47 Most Popular Starbucks Drinks, Ranked

First-timers at Starbucks are understandably overwhelmed. After all, the menu is vast, and there are so many different offerings for so many different flavors; it's hard to know where to begin. We understand this potential issue and want to help, so we think it's worth the time to go over some of the more popular drinks. That way, you'll know a little more about each type before ordering and what to expect.

Before choosing your drink, we recommend deciding first whether you want an iced or hot drink. From there, the menu gets a little simpler. Consider whether you're looking for something closer to tea, coffee, or a milkshake. If you love tea, Starbucks has you covered with black, green, and even herbal tea drinks.

Coffee drinks range from slightly bitter to some that are closer to dessert. Then, there's Starbucks' iconic Frappuccinos. For those, you'll find either crème-based or coffee-based options. The coffee ones will still have caffeine, while the crème ones will not. (The exception is crème-based Frappuccinos with matcha or chai in them as an ingredient.) These crème-based options make awesome kid-friendly drinks for smaller Starbucks customers. To choose our rankings, we considered several things, including the flavor and inventiveness of the beverages in question, as well as consumer reviews and the popularity ascertained from the writer's personal experiences as a Starbucks barista.

Hot black coffee is an integral part of the roots of Starbucks. The chain originally focused on selling high-quality beans — which remained one of its main products during the first decade of business. As Starbucks tells it, once investor Howard Schultz took over the business, he turned it into a cafe serving only brewed coffee.

Today, you can find several varieties of hot coffee on the Starbucks menu: a blonde roast, dark roast, decaf, and Pike Place, to name a few. This last roast is the chain's signature black coffee. It's named for the original Seattle location of its first store, inside of the Pike Place farmers market. Along with its release in 2008, Starbucks changed its rules regarding coffee-making to ensure freshness: It began to require employees to grind the beans immediately before brewing and make a new pot every 30 minutes. That's another reason to credit this roast.

The Pike Place roast has remained a popular option for the already popular choice of black coffee. It's a medium roast, which means it's middle of the road for coffee strength. It's the kind of thing most people want walking into your average coffee shop, but it's not exactly what you want from Starbucks considering all the other options. Also, the flavor of the chain's brewed coffees, such as Pike Place roast, is often polarizing. For these reasons, it's ranked dead last.

The Americano is another classic coffee shop staple. It's a mild, milk-free option that is low in calories and high in caffeine. Historically, an Americano has always been simple: It's just espresso diluted with water. Starbucks' caffè Americano is made pretty much the same way, with two shots of espresso and water.

Like the Pike Place roast, the Starbucks Americano is a popular drink order, but it's a little more interesting and satisfying than a plain old coffee. For one, a caffè Americano is made with espresso, which gives the drink authenticity. It also avoids the burnt flavor that some people taste in Starbucks' brewed coffees, such as Pike Place. What's more, the process of pouring water over espresso produces a delicious, thin layer of crema, a yellowish foam on top of the drink — when done correctly. For these added features, it ranks above the Pike Place roast.

The cappuccino is where things start to get a little more interesting. This classic barista item is yet another drink that Starbucks has borrowed from Italian coffee traditions — but this one is even older than the Americano. The first known record of the cappuccino was from the 1930s. At Starbucks, the cappuccino is also one of the chain's oldest drinks. It's been on the menu since 1986.

A Starbucks cappuccino is made with one shot of espresso for its short and tall drink options and two for its grande and venti drink options. Then half steamed milk (2% by default) and half milk foam are added on top. The drink is naturally unsweetened. If you're someone who tends to prefer lattes, you can ask for a wet cappuccino, which means your drink will be made with less foam and more milk, per the company.

This drink is slightly more exciting than the previous two. It's comforting and reminds you of a coffeehouse from the '90s, a time during which Starbucks began to thrive. It isn't usually made iced, which means it preserves some of its dignity. But the cappuccino is still more about Italy, or generic cafes, than about Starbucks. For that, this popular Starbucks drink stays near the bottom of the ranking.

The Strawberry Açaí Refresher is perhaps most notably the base of the Pink Drink, which should speak to its popularity, not to mention its attractive color. Though it is lacking in coconut milk, the mild, sweet, and nostalgic flavors of strawberry and açaí are reminiscent of drinking a smoothie in the vessel of a juice drink. (Keep in mind, like other Refreshers, the actual fruit juice is made from white grapes, though the drink does include freeze-dried strawberries.)

It's an ideal quencher for Starbucks fans who don't enjoy coffee but want a caffeine boost. A grande serving of the Strawberry Açaí Refresher contains 45 milligrams of caffeine thanks to the inclusion of green coffee extract, which is derived from unroasted beans. Beyond offering a pick-me-up, the extract may be beneficial for certain health conditions, such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Additional nutritional information for the Strawberry Açaí Refresher shows it's pretty healthy overall, at least when compared to other popular Starbucks drinks. Per the menu, there are only 90 calories in the grande.

