Did you know that most Starbucks espresso drinks can be made hot or iced? Or that you can customize practically any aspect of your drink?
On this page we explain everything you'll want to know so your drink can be made exactly the way you want it.
Types of Drinks
Brewed coffee and tea
Espresso
Iced Coffee and Cold Brew
Iced Tea
Refreshers
Frappuccinos
The Classic Sneak Attack
Oleato
Drink Suggestions
Let's get this out of the way right from the start. You don't need to be fluent in the weird names Starbucks gives to its drink sizes. Ordering drinks as small, medium, and large will get you what you want.
That said, knowing the terms can help you with everything from customizing your drink to figuring prices .
- SHORT (8oz): This extra-small size is available for most hot drinks. If you order plain espresso shots, you'll get them in a short cup. If you order a Kid's Hot Chocolate, this is the size you'll get.
- TALL (12oz): A typical small-size drink. It's what you'll get if you order a small.
- GRANDE (16oz): This is what you'll get if you order a medium drink
- VENTE (20oz hot / 24oz cold): Order a large drink and this is what you'll get.
- TRENTA (30oz): This extra-large size is available only for certain cold drinks such as refreshers, iced teas, and iced coffee.
Not sure what to order? Want to try something new? Knowing the categories of Starbucks drinks can help you figure out what you're in the mood for based on things like the time of day, weather, and even your budget.
Here's a quick list of the types of drinks....
- HOT COFFEE and TEA: Drip coffee and tea bags
- ESPRESSO: Coffee drinks made with the espresso machine. Includes chai and matcha tea lattes.
- ICED COFFEE and COLD BREW: Iced coffee from an urn and cold brewed coffee served from a tap
- ICED TEA and REFRESHERS: Non-espresso drinks that are shaken with ice.
- FRAPPUCCINOS: Blended drinks - with or without coffee
Little more than a latte
There really is only one thing you need to know about espresso drinks...
A Latte is just espresso and milk
Most other espresso drinks simply are variations of lattes!
These are the things you can vary to make other drinks...
Flavored Syrups and Sauces
Most fancy named espresso drinks basically are lattes with syrup (though they may have slight differences including how they're topped).
For example...
- A Mocha is a latte with mocha syrup
- A Cinnamon Dolce Latte is a latte with Cinnamon Dolce syrup
- The famous Pumpkin Spice Latte is a latte with Pumpkin sauce
Want a Vanilla Latte? Despite being one of the most popular drinks, there isn't even a button on the POS for it. It will get rung up as a Latte with Vanilla syrup added.
As for the popular Caramel Macchiato - that's essentially a Vanilla Latte... but with caramel drizzle topping. If you want caramel syrup you gotta ask for it.
You can customize syrups
Each drink comes with a prescribed number of syrup squirts depending on the drink size. But you can make it any number you want to make the drink more or less sweet.
You also can add another syrup. Maybe you love Peppermint Mochas. But they're offered on the menu only in winter. No problem - just order a Mocha with peppermint. One caveat - you'll get the full number of squirts of each syrup. If that sounds a bit gross, then just ask to reduce the amount of each (you might have to try a few times to find just the right combination).
Click here for more suggestions on customizing your drink.
Milk
The default milk for most espresso drinks is 2-percent milk. Most exceptions are obvious because the drink name includes its default milk (for example the Honey Almondmilk Flat White). But how would you know that a Flat White is made with whole milk by default?
Regardless of default, any drink with milk can be made with any available milk.
Pro Tip: As of November 2024 Starbucks no longer charges extra for non-dairy milk options.
Espresso Shots
Obviously shots of espresso are the heart of espresso drinks . Drinks can be modified by changing the number and type of shots.
Just ask how many shots will come with your drink, and then ask for more (or fewer) shots.
Temperature
Most drinks can be made either hot or iced.
Hot drinks are made with steamed milk (or juice in some cases). You can ask for your drink to be made extra hot or warm (also referred to as kid's temp). If you specify a hotness, it affects only the temperature that the milk is steamed at.
