Sip tip: Refresher

Starbucks

Coffee is one of life's great pleasures, yes? It's a welcome part of the morning, perhaps the afternoon, and it's even good over ice. What's not so welcoming and wonderful is coffee's resulting aftertaste, a condition I call "Coffee Mouth" in which one's palate isn't as fresh as it might be and feels positively steeped in eu de French Roast. Starbucks, master of the roast and brew, has found a cure to Coffee Mouth: the Refresher. Available fresh in store (Cool Lime or Very Berry Hibiscus) or pre-packaged in cans, Refreshers employs fruit juices and green (pre-roasted) coffee extract for a ? well, refreshing and great-tasting caffeine boost that leaves no aftertaste/wooly mouthfeel. Both in-store varieties are terrific (the Very Berry comes with blackberries bobbing around in the mix), but the Cool Lime tastes just like a mojito, and weighs in at only 40 calories for a Tall. Need I say more?

- MARISA NADOLNY