Cold brew drinks are our jam. We drink iced coffee pretty much year-round over here – except for a few weeks where hypothermia is a very real possibility. So, we consider ourselves experts on the iced coffee and cold brew drink options at coffeehouses in our area, like Starbucks.
Starbucks has a really expansive drink list for people who prefer iced coffee or cold brew based drinks and it’s growing all the time as they incorporate new milks and flavors, like brown sugar syrups and oatmilk.
Since we recently shared all about their cold brew coffees, we wanted to share every single drink you can order at Starbucks, ranked from least popular (and our least favorite) to the most popular and best.
Next time you’re driving through for that holy green straw, revisit this list, try something new and tell us what you think! Before we break down the ranked list, let’s quickly go over the difference between the cold coffee options.
The Difference Between Starbucks Iced Coffee, Cold Brew & Nitro Cold Brew:
Admittedly, there seems to be more and more options for how to drink your coffee. Let’s cover the basics of what makes each of these distinct, so you can find the perfect coffee for you.
Starbucks Iced Coffee:
Starbucks Iced Coffee is simply brewed coffee that has been chilled and poured over ice. It has the same caffeine and calorie content as coffee, which is about 60 calories for 12 ounces. Check out my favorite 13 iced coffee drinks at Starbucks in this post next.
Starbucks Cold Brew:
- Starbucks Cold Brew is coffee grounds that have been steeped for 20 hours in cold water.
- Starbucks makes small batches throughout the day and stored in airtight kegs.
- Starbucks uses their Narino blend from Narino, Colombia, for their cold brew.
- Cold Brew drinks are served with ice and come in 4 sizes (tall, grande, venti and trenta). See more information on Starbucks cup sizes here.
- Read our detailed review of Starbucks Cold Brew here.
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew:
- Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is cold brew that has been infused with nitrogen. It is kept in a separate airtight keg with a nitrogen tank attached to it.
- Nitro cold brew drinks are served without a straw or ice.
- Nitro cold brew is available in 2 sizes only, but is also used in several of their drinks!
- You can buy Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew in cans at stores like Target, Amazon and Walmart.
- Nitro cold brew comes in four flavors – Dark Cocoa Sweet Cream, Vanilla Sweet Cream, Dark Caramel and Black Unsweetened.
- Read our detailed review of Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew here.
*Starbucks also uses iced espresso to make even more iced drinks. We’ll share all of those in a future post!
Starbucks Iced Coffee Drinks – Ranked:
2. Starbucks Iced Coffee:
The classic iced coffee is just 60 calories! The perfect low cal, no carb coffee drink to keep you going. Plus, iced coffee is one of the most affordable items on the menu, so it’ll keep you in budget as well!
1. Starbucks Iced Coffee With Milk:
This was my drink of choice for years. Literally, years. It’s just a little bit more expensive than the plain iced coffee and I would add their house sweetener (simple syrup). The only reason I stopped drinking it is because I stopped drinking dairy and it wasn’t as good with oatmilk. Plus, they started releasing new oatmilk and almond milk shaken espressos that are delish!
Keep reading to find out how you can customize simple drinks like this to be exactly what you want!
Starbucks Cold Brew Drinks – Ranked:
Ahhh, now we’re talkin’! There are some seriously delicious drinks that use cold brew coffee as the base. Here are some of our favorites, ranked from the least popular to most popular:
8. Starbucks Irish Cream Cold Brew:
The new Irish cream drinks at both Starbucks and Dutch Bros are seriously so good and we are here for this slightly unexpected coffee pairing.
Dutch Bros offer sugar-free Irish Cream syrup as well. Check out more about their sugar-free syrups here.
7. Starbucks Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew:
I’m a huge salted caramel fan and am all about adding it to coffee (as well as anything else). The salt definitely gives it a unique flavor that is a bit more tart than the other options.
6. Starbucks Honey Almondmilk Cold Brew:
Absolutely love this cold brew drink sweetened with a honey syrup with just a dash of almondmilk to make it creamy. Perfect for those of us that are dairy-free!
5. Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee With Milk:
This simple and delicious iced coffee drink is low in calories and can be customized to whatever milk you like. You can have them add syrups or even their simple syrup to sweeten. For plain simple syrup, ask for it “sweetened”. There’s a set number of pumps per cup size, so you can ask to add more or less based on your preferences. We usually add one pump more per size, because we like it a little sweeter.
4. Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew:
My FAVORITE holiday drink at Starbucks. The pumpkin cold brew is SO SO GOOD. I am not a fan of the traditional pumpkin spice latte (don’t judge), but I love this one. If you also don’t like PSL, you might really like this one instead.
For more about Starbucks Fall drinks, read this post.
3. Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee:
Bet you didn’t think you could get even lower calorie than the iced coffee – but here you go! Cold brew is smoother, lower in calories, but higher in caffeine! Score! Learn a lot more about Starbucks cold brew in this post.
2. Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew:
The other WTF writer says this is their most favorite coffee of all time and definitely their fave at Starbucks! The Vanilla sweet cream is a delicious combination. Make one of these at home using our easy recipe – the Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew Copycat – it’s shockingly similar!