Released in 2018, the Dragon Drink is a combination of the Mango Dragonfruit Refresher plus coconut milk. Both the Dragon Drink and its Refresher base are prepared with actual pieces of dragonfruit (aka pitaya). Upon its introduction, it was promoted by Starbucks as an afternoon pick-me-up, and generally, Refreshers work pretty well for this particular use, as they contain caffeine but fewer grams than some of the other drinks on the menu. It strikes the right balance; too much caffeine, as much as six hours before bedtime, has been shown to cause worse sleep.

Similar to how the now-discontinued Star Drink didn't contain any starfruit, the Dragon Drink is mango-free, and the only dragonfruit presence comes by way of the freeze-dried pieces added to the beverage. Still, the flavor is heavy on mango, though notes of dragonfruit are barely detected. We don't exactly love this aspect of the drink. If it's going to be named Dragon Drink, shouldn't it taste like dragonfruit? While not as fun, the title of Mango Drink is a better fit for this one. 

That's not even where the failings end. Vogue argued that Dragon Drink is purely meant to be photographed and is much better suited for your Insta feed than for nourishment. We mostly agree.

The famous Pink Drink is one of the more notorious Starbucks items. It started on the Starbucks secret menu, but it didn't stay there long. The gorgeous cotton candy hue of this drink made it popular on Instagram — long before its eventual TikTok fame. The Pink Drink was then added to the real menu in 2017, where it's remained a hit. The Starbucks drink is simply the chain's Strawberry Açaí Refresher, made with coconut milk and one scoop of sliced strawberries. The result is light, refreshing, and fruity, likened to a pink Starburst.

This is a quality of many Starbucks secret menu items that should stay secret — it's unnatural for a coffee to taste like candy. What's more, coconut milk isn't an essential part of many other Starbucks drinks, and for a good reason: it tastes bad, in our opinion. You don't see many folks adding coconut milk into their coffee for the taste (not even the lactose intolerant). Despite its shortcomings, the colorful beverage surpasses its Star and Dragon Drink counterparts, and it is definitely more popular and creative than the previous coffee drinks.

The flat white was introduced in 2015 as a permanent Starbucks menu item, but the chain definitely didn't invent it. The drink is a coffee shop staple in Australia and New Zealand.

Flat whites are closer to a cappuccino in that it has steamed milk. However, there are significant differences with its predecessor. For one, the flat white is made with whole milk and ristretto, which are essentially espresso shots made with less water. The result? Ristretto shots taste more intense, have less caffeine, and appear darker in color than espresso shots. Whole milk and ristretto come together to make the flat white a more intense, creamy Starbucks drink than the cappuccino.

Also, like the cappuccino, there are significant barista skills involved. One must know how to make ristretto as well as steamed milk. Additionally, the flat white's signature centered white dot requires some finesse: Baristas must perfectly center their milk while pouring to produce the decoration on top. This is cool, and the drink is good. But you're unlikely to even see that dot inside of your Starbucks flat white cup. For that reason, the fact that Starbucks didn't create this drink, and its more boring qualities, this drink shouldn't be higher in the ranking. Again, this isn't a classic enough menu item.

Starbucks' hot chocolate may not be particularly healthy, but it's a comforting drink that's perfect during the holiday season. When the peppermint mocha seems like too much, but a regular mocha isn't going to cut it, the hot chocolate is a good choice. It has little caffeine (25 milligrams in the grande), so you can enjoy it late in the day.

Starbucks' version tastes like rich bittersweet chocolate and benefits from a topping of whipped cream. It's been voted among consumers as the best hot chocolate among fast-food chains that serve the beverage. Creaminess, richness, and the lack of artificial-tasting flavors were among the reasons why it's earned top honors. While these are all great qualities, Starbucks' hot chocolate belongs in the bottom half of the most popular Starbucks drinks ranking. One reason is it's not universal enough. The holidays only come once a year, and that's the best time to have it. Additionally, it's a bit one-note. That's great for winter but a little too boring for the rest of the year. Plus, there isn't any coffee or tea in it.

The iced matcha latte at Starbucks isn't exactly authentic. It's made with instant, pre-sweetened matcha powder. To make its iced latte, the powder is mixed with 2% milk and ice. There's actually more sugar in the instant powder than matcha. That's probably the reason why the Starbucks iced matcha latte is much sweeter and milder in matcha flavor than other matcha lattes. Due to the drink's high sugar content, it's not the healthy tea that other matcha drinks can claim to be. Sure, you may get a bit of an antioxidant boost from whatever small amount of real matcha is in Starbucks' powder — but it doesn't seem like much. 

If you've had the drink (and you appreciate matcha), you know it's a little lacking. The taste is somewhat bland and milky. To make matters worse, the commonly chosen grande size usually ends up being mostly ice, with some unmixed matcha clumps at the bottom. Overall, the iced matcha latte still tastes good, but it's not the most complex, satisfying, or inventive Starbucks tea drink.

