Starbucks Launches First Liquor-Flavored Mooncakes with Savory Fillings; Adorable Moon Rabbit Cup Design Perfect for Mid-Autumn

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family, compiled and reported

From traditional Chinese mooncakes to refined Western-style desserts, from room-temperature pastries to cooling ice cream mooncakes, this year’s Starbucks autumn gift boxes feature a total of 19 options, including mooncakes, packaged foods, and coffee bean gift sets. With diverse gifting choices priced from $360 to $2,280, pre-orders are open from August 1 to September 12. The gift box design is themed around “Moonlit Blooms,” connected by the concept of “roundness,” symbolizing the full moon and joyful reunions. It also incorporates hand-drawn floral illustrations accented with warm, bright colors, inviting consumers to enjoy the moonlight, chat with family and friends amidst the gentle breeze, and tend to flowers and plants, creating a cozy and delightful Mid-Autumn evening.

To target the premium customer segment, Starbucks has introduced a brand-new “Moonlight Treasure Box,” pairing milk custard mooncakes with innovative hidden fillings. Among them, the “Whiskey Hidden Filling Milk Custard Mooncake” combines the unique purity of single malt whiskey with the rich flavor of milk custard, delivering a deep, restrained, and unexpectedly mature taste.

The “Caramel Macchiato Hidden Filling Milk Custard Mooncake” blends the intense flavor of coffee liqueur with the milk custard filling, using milk to bring out a distinctive caramel aroma with a smooth, non-bitter aftertaste that is unforgettable. The Moonlight Treasure Box is designed with the concept of an “autumn picnic basket.” The gift box features a “leather handle” and a “sliding wooden box,” and can be repurposed as a chic picnic set for light meals even after the mooncakes are eaten—elegant yet practical.

 The “Moonlight Elegance” gift box offers four unique puff ice cream mooncakes, including the “Matcha Red Bean Puff” inspired by the “Red Bean Matcha Frappuccino” and the classic Frappuccino flavor extended into the “Mocha Cocoa Chip Puff.”

The “Moonlight Garden” combines mooncakes, pastries, and cakes, including the “Sea Salt Caramel Latte Mooncake,” which merges the best-selling caramel-flavored latte with a crust seasoned with natural sea salt for a rich, layered taste, and the “Jin Xuan Black Tea Crisp Pastry,” which incorporates France’s thick crisp pastry with Taiwan’s local Jin Xuan black tea, delivering an elegant and fragrant taste of autumn.