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Starbucks' new Aerocano isn't just hot air, it's a refreshing take on the iced go-to

Published: 26 Feb. 2026, 15:59 Updated: 26 Feb. 2026, 18:42

CHO YONG-JUN
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The Starbucks Aerocano, launched on Feb. 25 [CHO YONG-JUN]

Starbucks Korea just launched a coffee that looks like a stout beer, feels like a Nitro Cold Brew, but costs less than both.

It's called the Aerocano. Debuted on Thursday, the drink uses high-pressure aeration to turn the standard iced Americano into a foamy, textured cup of coffee.

The drink is launching in Korea before any other market in the world, a decision made by Starbucks to use the country as a test bed for its new drink before deciding if it should launch globally.

“Technically, we were looking for a market that proudly leads and represents the ‘ eol-juk-ah’ trend,” Starbucks Asia Pacific’s senior product manager, Aleksandra Orsolic, said at the launch of the Aerocano at the Starbucks Korea Support Center in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Wednesday, referring to drinking iced Americanos even if you are freezing to death.

Starbucks Asia Pacific's senior product manager Aleksandra Orsolic on Feb. 25 at the Starbucks Korea Support Center in Gangnam DIstrict, southern Seoul [CHO YONG-JUN]

Despite Starbucks releasing new drinks every season and even every month, the global coffee chain was particularly eager to debut this new drink, inviting reporters for a tasting session — much like brands do for a fine wine — and even turning reporters into baristas to take a stab at making the Aerocano.

“It’s a global exclusive launch,” Orsolic said. “A perfect fit with the Korean market with the Korean consumers that are trendy and very passionate about coffee.”

The Aerocano is a variation of an iced Americano that uses the same espresso blend. But instead of mixing two shots of espresso with water and ice, the Aerocano puts the espresso shots into a steam pitcher filled with ice. The drink is then “aerated” with the nozzle of the steam pitcher to insert air into the coffee, before being served again in a cup filled with ice.

The Starbucks Aerocano, launched on Feb. 25 [CHO YONG-JUN]

When the drink is first poured into the cup, it genuinely looks like a pint of Guinness fresh from the tap, with gradients of brown rising from the bottom of the drink, from a rich ebony to a creamy caramel under a thick layer of foam.

But unlike a Guinness, which requires time for the first pour to settle before the pint is topped up and served, the Aerocano can be served straight away, allowing customers to enjoy the cascading bubbles as the beverage settles.

The Aerocano stayed surprisingly foamy. Unlike a beer, which usually loses the head with the first couple of sips, Aerocano tends to maintain its foamy layer until the very last sip. In fact, even when the drink is served to go and gets sloshed around, the foam is likely to remain.

The Starbucks Aerocano is being aerated [CHO YONG-JUN]

All this results in a beverage that is much smoother to drink. Compared to an iced Americano, which was served alongside the new offering to provide a comparison, the Aerocano feels foamier in the mouth, smoother and less bitter. It is also notably different from a cold-brewed coffee, which lacks crema and tastes more like dark chocolate.

The air-infused Aerocano was also notably different from Starbucks’ nitrogen-infused nitro cold brew coffee, which maintains the deep and heavy body of a cold brew, while the Aerocano feels cleaner to drink.

From left, an iced Americano, an Aerocano and a cold brewed coffee [CHO YONG-JUN]

The new drink is also priced at 4,900 won ($3.40) for a Tall, just 200 won more than an iced Americano of the same size, and noticeably cheaper than the 7,500 won nitro cold brew.

The new coffee is available in all Starbucks branches nationwide, as it does not require a new machine to make, with customers able to opt for Starbucks’ Blonde and decaf beans.

Starbucks Korea now plans to look at the reception in Korea before deciding on a release in other markets.

“We hope to see [Korean customers] loving this product and really embedding it into their daily life, and from that, we are going to be making further decisions on global launches and rollouts,” Orsolic said.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]