Arnold Palmer was a professional golfer, and as the story goes, Palmer's wife frequently made iced tea. One day, Palmer had the idea of adding lemonade to it to create a mix we now know as an Arnold Palmer. Soon, the drink spread, and the popularity grew. Though not named for the golfer, Starbucks has a similar drink, the iced black tea lemonade.

The concept of this drink is the same as other tea and lemonade drinks on the menu. The iced black tea lemonade is a shaken black tea with water, lemonade, ice, and sweetener. Without modifications, the drink is a little plain. For a true Arnold Palmer-type drink, remove that water for even more lemonade, flavor, and balance. If you like very sweet tea, you'll want to up the sweetener pumps.

Some Starbucks drinks are almost as pretty as they are enjoyable, especially ones that come in bright colors, like the pretty magenta iced Passion Tango tea. This herbal tea includes hibiscus, cinnamon, apple, licorice root, and lemongrass — those pretty hibiscus flowers are certainly where that bright color comes from. To prepare this herbal iced tea, baristas steep passion tea right in the cafe each day, and this forms the basis for the drink. That iced tea gets shaken with water, ice, and liquid sweetener, if you want it sweetened — which is how we recommend it. Once everything is all mixed, it is poured into a cup, revealing that bright color. 

Plenty of Starbucks customers have gotten creative with the Refreshers and iced tea drinks, replacing the water with a different liquid. The iced Passion Tango tea is especially enjoyable with lemonade, for example. In fact, the drink is so much better with the lemonade, as the tea on its own is rather plain. 

Those who like a stronger tea flavor will enjoy the iced Passion Tango tea without water in order to have a more undiluted flavor. While Starbucks charges more for no water in Refresher drinks, there is no extra charge for no water added to iced tea, so this extra-tea change won't impact your drink's price in any way.

One of the simplest fancy drinks you can order at Starbucks is a caffè mocha. This is a slightly sweet mixture of mocha sauce with espresso and steamed milk. On top, you get a helping of swirled whipped cream. Since Starbucks baristas make whipped cream in house, that sweet swirl has a vanilla flavor from the syrup added right into the canister.

Caffè mochas, though chocolatey, aren't terribly sweet. Some customers tend to feel disappointed when ordering one because they're expecting a hot chocolate flavor. The mocha sauce used in this drink is more of a bittersweet or even dark chocolate than a milk chocolate, like you might get from a classic chocolate syrup. If you want to tamp down some of that bitterness, you could swap out your espresso for a blonde roast rather than the signature espresso roast. The signature espresso also has some bitterness to it, so the pairing of the mocha sauce and espresso can be too extreme for some. By changing the espresso to a blonde roast, the bite of the mocha is a little less prominent since the coffee's bite will be toned down, as well. 

Alternatively, with some customization, you can make a Starbucks milk chocolate mocha. The change is simple: Make half of your mocha pumps into white chocolate mocha sauce pumps. Without this swap, a caffè mocha is just too bitter, which is the reason it's ranked lower overall.

Here's another secret menu item that's worth mentioning. Personally, we think this barely qualifies as a "secret" item since it's a small modification to the Starbucks iced chai latte. It's also not exclusive to Starbucks. You can get a dirty chai at most other cafes that serve chai lattes. The reason is: The drink simply includes the addition of one espresso shot. The espresso changes the drink's texture, making it akin to a latte. Also, on the plus side, this drink has a lot of caffeine. There are 95 milligrams in a grande Starbucks iced chai latte, plus 75 milligrams in the added espresso shot. That gives the drink as much caffeine as most of Starbucks' coffee-based lattes. 

On the downside, the base of the iced dirty chai latte is similar to the issue with ordering matcha at Starbucks: It's unsurprising and inauthentic. The drink is made from a chai concentrate that's already mixed with sweetener. This gives you an overall sweet flavor, but it would be better if it was made with real chai. 

This wouldn't be a proper roundup if we didn't mention at least one of Starbucks' iced coffee lattes. These are particularly popular with Starbucks customers, and this version is one of the best. Some consider it the ultimate Starbucks vanilla latte, with a complex flavor that is hard to beat.

The iced Starbucks blonde vanilla latte is an original drink created by the chain. It captures what's best about Starbucks: fresh-tasting coffee and pumps of syrup. In fact, this drink is made with four pumps of vanilla syrup. That, along with 2% milk, perfectly complements the blonde espresso, a more mild-tasting espresso, which is an invention of the company.

This drink has turned the chain's many vanilla latte fans into blonde vanilla latte superfans. The Daily Meal writes, "This goes out to all the people who like their coffee to not really taste like coffee: You will love this drink. It's silky and smooth, and it does not taste burnt like the traditional dark-roast espresso."

Although lattes are great, they're a bit passé. Cold brew coffee has kind of been the thing for a while now. The multi-hour brewing process results in a drink that is less acidic than your standard iced coffee. In 2015, Starbucks' cold brew was introduced. Its nitro version is first made like the regular cold brew: coarsely ground coffee is added to cold water and then left to sit for 20 hours. The coffee is slowly extracted from the grounds and then combined with water. For Starbucks' nitro cold brew, nitrogen is then infused into the coffee, creating tiny air bubbles and an added layer of foam.

