How Much Syrup To Add When Making Custom Starbucks Drinks

We all love a good Starbucks drink, whether it's a classic vanilla latte or a peach iced tea lemonade. And if you're a regular, then you likely have your order down to a T — including exactly how many pumps of flavored syrup you prefer in your drink. But if you're not as familiar with how to navigate the amount of syrup you want in your drink, we're here to break it down for you.

All in all, it comes down to the size of the drink. The smallest Starbucks size — the tall — typically has three pumps of flavored syrup; the next size up, a grande, has four pumps. Finally, the bigger venti size has five pumps — or if it's an iced drink (because the venti is slightly larger for iced drinks), it has six pumps.

Knowing those size details, you can customize your drink exactly to your liking. Reduce the number of syrup pumps for a more subtle sweetness, or if you have a really strong sweet tooth, then go all out and add a couple more pumps (although this will cost you a bit extra). Plus, knowing the amount that typically goes into each size, you'll have a better idea of how many pumps to ask for if the drink you're ordering doesn't typically come with any type of syrup.

Now that you have a bit more information on how Starbucks makes its drinks, it makes it all the easier for you to whip up your go-to order in the comfort of your own home to save yourself some money and a trip to your local Starbucks.

If you're intrigued by the idea of making your own Starbucks drink, then you'll need to acquire the syrups that are so essential to many of their recipes. Starbucks has its own brand of syrups made by Fontana specifically for the coffee chain, so you probably won't be able to find their exact syrups in local grocery stores. However, grocery stores do sell other brands of flavored syrups — such as Torani, a well-known brand that is even used in some other coffee shops — that will give you a very similar flavor to what you're used to in a Starbucks. In fact, Tasting Table even ranked Torani as the third-best coffee syrup brand.

But if you're determined to mimic your local Starbucks exactly, then you can ask to buy one of their bottles of syrup when you go into one of their locations. It's not a guarantee, but if your Starbucks store has extra liters of syrups, they may be able to sell you one. Typically, only some of their flavors are available for purchase: vanilla, sugar-free vanilla, classic, caramel, hazelnut, and cinnamon dolce; you generally can't buy the seasonal flavors, such as peppermint or their ultra-popular pumpkin spice (you'll have to stick to Torani for those). You may also be able to find the Starbucks syrups on eBay or Amazon from secondary sellers, but these will likely sell at a steep upcharge.