The Best One Yet
🥤 Frappuccino: The Billion-Dollar Brainfreeze Starbucks Nearly Killed
Sat, 03 May 2025
Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/The cream-topped, dome-lidded Frappuccino is the caffeinated crown jewel of the Starbucks empire. It helped the company break out from regional coffee chain to global lifestyle brand, made cold drinks into 75% of Starbucks’ beverage sales, and created a whole new language of filibuster-length orders (“Can I get a grande vanilla bean frappe, in a venti cup, extra whip on top and a mocha drizzle?”). But the original Frappuccino was actually created at a boutique Boston coffee shop in the early ’90s to survive the summer sales slump. Then a stand-up comic in Santa Monica took a blender and a big idea to make a version for Starbucks…only for CEO Howard Schultz to dismiss it as a low-brow slushie (Sir, this is a Starbucks, not a 7-Eleven). Find out how a frozen coffee shake went from indie experiment to global juggernaut, why innovation doesn't always mean inventing something new, and how the Frappuccino became the best idea yet.Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet for the untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.Episodes drop every Tuesday, listen here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is the story behind the Starbucks Frappuccino?
yetis nick and jack here coming at you from the t-boy studio on our weekly show the best idea yet we go deep on the most popular products of all time and this week we took on the most viral drink of all time the starbucks frappuccino because odds are statistically speaking you're caffeinated up right now by a latte you sip this morning never get this starbucks didn't actually invent the frappuccino starbucks
Chapter 2: Who really invented the Frappuccino?
acquired the Frappuccino. And it was an acquisition that Howard Schultz hated at first. Turns out the Frappuccino was actually invented by a small coffee shop over in Boston run by the biggest bean guru we'd ever heard of. So we're about to give you a taste of that episode. After you're done with that sample, go chug the whole thing at the Best Idea Yet, our separate show page.
We dropped the link in this episode description to make it easy for you. So enjoy the whipped cream on top and the double shots of caramel. because a Frappuccino is an experience. One Frappuccino episode coming up. You hear those bells? Those are the historic Lowell House bells at Harvard.
Chapter 3: What innovative coffee culture emerged in Boston?
That means we're back in Cambridge, just outside Boston, back at the Coffee Connection, George Howell's very own slice of coffee heaven, which he opens in Harvard Square in 1975. Look at the distressed wood paneling, the carefully crafted art on the walls, the cushioned benches that are just begging you to sit down and stay a while.
Jack, look, there's someone in the corner wearing a turtleneck, reading the leaves of grass, sipping a mocha, probably writing the next great American novel. George has done it! He has brought bohemian artisanal coffee culture to Boston. Wicked! George's revolutionary approach is to import high-quality beans and roast them lightly, letting their delicate, nuanced flavors shine.
A stark contrast to the dark, more bitter roasts that were very popular at the time. George is also pioneering single origin sourcing, meaning he buys beans from specific farms rather than from entire countries. By highlighting unique flavor profiles shaped by soil, altitude, and climate, or terroir, he's mirroring the wine industry.
Chapter 4: How did George Howell change the coffee industry?
The beans may look and taste alike to most, and economists may call it a commodity, but George is building in layers, tiers, and levels to justify higher prices. And the response from Boston consumers, I'd say strong to quite strong, especially from the students. They're loving this. They become top customers of George's premium differentiated coffee.
That painfully long road trip and the decision to uproot the entire family, it looks like it's paying off for George. By the mid-1980s, George is doing so well, he opens a few more branches across the whole area. For George, Boston really is Beantown. But there's one cash flow problem that threatens his entire mini empire.
Chapter 5: What challenges did George face during summer sales?
College students make up a huge part of George's business, and these co-eds are skipping town for summer break. That's almost three months, a quarter of the year, where George's primary customers are just leaving him hanging. And the rest of George's patrons, they're not exactly lining up for a steaming hot coffee when the weather's sweltering.
Chapter 6: Why did George need to adapt his business model?
No one's ordering 12 ounces of dark roast at the Sox game. Surviving those long summer months is tough. To keep his caffeine dreams alive, George needs to find a way to keep his customers coming in, no matter what the calendar says. Chicago is America's hot dog capital. New York is its Pizza HQ. Sorry, New Haven. Kansas City is the city of ribs. But in 1989, Seattle is wearing the coffee crown.
Thanks to the Starbucks effect, an entire industry of specialist coffee roasters and makers has sprung up in the Emerald City. In coffee shops across town, young people take a load off their Birkenstocks, roll up their flannel sleeves, and kick back with steaming mugs of dark roast. maybe while listening to the debut album of a local band, Nirvana.
But our guy, George Howell, he isn't here right now for the music or the fashion scene. He's on the West Coast for a working holiday. He's trading stories with fellow coffee connoisseurs, researching the latest roasts and seeking inspiration.
Because even though his coffee connection has become a chain of 10 cafes in and around Boston, he is still stumped by this summer drop-off in the coffee business. George steps into one of Seattle's preeminent coffee shops, Torfalzione Italia, and something grabs his attention. A barista is making a frozen cappuccino in a granita machine. Technical term there for slushy maker, by the way.
George asks the barista to mix up one for him, and he takes a sip. Wow. Yeah, this gelato-y coffee, this is unlike any brew he's ever tasted, in a good way, like even better. It's cold, it's refreshing, it still has a rich coffee taste that shows off the quality of the beans. Jack, could this be the solution to his summertime sales slump?
George inquires about the recipe, but it's so basic, he doesn't even need to write it down. It's just strong coffee, sugar, milk, and ice. As soon as he's back in Boston, he rushes to his kitchen and tries to mix up one for himself, but it comes out a slushy mess. He soon realizes the art's not so much in the ingredients, but in how to combine them.
So George calls up his right-hand man, Andrew Frank, to get him on the case. Andrew's official title is marketing director, but he's actually a lot more to George. Jack, would you call this guy a fixer? A trusted fixer. And just as nuts about coffee as George happens to be.
So George hands Andrew the challenge of transforming this recipe he discovered in Seattle into something transcendent, something memorable, something scalable. Even though the ingredients are simple, Andrew thinks the texture just isn't right. The ice isn't blended enough. The drink is more like a coffee snow cone than a smooth, refreshing beverage.
And honestly, Jack, it reminds me of something we've talked about that Steve Jobs has mentioned before, which is the simpler something is, the harder it is to do. In fact, Andrew spends years tinkering with ingredients, trying different methods of making the ice, and brewing a whole lot of coffee until it hits him. The problem is the granita machine. It just doesn't chop up the ice finely enough.
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