This nitro coffee is a thing of beauty. Brewed to be served cold, your ice won't water it down. Per the chain's menu, a grande contains 80 milligrams more caffeine than a regular cold brew. The extended process of making Starbucks' nitro cold brew ensures a better quality — on average — than Starbucks' regular espresso drinks. However, this drink is better when upgraded with Starbucks' flavors, which is why we've ranked some of its variations higher.

Another vibrant drink is the Mango Dragonfruit Refresher. It has all the flavor of a tropical drink with a brilliant color that photographs very well. Since Refreshers are shaken with water, it also has something of a tea feel. The freeze-dried dragonfruit pieces soften very quickly in the Mango Dragonfruit Refresher, adding a change in texture with the liquid.

Those who prefer something more thoroughly combined can order the same drink as a blended version. Although this blended version is a more recent addition to the permanent menu, a Mango Dragonfruit Refresher has been part of the menu since summer 2019. Though this drink is enjoyable and refreshing, it is over-the-top sweet, possibly even too strong for some. This incredible sweetness is the only reason this Refresher isn't ranked higher.

If you've ever had a layered ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and absolutely loved those crunchy chocolatey pieces that seem to be the star of the show, the chocolate cookie crumble crème Frappuccino will be a new favorite of yours. That said, its mix of chocolate, sweetness, and creaminess feel reserved for the ice cream cake world, and there are better crème Frappuccinos that won't remind you of an ice cream cake.

Visually, the drink looks something like an inverse Oreo. There's some whipped cream on the top of the drink, as well as at the base of the cup. The whipped cream gets a topping of the cookie crumble and mocha sauce, and the drink itself is a blend of the crème base with mocha sauce and chips. Basically, aside from the whipped cream, this drink is chocolate all the way through and ideal for Starbucks chocolate drink lovers. 

Even though this drink is a crème-based Frappuccino, it does have a negligible amount of caffeine at 15 milligrams. If choosing this drink for a child or someone sensitive to caffeine, you'll want to note that it is not in fact caffeine free, even if there's no coffee or tea in it.

The java chip Frappuccino is a fan-favorite Starbucks drink. The drink is made using ice, whole milk, Frappuccino chips (chocolate chips), Frappuccino roast (instant coffee), mocha-flavored sauce, mocha drizzle, whipped cream, and sweeteners. As a Frappuccino, it's higher in both sugar and calories than other Starbucks drinks. Even compared to other Frappuccinos, the java chip still has some of the highest calorie and sugar content — there are 440 calories and 60 grams of sugar in each grande size.

Nutritional facts aside, the java chip Frappuccino remains one of the most popular Frappuccino flavors. Along with the double chocolaty chip crème Frappuccino, these cocoa-laced coffee drinks have enticed customers since the birth of the Starbucks Frappuccino in 1995. Mocha Frappuccinos, one of the initial flavors to be released by the coffee chain, launched Starbucks to new levels of popularity. There's some prevailing appeal based on the amount of java chip fans out there.

If you're avoiding caffeine, or ordering for someone who is avoiding caffeine, but you still want a hot drink, you can do no better than a caramel apple spice. This drink gets a layer of cinnamon dolce syrup, topped with steamed apple juice, and then a drizzle of caramel syrup over a whipped cream topper. It's like taking your favorite apple cider from a local orchard and then kicking it up a few notches. Caramel apple spice is a pretty easy drink to play with, and if you want something more of a mild apple-based drink but still want it to feel special, try adding vanilla syrup instead of cinnamon dolce.

This drink easily gets forgotten because it's not one people immediately think about — it isn't caffeinated, nor is it tea or a sweet dessert. Yet, it's a great drink to enjoy as a nightcap at the end of the evening. If you want something sweet but not something that promises to keep you awake, this is a unique choice.

Starbucks offers several different chai-type drinks on its menu. The biggest difference between them is the type of chai baristas use, and the milk or water included. Some of the drinks are made using teabags, but others use pumps of chai concentrate. The chai concentrate is more heavily flavored, and when making iced drinks, it is especially handy because the chai helps ensure that the ice can do its job without being melted by the hot water preparation required from a teabag. For a chai latte, baristas will combine pumps of chai, water, and milk. Essentially, the pumps of chai take the place of espresso, like you would get in a caffè latte. 

For stronger chai flavor, ask for no water and an extra pump of chai. These tweaks will not change the price of your order. As mentioned, for a mixture of chai and coffee, you can request that a shot of espresso be added to the drink, but this will cost extra.

Making its debut during the 2021 winter season, the iced sugar cookie almondmilk latte was inspired by Spritz cookies, holiday-shaped goodies often topped with sprinkles. Surprisingly, it was the first dairy-free holiday beverage Starbucks ever released. Explaining the recipe, a company representative said the intention was "to harness the buttery and vanilla notes of the cookie." The drink's sweet aroma comes from the inclusion of actual sprinkles (red and green) and sugar cookie-flavored syrup in the drink. Per the menu, the drink is also made with Starbucks blonde espresso.

