By: Riley Lumpkin and Gabe Mattick

In early January, Starbucks launched a new espresso. This is called the Blonde espresso. This new espresso is different because it is a mix of Latin American beans and East African beans, which is what creates the drink’s sweet flavor. The vice president of Global Coffee, for Starbucks, stated, “By taking a lighter approach to espresso which created a bright taste with sweet citrus notes and a smooth body.” So, after hearing the hype about the new espresso we gave it a try.

First, we tried an espresso shot; the blonde espresso shot was pretty good. We thought that it was still a little strong, although you could taste the smoothness and a little bit of citrus. It wasn’t as bitter as a regular espresso shot; it was smoother and sweeter. Neither of us is a big coffee drinker though, so we would not get the plain blonde espresso shot again.

Starbucks features a few drinks as well, probably as a recommendation, one of the drinks was the Blonde Vanilla Latte. This was the second drink we tried. It consisted of milk, vanilla syrup, and espresso.

Riley’s review: This drink is my favorite, you can still taste the coffee flavor, but it doesn’t have a burnt bitter taste. It was a little sweet because of the vanilla flavoring but I personally thought it was very good.

Gabe’s review: I am not a fan of coffee, therefore this drink was not one of my favorites. Although, I did prefer this over the plain espresso shot. It was much sweeter, and smooth. I thought you could still taste a bit of a bitter taste, but it isn’t as strong as a normal cup of coffee.

The final drink we tried was an iced caramel macchiato, and we substituted the regular espresso with the Blonde espresso. This drink consisted of milk, espresso, vanilla syrup, and a caramel drizzle over the top.

Riley’s review: The original caramel macchiato is my go-to drink in the summer; I always get it iced and it is very refreshing. Without the blonde espresso, you can’t really taste any bitterness from the espresso. After trying it with the blonde espresso I thought it was way too sweet. I couldn’t taste a coffee flavor at all; it also tasted a bit watered down.

Gabe’s review: I just recently started drinking the caramel macchiato. I think it is pretty good. It is a good drink for someone who does not like a strong coffee flavor. After I tried it with the blonde espresso I also thought that it was too sweet, although, I liked it a little bit more because it wasn’t as bitter. If I got this again I would probably ask for it without caramel, which would eliminate some of the sweetness.

Overall, we liked the Blonde espresso. If you are new to coffee, or don’t like that strong bitter taste, we recommend asking for the Blonde espresso.

For more information, please visit: https://news.starbucks.com/press-releases/starbucks-blonde-espresso-launches-in-u.s.-stores

By Natalie Braga, Piper Gallivan, & Alivia Arredondo

The Barden Bellas are back in the third installment of the Pitch Perfect series. This movie was filled with jokes, music, and all of the fan favorite characters. After seeing it in theatres, we found ourselves simultaneously hating and loving it, and here is why. (Warning: this will contain spoilers.)

The plot strayed from the general predictable storylines of the first two movies. In those, the characters goals were laid out at the beginning, and you could easily tell they were going to achieve their goals. In this movie, the plot kept taking weird turns and it was hard to tell what was going on.

The overall plot was the Bellas, now in their early 30s and dissatisfied with their lives, are going on a reunion tour across Europe for the USO to be together one last time. On this tour, there was also a competition where DJ Khaled, a powerful and comedic character, was going to pick one of the acts to open for him on his upcoming tour.

As with most movies, there were sub-plots, but these didn’t really add to the movie, instead making it more confusing. Nothing seemed more out of place than Fat Amy and her dad’s storyline. He was a powerful, crime-bust, drug dealer who had been out of touch with her since she was a teenager. He recently found her and was trying to get the 180 million dollars that she had stored away from her mom. Through all of this, he ends up kidnapping the Bellas and holding them hostage on a boat with the threat of harming them.

Then came a scene that was more like a spy movie than anything else, with Fat Amy setting off a bomb and saving her team members. It was hard to understand why this was incorporated because it was a major distraction for a movie that already had a lot going on.

The ending was not what would be expected, with DJ Khaled only picking Becca instead of all of the Bellas. This led to a heartwarming and emotional scene, where they tell Becca they support her, and that they all love each other. Although the plot, at times was all over the place, the ending was still nice for a series so many people love.

The music and the acting overall in the movie wasn’t up to the standards set up by the other two movies. There seemed to be a lack of music, which was very unfortunate. However, the songs and remixes that did make it were quite good and the girls continue to be very talented singers. Music is such an important factor in movies, especially in the Pitch Perfect series, so to cut the amount of music in this movie was a bad idea by the writers and disappointing to the viewers.

The acting in this movie wasn’t bad, but overall there were some parts that seemed to be forced and unnecessary. For example, many of the scenes with Fat Amy and her father were not very well acted out and the whole thing seemed very forced. It is hard to tell why DJ Khaled got lines in this movie. Though some people disagree, he seemed to have lines that didn’t add much to the story and the acting was subpar. Aside from him, the Bellas and the other supporting actors did a good job with their parts. Most of them were able to bring their characters to life and seemed very believable, which was pleasing to watch and is appreciated.

In comparison to the other two Pitch Perfect movies, it seemed to be not as high quality and more forced than the others. Nearly all the characters came back, excluding Jesse, Bumper, and for the most part Stacy, if you don’t count her small and somewhat irrelevant appearances of her being pregnant. It was sad to see that Jesse was gone due to him being a very beloved character in the last two movies, and to cut his character entirely was a disappointing.

The girls still had crazy, hilarious personalities that were amusing for the most part, however, they seemed a little overdone after having the same jokes being made as the other two movies.

Though this plot continued to mostly follow Becca, this was the first movie where Fat Amy played a major role, which made sense due to her being a fan favorite. Unfortunately, we found her to be a bit too overpowering in comparison to her smaller, but still important, roles like before.

Besides these things, the bubbly personalities of the talented group still kept their charm, and were still satisfying enough to watch for anyone who had become invested in these girls over the years.

Overall, the movie was not the best quality, and we expected more from the creators, however, we don’t regret seeing how the beloved Barden Bellas’ trilogy came to an end. For those who have never seen the other movies, the jokes and plot may seem confusing, but for those who loved the first two, it is worth it to watch the Bellas go on one last crazy adventure together.