu, alongside the Caramel Aerocano.
From South Korea to North America: How the Starbucks Aerocano took off
The Aerocano’s Starbucks journey began in South Korea, where it debuted to customers earlier this year. The market was a natural fit. In South Korea, the iced Americano is one of Starbucks most popular beverages – a daily ritual for many South Koreans, whether it’s a hot summer day or below freezing in the winter. It’s actually a global trend, customers with a taste for cold – about 60 percent of the beverages Starbucks sells globally are cold.
Chanda Beppu, senior vice president of Starbucks Asia Pacific, first saw the potential of the Aerocano while exploring coffee trends.
“It is creamy with a slightly sweet [flavor],” Beppu said. “I’m an Americano drinker myself, and it’s fun to take that familiar experience and add a visual and textural element to it.”
Knowing the popularity of iced Americanos in the market, Beppu’s curiosity quickly turned to seeing an opportunity.
“It was something that caught my eye,” Beppu said. “The idea of Aerocano isn’t necessarily new to the world, but when you combine Starbucks coffee, barista expertise and a growing iced coffee culture, it felt like the right moment to expand on the Americano platform with something that feels familiar and new at the same time.”
From there, Beppu turned to Vivian Luk, who leads research and development, and Aleksandra Orsolic, who oversees coffee product strategy for Starbucks Asia Pacific, to determine how Starbucks could bring the beverage to life in South Korea and at scale.
Their challenge wasn’t simply recreating the beverage. It was transforming it into a Starbucks beverage that could be crafted consistently by baristas across thousands of coffeehouses.
“If it can only be made by one or two partners, it’s not good enough,” Luk said. “How can we scale it in a way that consistently delivers great beverage quality across our coffeehouses and elevates the customer experience?”
While the Aerocano appears simple on the surface, developing a recipe that consistently created the cascading effect and delivered the bright flavors took some time.
“You have espresso and ice, and then you steam it,” Orsolic said. “But to actually get it consistently done in the same way, with the same foam thickness, and the cascade always being present, it took a lot of testing and iteration.”
The team tested variables such as steam times and pouring the beverage over ice to achieve a velvety, slightly sweet texture while preserving the bright notes of the espresso shots from the first sip through the last.
Why the Aerocano is designed to be watched, then sipped
Beyond its coffee-forward flavor, the Aerocano’s most distinctive feature may be its appearance. As the aerated espresso settles through the cup, it creates a striking cascading effect that invites customers to pause and take in the experience before their first sip.
“The visuals have show-stopping power,” Beppu said. “We want people to look across the street and say, ‘What’s that? How interesting! I need to cross the street to Starbucks.'”
The Aerocano also highlights the craft and artistry Starbucks baristas bring to the experience. Unlike a new flavor or ingredient, the beverage reimagines a classic espresso beverage through green apron partner (employee) craft and technique.
That philosophy became the foundation for the Aerocano, a sensation on the other side of the world now available at neighborhood coffeehouses across North America.
“It’s a really exciting moment to see a beverage that debuted in Asia now be shared with the rest of the world,” Beppu said.