While this one was released to a good amount of fanfare, we don't think the drink lives up to the hype. In reality, the iced sugar cookie almondmilk latte is so subtle and lacking sweetness, that it tastes strangely bland. And we feel another plant-based milk would be a better choice than almond milk. However, its saving grace is in the idea. We hope that the release of this beverage, along with drinks like the iced brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso, is a sign of better bespoke, seasonal, non-dairy drinks to come.

The blended crème line, which debuted in 2002, was the first type of Frappuccino that wasn't prepared with coffee or tea. While they lack caffeine, these drinks offer energy and fun in the form of sugar. They come in a variety of flavors, including the strawberry crème Frappuccino, which is prepared with ice, whole milk, strawberry puree sauce, and whipped cream. There are 370 calories and 51 grams of sugar in a grande.

Reviews of this drink highlight the fact the strawberry flavor is pretty easy to taste. It's a caffeine-free, frozen beverage that is a delicious treat for berry lovers, though it can be more like a dessert. Some compare it to a strawberry milkshake or ice cream, with the note that it's a bit more sippable. Overall, the strawberry crème Frappuccino is a great option for Frappuccino lovers who might want to avoid both caffeine and coffee while still getting something sweet.

When it comes to Starbucks' flavored syrups, vanilla shines. The vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew takes the best of the prior two drinks and combines them. Like the standard Starbucks nitro cold brew, it's a frothy and extra caffeinated. Like the now-discontinued Irish cream version, it's topped with something sweet. However, this drink is sweeter and more complex in flavor than the previous two.

It's simply a nitro cold brew topped with sweet cream. One fan on Reddit writes, "I know it's going to be good when they hand me a cup of black liquid with cream on top that is slowly trickling down." Unfortunately, the drink often has problems with inconsistency, which are also noted in the thread. Considering the issues customers often experience with this drink, the vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew is still a middle-of-the-pack drink.

The matcha crème Frappuccino is a beautiful, iced beverage with a striking green color. This drink's ingredients include ice, milk, crème Frappuccino syrup, classic syrup, and a matcha tea blend (similar to what's used in Starbucks' green tea lattes). There are 420 calories, 61 grams of sugar, and 70 milligrams of caffeine in each grande drink. That makes this quite a potent drink, with an especially high caffeine content for a Frappuccino.

Though beloved for its photo-worthy look, fans of traditional Starbucks green tea drinks may find this Frappuccino to be lacking in flavor. Matcha typically has a strong minerality or grassy flavor that is drier than other types of green tea. In this Frappuccino, it's balanced out by the sweetness of sugar and a creamy riff of milk. Of course, this less potent drink may be the perfect solution to those newer to the matcha taste. If you want a mild yet sweet tea-based Frappuccino from Starbucks, this may be the one to get.

This satisfying drink is another fun riff on the classic Arnold Palmer iced tea and lemonade combo. Beyond the inclusion of green tea, a trendy beverage known for its many health benefits, lemongrass, mint, and lemon verbena are also blended into the drink. Additional positives for the iced green tea lemonade include its low sugar and calorie content. A grande only contains 50 calories and 11 grams of sugar. It's night and day compared to another Starbucks green tea drink, the previously mentioned matcha crème Frappuccino.

You can opt for a peach version of the drink (more on this below), but the standard version offers an even mix of sweet (from the lemonade) and not sweet (from the green tea). Still, while the iced green tea lemonade isn't the best tea drink at Starbucks, we prefer it to artificial products like the Refreshers.

While the chocolate cookie crumble crème Frappuccino has a small amount of caffeine in it, the mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino is much more boisterous about its caffeine content. Unlike the chocolate cookie crumble version, which uses a crème base, this Frappuccino uses a coffee base. As a result, even though it has many of the same ingredients as a crème Frappuccino, it has 95 milligrams of caffeine.

The coffee does more than just add a little pep in your step. Coffee also makes the drink feel heartier and less like the ice cream cake or milkshake territory its companion can sometimes slip into. Even still, the different varieties of texture with the whipped cream and chocolate together make this grown-up version of the chocolate cookie crumble crème Frappuccino better. Consider these drinks sisters rather than twins — and while we still prefer other Frappuccinos more, this one is better than the crème one.

Similar to the Pink Drink, this is another secret-turned-revealed menu item that grew popular on social media. Before 2017, you'd have to get it by ordering off the Starbucks secret menu. However, its popularity on Instagram convinced the company to make it official. A former Starbucks barista allegedly invented the recipe. Its secret menu name (medicine ball) comes from the drink's use as a cold ailment, but the real name given by Starbucks is honey citrus mint tea.

The official recipe consists of jade citrus mint green tea, peach tranquility herbal tea, steamed lemonade (you read that right), and two pumps of honey blend syrup. Some people choose to add a pump of peppermint syrup. While not everyone goes for this, we enjoy the blast of coolness to the hot beverage. This drink is the best non-dairy tea you can get at Starbucks. 