Iced espresso drinks are made with cold milk, and a scoop of ice is added. You can ask for light ice or extra ice. Most iced drinks even can be made with no ice.
A few espresso drinks (such as a Cappuccino) can't be made iced.
Pro Tip: Many Starbucks espresso machines have just those three temperature settings. You can ask for a specific temperature if it makes you feel good, but your drink still is gonna be made with one of those settings.
Toppings
Each espresso drink comes with a prescribed topping such as whipped cream or caramel drizzle. Regardless, you can add (or remove) any topping for any drink.
Here are a few examples of standard toppings for drinks...
- Caramel Macchiato: Caramel drizzle
- Mocha and White Chocolate Mocha: Whipped cream
- Pumpkin Spice Latte: Whipped Cream and pumpkin spice
Click here to see all espresso drinks and their standard toppings.
Starbucks stores typically brew three different roast varieties...
o Medium: Pikes Place - the always-available coffee at every Starbucks
o Blonde: Almost always Veranda - a lighter-roasted, less intense coffee
o Dark: Think Italian Roast, but the variety varies.
By late-morning, most stores will stop brewing everything except Pikes Place.
Notice something missing? Yeah... decaf. Most stores don't keep brewed decaf coffee.
Good things to know
Blonde roast - because it is roasted the least - actually has the most caffeine.
Pro Tip: Coffee is intended to be brewed fresh every half hour, but basically is good for an hour. There's a little red light at the base of each urn. If you observe it blinking then it's been there longer. You might wanna ask if they're brewing a fresh batch.
If you want a decaf coffee, a dark roast, or a blonde roast when it's not being brewed, you can ask for it as a Pour Over.
Pro Tip :A good alternative for Blonde or Decaf is an Americano with one of those roasts. And a regular Americano might satisfy your dark roast urge.
Good news on the horizon
Starbucks will be rolling out a new type of drip coffee maker which will allow you to get a fresh hot cup of any of the three coffee roasts whenever you order it.
If iced coffee served from a big urn doesn't sound romantic, it's because it isn't.
Unlike Starbucks' other coffee products, the iced coffee is brewed from a package of pre-ground beans. It can sit in the urn for up to 12 hours.
Like hot brewed coffee, iced coffee comes with no sweetener or cream by default (it used to come sweetened with Starbucks Classic Syrup ). If you want it with sweetener or cream, just ask.
Iced Coffee is one roast. You can't get it decaf or blonde.
There are other good options to Iced Coffee...
Iced Americano
Why is an iced Americano is a better option than Iced Coffee?
- It's made fresh from espresso beans ground after you order it
- It's available in decaf (and Blonde espresso also)
- You can specify the number of espresso shots you want
- They cost about the same
Another good option is a Cold Brew
Cold Brew
You can order just a plain cold brew. You can customize it with milk and any syrup flavor.
You also can order a Nitro Cold Brew, though the largest size sold is Grande and it is served without ice.
You can have any flavor you want - as long as it's vanilla
You can order any of a plethora of flavored cold brews, from Chocolate Cream to the seasonal Pumpkin Cream, but don't think you're getting those appropriate sounding syrups in it. You would be wrong. The syrup in almost all cold brew variations is vanilla. The named flavoring comes from the cold foam that goes on top. Otherwise the drinks are identical.
Of course you can substitute the syrup you want, as long as you know to ask for it. And are willing to pay a little extra. Is it worth it? That depends. For some... like Chocolate Cream... the vanilla might actually taste better. For the Pumpkin? Go for it.
Coffee (with ice)
The cheapest iced coffee option. Just order a cup of coffee and ask for a (free) cup of ice. Get the coffee how you want and then just pour it over the ice.
Starbucks has several choices if you want a cup of hot tea steeped with teabags. It's best to just ask what's availabLe.
Tall tea is made with 1 teabag. Grande and Vente teas are made with 2 teabags.
