Consider This Before Adding Syrup And Sweetener To Your Starbucks Drink

One of the simplest joys of getting your coffee at Starbucks is how easily you can customize your drink. Feel like adding sweet cream to your mocha? You can do it. Want to blend strawberries in with your vanilla Frappuccino? Why not? Starbucks' array of syrups, drizzles, and milk opens the door to endless possibilities, which is probably why secret Starbucks menus are growing by the day.

Outside of the creative twists people add to their Starbucks drinks, there are ways to construct normal drinks at cheaper costs. In fact, a grande-sized iced mocha can cost up to $5.25, while one you "construct" with espresso shots only costs $3.30. But before you try out these secret hacks, you may want to know what goes into the standard Starbucks-flavored latte. For example, a Grande iced caffè mocha already has four pumps of mocha sauce, while a Grande iced coffee has four pumps of Classic syrup (via Starbucks). A standard rule that most Starbucks drinks follow is three pumps of syrup or sauce for a tall, four pumps for a grande, and six pumps for a venti iced, according to a Starbucks barista at Insider.

Keeping that in mind, you might want to consider how sweet you want your secret menu drink to be. Adding raspberry syrup to your iced caffè mocha might be too sweet for your liking if you add it on top of the standard four pumps of mocha sauce — that could be eight pumps of sweetener in a 16-ounce cup! Ordering in person, you may not realize how sweet your customized drink will turn out, so it's always good to remember that there are four pumps in a grande ratio. Most Starbucks menu items only use sauce or syrup for certain drinks (via Roasty Coffee) rather than both, so adjusting the sweetness for your own preference is necessary.

Let's say you're not a huge fan of creative flavor combinations, but you are trying to make a cheaper Starbucks latte. You might think you can add a splash of milk to your iced coffee and some mocha sauce. However, the regular iced coffee already has four pumps of Classic syrup, which is 15 grams of sugar – so if you like things extra sweet, go ahead! But if you're looking to replicate the standard iced mocha, make sure you ask for your iced coffee unsweetened before you add mocha sauce. It'll taste very similar to the actual drink and cost much less. The next time you want to try some interesting Starbucks hacks, make sure you order your drink with the right level of sweetness.