The London fog latte is outstanding. Like most of the top-tier Starbucks drinks, it's best served hot. The recipe is Earl Grey tea, steamed 2% milk, and four pumps of vanilla syrup. It's made misto-style, meaning that the liquid is mainly half black tea and half steamed milk. Many who've tried the London fog say that it's full of warm, comforting spices like bergamot (a citrus flavor that's in Earl Grey tea). You can even use this drink like the medicine ball. The London fog has a soothing texture and soft flavor, which is sweet and a touch fruity from the marriage of Earl Grey citrus and vanilla. Starbucks claims that the vanilla gives it a universal appeal due to the popularity of that flavored Starbucks syrup.

Overall, the London fog is a smashing success (as the Brits would say). This tea latte is a little more flavorful than the medicine ball and not too sweet like the matcha latte. It's for sure one of the best tea lattes (hot or iced) that Starbucks has to offer. It even has a soft, cloudy look that reminds you of fog rolling over the Tower Bridge.

The pistachio latte is a drink that was first released as part of the Starbucks winter menu in 2021. The drink, which made its return the following year, features an extra layer of nuttiness thanks to the addition of a brown butter topping. The base of the hot beverage consists of espresso and steamed milk. The combination definitely works. The brown butter adds a salty aftertaste that comes onto the sweeter, nutty notes stronger than you would think.

This drink is great in a lot of ways. It pulls off what the latte is trying to achieve in terms of flavor with a sophisticated and successful balance of savory and sweet. It's also not trying to be flashy by mimicking the green colors of the pistachio itself. Overall, we think it is worth buying when in need of a hot drink, but there are other seasonal lattes that just happen to be more exciting and delicious.

Unfortunately, Starbucks has discontinued its fruity flavored syrups. Notably, for team peach lemonade fans, the peach syrup was discontinued in 2017. While these syrups once flavored iced coffees, the specialty fruity flavors you get today come from juice or Refresher blends. So, the iced peach green tea lemonade is a shaken mixture of green tea, lemonade, and the peach juice blend. 

The best part about including a juice blend instead of water is that nothing gets muted. The drink itself is pretty sweet thanks to the juice, but there's always a way to add more liquid sweetener.

Most of the crème-based Frappuccinos are caffeine free since they do not include coffee or tea, but the chai crème Frappuccino is the exception since it has pumps of the chai concentrate in it. In a tall, the chai crème Frappuccino has 20 milligrams caffeine, a grande has 40 milligrams, and a venti also has 40 milligrams (the tall has one pump of chai concentrate, while the grande and venti both have two). Like any other drink at Starbucks, you can tweak the recipe to suit your preferences, so if you would like to add more pumps of chai to your drink, you could always do this. Note that each additional pump you add will increase the caffeine content by 20 milligrams. 

The best part about this chai concentrate is that the flavor is very strong and will permeate quite a lot, so the flavors are abundant. This Frappuccino is a more unique rendition of a chai-type beverage, so customers who enjoy more traditional chai drinks might not like this one as much as the casual chai drinker. If you prefer dirty chai drinks, you can also request a shot of espresso be added to your chai crème Frappuccino.

Ordering a crème brulée always feels like a special experience. Starbucks brings that experience to customers in drink form with the caramel brulée latte, a combination of milk, espresso, and caramel brulée sauce. Of course, no brulée is complete without a crunchy topping, and the caramel brulée latte mimics this feel with sugary, crunchy bits of crème brulée scattered atop whipped cream. Some crème brulées are hot, while others are cold, so it makes sense that you could order this drink either way. However, the hot version is perfectly warming and comforting, which feels ideal for the flavors at play.

Please note that Starbucks' caramel brulée latte differs significantly from its macchiato counterpart. With a macchiato, you'll only get caramel flavor from a simple drizzle on top of the espresso. It also has vanilla syrup — a flavor absent from the caramel brulée latte. Not to mention, the latter drink includes both whipped cream and a crunchy topping.

The cinnamon dolce latte is a beverage that can be made hot or iced. Both drinks come with milk, espresso, and the cinnamon dolce syrup — a syrup so strong, it's seemingly taken on a life of its own, inspiring many secret menu items, like the Three Cs drink. This heavily flavored latte tastes almost like the milk left behind after Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Starbucks' sauces and syrups both flavor drinks, but the creaminess of the sauces tend to bring a little smooth warmth to drinks. It might be surprising, then, to learn that the cinnamon dolce flavoring is a syrup, not a sauce. This is especially good news to those who follow a dairy-free diet, because the cinnamon dolce latte, with the whipped cream removed and milk swapped out with a plant-based option, can be made dairy-free — even though it has the coziness of a dairy-heavy drink.

For a really delicious mixture, adding a couple pumps of the cinnamon dolce syrup to a white chocolate mocha is especially enjoyable. Of course, you could order a couple of pumps of the white mocha added to a cinnamon dolce latte for a similar experience. It all depends on which flavor you want to have more dominance.