Amateur Tip: The only difference between a Grande and a Vente tea is the amount of hot water. It's not a big difference, but you can order a Grande tea and ask them to put it in a Vente cup. Then just ask for extra hot water (free). It's tacky though, and the price difference is like 20 cents. So don't do it. I just mentioned this here because some Starbucks executive is gonna get their panties in a wad after reading it.
Pro Tip: If you order a Grande or Vente, you can request it be made with just one teabag so you can take the other one still packaged.
Hot Tea IcedStarbucks does have iced teas, but you also can get iced versions of the hot teas. The barista will brew the hot tea for about 5 minutes and then pour it over ice.
Pro Tip: You did see where this takes 5 minutes, right?
Do this in the Drive-Thru and you will be talked about.
Starbucks sells three types of Iced Tea...
- Green
- Black
- Passion Tango
Iced Teas are made with the tea, water, and ice shaken in a shaker jar. Alternatively, you can have the water replaced by lemonade (or lemonade and peach juice).
Iced Teas come unsweetened by default. While you can sweeten your tea with any available sweetener. Starbucks previously recommended their Liquid Cane Sugar syrup. In mid-2024 they discontinued the Liquid Cane Sugar. Now, if you ask for sweetener you'll get the Classic Syrup.
Starbucks sells three types of refreshers (known as refresher bases)...
- Strawberry Acai
- Mango Dragonfruit
- Pineapple Passionfruit
Each can be mixed with either...
- Water
- Lemonade
- Coconut Milk
The mixture is shaken in a shaker jar along with freeze-dried fruit pieces and ice.
The refreshers mixed with coconut milk have special names...
- Strawberry Acai: Pink Drink
- Mango Dragonfruit: Dragon Drink
- Pineapple Passionfruit: Paradise Drink
What refreshers do and don't contain...
Fruit - No. Refreshers contain virtually no fruit
Caffeine - Yes. Refreshers do contain caffeine
Frappuccino's are cold drinks made from milk, syrups, and ice blended in a blender. Think smoothie but with syrups instead of fruit. Or think milkshake with no ice cream.
There is a menu of standard Frappuccinos. They can be customized, however, in many similar ways to Lattes...
Coffee or no?
Coffee-based Frappuccinos contain squirts of Frappuccino Roast syrup, made from coffee. They also contain a coffee-flavored "base" used to make drink the blend smoother. They contain caffeine.
Frappuccinos with Creme in their name do not contain caffeine. Creme-based Frappuccinos omit the Frappuccino Roast and use a creme flavored "base".
There also is the option of having a decaffeinated version of a coffee-based Frappuccino. That will omit the Frappuccino Roast and add decaf espresso shots.
The Espresso Frappuccino is the only Frappuccino that comes by default with an espresso shot.
Pro Tip: You can add espresso shots to any Frappuccino. Just keep in mind that it can make the Frappuccino a bit more liquidy. If you want more than one espresso shot, you should consider a Venti sized drink in order to maintain the Frappuccino's consistency.
Super Pro Tip: Ristretto shots contain less water. So if you're worried about shots making your drink too watery, ask for them to be ristretto.
Milk
Frappuccinos are made by default with whole milk. However, any Frappuccino can be made with any available milk.
Syrup
You can customize your Frappuccino with any syrups and flavorings.
Other Customizations
If you want your Frappuccino a little thicker, ask for extra ice
If you want a smoother Frappuccino, you can ask for it to be double blended.
WATCH OUT FOR THE CLASSIC SNEAK ATTACK
Some drinks sound so refreshing. The Iced Shaken Espresso and the Strawberry Creme Frappuccino for example. So you order one of them, but your anticipation of something cold and crisp is met by a syrupy heaviness instead.
You've been a victim of the Classic (syrup) Sneak Attack!
Those are two of the drinks that by default are made with Starbucks Classic syrup. The drinks are...
- Iced Coffee (no longer as of May 2024)
- Iced Shaken Espresso
- Strawberry Creme Frappuccino
- Matcha Creme Frappuccino
The fix is easy... if you order one of these drinks just ask for it to be made with no Classic.
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