We have ranked this as the top cold brew based drink at Starbucks, because we love it and it’s hugely popular at Starbucks for being a bit sweeter, creamier, and still low in calories, thanks to the smooth cold brew coffee used.
We love this drink so much, we wrote a whole post about it. Check it out here.
1. Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew:
Oh boy, this one is DELICIOUS. A brand new drink this summer and I’ve ordered it every day since I had my first one. I wrote a whole post about how great it is here.
Then, I decided to try to whip up some chocolate cream cold foam myself and it was easier than I thought. That, plus some vanilla syrup and cold brew coffee and voila – I had a copycat that was seriously so good.
Check out my video of how similar it looks. To check out the full copycat recipe, head to this post.
View this post on Instagram
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew Drinks – Ranked:
Starbucks uses both cold brew and their Nitro Cold Brew as bases for their drinks. There are currently 4 drinks come with Nitro Cold Brew and they are all delicious! Here’s an overview of your options:
We’ll take a look at each one and rank them for you in the order of our favorites! To learn more about Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew – read our detailed guide here.
4. Starbucks Honey Almondmilk Nitro Cold Brew:
In this delicious beverage, nitro cold brew is lightly sweetened with honey and then topped off with almondmilk.
3. Starbucks Reserve Nitro Cold Brew:
This small-lot Starbucks Reserve® cold brew is infused with nitrogen for a naturally sweet flavor and cascading, velvety crema you can see and taste (see here).
2. Nitro Cold Brew:
Small batch cold brew, steeped for 20 hours, and then kept in an airtight keg. When served, it is infused with nitrogen which creates micro-bubbles and gives it a delectable foam.
1. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew:
Nitro cold brew served cold with a float of house-made vanilla sweet cream. Yum. This is our favorite Nitro Cold Brew available at Starbucks.
But, if you’re buying Nitro Cold Brew, you can pick up additional flavors like caramel and dark cocoa.
What does Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew taste like?
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew has a super smooth, mild flavor. I do not typically drink coffee black, but this one I could drink black. Or, I could easily drink one of the flavored versions without anything added. This makes for a very low calorie, low carb, low sugar drink, too. If you’re trying to go keto – nitro cold brew is your jam.
Customizing Your Drink at Starbucks:
There are tons of ways to customize your drink at Starbucks and make it exactly how you want it. Don’t be shy about asking for what you want! Here are some of the customization options to think about:
- Coffee Type:
You can request your preference for coffee type. For example, any iced coffee can be made with cold brew or nitro cold brew instead.
- Flavors:
You can add any of the available syrups to your drinks to make them how you want. You usually order added syrups by the pump, so you would say, “Add 2 pumps of vanilla syrup.”
- Sweeteners:
Some of the drinks do not have added sweeteners, but you can always add them. Their classic simple syrup is just sugar dissolved in water so that it doesn’t settle at the bottom of the coffee. If you want a flavored syrup, you can choose a flavor, or ask for honey or Splenda.
- Milk:
One of the most important customizations is going to be your milk choice. Milk is not only a dietary preference, but also can change the texture and flavor of the drink. Most Starbucks offer all types of milk (whole, 2%, etc.) as well as coconut milk, soy milk, almond milk and our favorite – oat milk. You can also add half ‘n half.
- Cold foam or whipped cream:
Yup – you can add that whip to any drink! Now, you can also add their cold foam to any iced drink, too.
- Toppings:
Some of your topping options include caramel or chocolate drizzle, seasonings like cinnamon and seasonal toppings such as pumpkin spice topping.
How To Order At Starbucks:
Overhwhelmed with all your options? There’s an easy way to place your order and you can prep it in advance so you can rattle it off like a total pro.
Know that some customizations do have an added cost and they won’t tell you upfront what the price will be. If you order it, they assume you know. You can ask if you need to know before you order.
Here’s an example of the formula for how to place your order:
Iced grande vanilla oatmilk latte with whip.
Let’s break it down:
- Start with temperature – hot or iced
- Follow with size – such as tall, grande (more about Starbucks sizes here)
- Now add syrups if you’re making adjustments or start to list the syrups in the original drink name
- Make sure to follow it with your milk choice, such as oatmilk
- Add type of drink last – such as cold brew, latte, macchiato, etc.
- Finish with your toppings! Do you want whip? Say that now!
Once you get the hang of it – we promise it’ll start rolling off the tongue.
More Starbucks Drinks To Try:
Do you love trying new drinks at Starbucks? Check these out!
- 17 TikTok Inspired Starbucks Secret Menu Drinks
- 12 Starbucks Drinks Under 200 Calories
- The Starbucks Pup Cup: A Puppuccino for your Pet!
- 14 Best Starbucks Iced Coffee Drinks
*****
We hope this guide helps you find your new favorite cold coffee at Starbucks! We really do love their growing list of options and how happy they are to customize drinks.
We’ll be back soon with all of the iced espresso drinks available.
Get roasted,
A