Like the caffè mocha, Starbucks' hot chocolate is too bitter of a chocolate drink for some. The flavor just isn't sweet enough, and to many, it doesn't even quite taste like a typical hot chocolate. For those customers, the white hot chocolate is definitely a better option.

This drink is simple and contains white chocolate mocha sauce, steamed milk, and a topping of whipped cream. The white chocolate sauce is the exact same flavoring used in a white chocolate mocha drink, which would also include espresso; but like a regular hot chocolate, this one does not include any coffee. Those who might want a sweet hot chocolate but must avoid dairy will, unfortunately, need to avoid a white hot chocolate, too. The regular mocha sauce does not have dairy in it, but the white chocolate mocha sauce does. So, even if you choose an alternative milk to pair with your white hot chocolate, it will still have some dairy to it.

Back in 2014, when the chestnut praline latte made its debut, it was the first new holiday beverage that Starbucks had released in five years. The inspiration? European holiday markets where similar flavors waft through the air. The seasonal sipper is finished with a topping of whipped cream and spiced praline crumbs. This adds a fun visual element to the drink, allowing you to see some of its nutty attributes. There's a strong amount of spice to it, as well, complemented by a buttery mouthfeel that is hard to replicate.

Like with other Starbucks drinks, the chestnut praline latte fails by not bringing forward all the elements advertised in its name. However, it's still more nuanced than the pistachio latte. It's sweet, spiced, and sentimental. The drink is sophisticated but not as boring as pistachio. 

Released in August 2021 as part of the fall Starbucks menu, the apple crisp macchiato is a coffee-based drink that doubles as a dessert. Starbucks has a few macchiatos — which the chain defines as espresso shots topped with a small amount of foam and steamed milk (in equal amounts). It sounds a lot like a latte, but it's not. There's far less steamed milk and foam on a macchiato.

The grande size is two shots of espresso, 2% milk, three pumps of apple brown sugar syrup, and a crosshatch pattern on top made of spiced apple drizzle. As far as fall drinks go, it pretty much hits the mark. It's sweet, flavorful, nostalgic, and a nice variation from the caramel macchiato. Let's get one thing straight: This is not the best fall drink. But it may be the best September or November drink. 

Normal mocha drinks at Starbucks are good, but a white chocolate mocha is even better. One of the biggest complaints about regular mocha is that it can be a little bit on the bitter side. It isn't at all like the milk chocolate you might be expecting. However, the white chocolate mocha is much sweeter. This sweetness translates well to a coffee drink because it easily balances out the bitterness associated with the espresso.

An iced white chocolate mocha has pumps of white chocolate mocha sauce, espresso, milk, and ice, of course, and it gets topped off with whipped cream. The hot version is delicious, as well, but something about white chocolate and ice stands out. This is also a wonderful drink to use as the base for ordering some more creative drinks. For example, if you add cinnamon dolce syrup to an iced white chocolate mocha, the drink becomes something closer to Cinnamon Toast Crunch milk, an absolute go-to for baristas and customers alike.

Starbucks offers a few different powders to use in drinks. There is a vanilla bean powder used in some Frappuccinos, and one of the other more popular powders is matcha. This powdered tea forms the basis of matcha drinks from Starbucks. The chain offers a few different spins on the classic matcha latte, and one of the more vibrant offerings is the iced matcha lemonade.

Like other lemonades, this drink is shaken for preparation. It includes matcha powder, lemonade, sweetener, ice, and water. Like other drinks that include water as a diluent, you can request it without water for a stronger tea and lemonade flavor. With an iced matcha lemonade, this is especially helpful since the powder can sometimes need some convincing to fully combine with lemonade. 

The matcha powder was one aspect of Starbucks' revamped 2025 winter menu, when the chain released an unsweetened matcha powder for drinks. Before this change, the matcha came pre-sweetened, limiting what customers could do with their matcha. Now, you'll need to add liquid sweetener to your iced matcha lemonade to achieve that ideal balance of flavor. As a default, this drink already comes with syrup in the order, but it can be accommodated however you want the drink to taste.

The vanilla bean crème Frappuccino is sorely underrated. Since this is a crème-based Frappuccino, it includes no coffee. You'll find that it is very similar to a vanilla milkshake, but perfectly elevated.

Baristas combine a crème base with the brand's vanilla bean powder and ice, then blend it all up. Between the white drink and white whipped cream, it is super neutral and basic looking, but there are little black dots throughout the drink to show that it is vanilla-bean flavored. One of the best parts about the vanilla bean crème Frappuccino is that the powder is a fantastic ingredient addition for those who like to design new Starbucks drinks or secret menu orders. Vanilla bean powder can be combined in any coffee drink to add a warmth and vanilla flavor that's even richer and more developed than the regular vanilla syrup will give you.

