What Makes Starbucks' Iced Coffee Clover Vertica Unique?

When it comes to cold coffee beverages at Starbucks, you have a multitude of choices: normal and nitro Cold Brew, Iced Shaken Espressos, Iced Flat Whites, Lattes, Macchiatos, Mochas, Americanos, and just straight up Iced Coffee. You might opt for the latter choice thinking that it's the simplest, but even with this run-of-the-mill drink, there's a borderline overwhelming amount of choices. Besides the size, syrup flavor, and topping, you can now choose between normal Iced Coffee and Iced Coffee Clover Vertica. But what does that even mean? Surprisingly, Clover Vertica is not a type of coffee roast. What makes Iced Coffee Clover Vertica different from the norm is actually the way — or rather where — it's brewed. 

In 2022, Starbucks released its new Clover Vertica coffee machine, a top-speed single-cup brewer that can grind and pour coffee in under a minute, and began to deploy it in all U.S. stores. The machine revolutionized the way the coffee shop runs by providing what Starbucks calls "the fastest bean-to-cup experience in the coffee industry." It's also one of the most eco-friendly machines yet, eliminating the need for single-use filters and batch-brewing. The Clover Vertica also has an iced coffee setting, which uses whole bean iced coffee to brew this cup of Joe, but the default blend is the same as the normal Starbucks Iced Coffee; any difference in taste is due to the brewing method.

All Starbucks Iced Coffee uses a default bean blend, which was changed in May 2024, but the Clover Vertica can still crank out customized iced coffee drinks. To make an Iced Americano that's perfectly suited to your taste buds, choose from Signature Espresso Roast, Blonde Espresso Roast, Dark Roasts, and varying levels of Decaf Espresso Roast. For a smoother Starbucks iced coffee drink, try an Iced Blonde Caffè Americano. As a bonus, Starbucks stopped serving its Iced Coffees default sweetened in 2024, so if you're a black coffee drinker, you no longer have to specify "no classic."

If you do want your iced coffee drink sweetened, the choice of syrup is up to you. Everyone has different preferences in this area, but we've ranked every Starbucks syrup from worst to best if you need help choosing. Some tried-and-true combinations include an Iced Blonde Roast Americano with Splenda, cream, and caramel sauce and an Iced Americano with 2 pumps of toffee nut syrup, 2 pumps of caramel syrup, and Sweet Cream Cold Foam. Or, you can opt to keep it simple with an Iced Coffee with equal amounts of classic and mocha syrups.