Starbucks is launching one of its weirdest products ever with three new “Oleato” drinks featuring olive oil: the Oleato latte with oat milk, an Oleato ice shaken espresso, and the Oleato golden foam cold brew. But is it healthy?
Starbucks rolls out 3 new “Oleato” drinks
Starbucks is encouraging its customers to try something new and give olive oil coffee a shot. The coffee chain has introduced three new “Oleato” coffee-based drinks that feature a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil.
1. The first item on the menu is “Oleato latte with oat milk and olive oil.” This hot drink features Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast, Partanna extra virgin olive oil, and oat milk.
2. The second item is an Oleato ice shaken espresso with oat milk, hazelnut flavor, and olive oil. This cold drink features hazelnut syrup, espresso, oat milk, and Partanna extra virgin olive oil.
3. The third item is the Oleato golden foam cold brew, made with a version of Starbucks’ sweet milk foam infused with two olive oil servings, CNN reports. This cold drink mixes Partanna extra virgin olive oil with cold foam and cold brew for a sweet taste.
Starbucks plans to roll out its Oleato coffees first in Milan, Italy, and then in other areas—including the health-conscious mecca that is southern California, Prevention reported.
“Oleato represents the next revolution in coffee that brings together an alchemy of nature’s finest ingredients—Starbucks arabica coffee beans and Partanna cold pressed extra virgin olive oil,” said Starbucks interim chief executive officer Howard Schultz in a press release. “Today I feel just as inspired as I did 40 years ago. Oleato has opened our eyes to fresh new possibilities and a transformational way to enjoy our daily coffee.”
“I was absolutely stunned at the unique flavor and texture created when the Partanna extra virgin olive oil was infused into Starbucks coffee,” Schultz said. “In both hot and cold coffee beverages, what it produced was an unexpected, velvety, buttery flavor that enhanced the coffee and lingers beautifully on the palate.”
Are these olive oil drinks healthy?
One of the first questions people have, considering Starbucks is adding “oil” to their coffee, is whether or not the mixture is healthy.
Starbucks CEO Schultz said the idea of adding olive oil was his, coming after he learned some Italians take a spoonful of olive oil each day for health purposes.
But is the practice really healthy or an old wive’s tale?
For starters, adding olive oil to coffee adds fat, as well as roughly around 120 calories to each cup. However, the “Oleato golden foam cold brew” has two servings of olive oil, so add 240 extra calories for that beverage.
Physicians and dietitians have mixed opinions
“Study after study shows that replacing butter and margarine with olive oil is a healthy thing to do,” Doctor Holly Anderson MD, a cardiologist and an associate professor of clinical medicine at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center, told Prevention. “Numerous studies have also shown that the Mediterranean diet which includes olive oil is one of the healthiest diets that we’ve studied.”
However, Dr. Anderson says she “will not be adding olive oil to my coffee.”
“Some say it has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent cardiovascular disease,” Doctor Anderson points out. “Others argue that, while it is less damaging than animal fats, it is still a high calorie fat that can contribute to cardiovascular disease.”
Doctor Anderson and set heating olive oil may diminish some of its nutritional benefits.
Another cardiologist, Doctor Rigved Tadwalkar, says, “It’s true that we have good evidence on olive oil and cardiovascular benefits” and that “coffee can be heart-healthy.” However, Dr. Tadwalkar points out that when syrups and oat milk are added to coffee, he “can’t say that this will be specifically heart healthy.”
Scott Keatley, R.D., acknowledges olive oil is “one of the best antioxidants found in nature.” He adds that adding olive oil is “a great way to improve the nutrition of your coffee without fundamentally changing your coffee.”