Even the occasional Starbucks drinker has likely tasted the delicious peppermint mocha. It's often voted as the most popular Starbucks holiday drink. Since it happens to contain what Bustle called "a perfect balance of refreshing mint and warm chocolate," it's not hard to see why. This drink is so magical that you might not want to know what's in it, but in case you do, we'll tell you! The drink consists of two shots of espresso, four pumps of peppermint syrup, whipped cream, and dark chocolate curls. The last two are toppings that require the drink to be sipped quickly before they all melt.

The peppermint mocha, which has been around since 2002, is the second drink made by Starbucks to mark the red cup season. This refers to the time of year when hot Starbucks cups are changed in color for the holidays. Even the company notes that it's the most beloved holiday item. 

The popularity of Starbucks' caramel flavor does not go away with the addition of the Frappuccino element — in fact, the caramel version is often voted as the best Starbucks Frappuccino flavor. Ingredients for the caramel Frappuccino include ice, whole milk, Frappuccino coffee roast, caramel syrup, caramel drizzle, and whipped cream. There are 380 calories, 54 grams of sugar, and 90 milligrams of caffeine in a grande.

Since joining the Starbucks lineup in 1999, the frozen beverage remains an extremely popular option. Even coffee lovers can agree that the sweet, dessert-like flavor is craveable. Despite it being on the sugary side, its chilled side makes it refreshing on a hot summer day. This one is clearly a Starbucks Hall of Fame drink.  

The pumpkin spice latte is probably the most-memed drink on this entire list. "Basic" jokes are most often targeted at its drinkers, but critics of the pumpkin spice latte surely have never tasted it before. If they had, they would think twice; this is both an infamous and delicious Starbucks drink. We don't have to tell you this drink is popular. What other entries on this list have their own acronym? Also, the PSL is even more historic than some may know. It's almost as old as the peppermint mocha, as it was released the following year in 2003.

As a pop culture icon itself, the PSL has brought Starbucks continued success. The brand now calls itself the home of "the original pumpkin spice latte." The success of this drink in no way detracts from its place in the ranking — if anything, it increases it. But the truth is, this drink can sometimes be a little mild. That's probably the reason for its vast appeal. But it's not always the punch of seasonal flavor that you want in a Starbucks drink. For that reason, it's below the following options.

While some cold brews with cold foam options are not available all year, this one is. Within the cold brew itself (it has vanilla syrup), the whole drink gets topped with salted caramel cream cold foam. Now, being a permanent drink on the menu, you can add that cold foam to other drinks. We enjoy how it tastes on an iced caramel macchiato, especially when it's made upside down.

Salted caramel cream cold brew offers flavors of smooth vanilla that mix seamlessly into the cold brew to make for a sweet and smooth coffee offering. The salted caramel cold foam on top is just the absolute cherry to top off this delicious drink. This cold foam is creamy and warm, and highly flavored with just that little bit of saltiness added to the sweetness of caramel. This is one of those drinks that translates to both summertime and winter, and the flavor can suit many different seasons.

The iced caramel macchiato is one of the most popular Starbucks drinks made from one of the chain's most popular flavors: caramel. And, as one of the best Starbucks iced drinks ever made, it has been around for about 25 years. Starbucks notes it's one of the company's top six cold coffees, and it's a go-to drink year-round.  

High caffeine content, relatively low calories (compared to seasonal drinks), and vanilla syrup may be the reason for its enduring popularity. It's also topped with a crosshatch of caramel drizzle (like the apple crisp and other Starbucks macchiatos). Though extremely solid, it's not the best beverage offering on the Starbucks menu. To put it in Olympic terms, it ranks just outside of being a bronze medal drink. In other words, the iced caramel macchiato will always be a near-top competitor — but it will never be number one. There's a lack of creativity and yet an urge for approval that makes us think Starbucks was playing it a little too safe. But overall, the drink has worked out very well for the chain.

If, as a teenager, the caramel Frappuccino was a longtime favorite of yours, it's time to try the grown-up version: the caramel ribbon crunch Frappuccino. Simply, this is the caramel Frappuccino's favorite Frappuccino.

The caramel ribbon crunch Frappuccino includes milk, a Frappuccino roast coffee base, a dark caramel sauce, and a topping with whipped cream, crunch topping, and caramel drizzle. The bottom layer also has whipped cream and caramel, similar in design to the mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino (though different flavors). This drink is absolutely decked out to the nines, and as one of the more dressed Frappuccinos on the Starbucks menu, it's very easy to fall in love with it. The rich and buttery caramel mingles with the milk in such a perfect way that the slight bite of the coffee shines through to balance out all parts. For a way to take this already extravagant caramel-flavored Frappuccino to the next level, consider a swirl of caramel lining your cup.

No one should be surprised at this drink's placement. The Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew became an instant hit when it launched with the 2019 fall menu. It was Starbucks' first new pumpkin drink since the PSL, and it's definitely an improvement over its predecessor. The drink, which contains cold brew, pumpkin cream, cold foam with pumpkin spice topping, vanilla syrup, and ice, is great.

There's so much that's both practical and tasty about this drink. Even if fall, where you live, means 90-degree heat, you can enjoy it. There's something about it that both PSL haters and lovers can enjoy because it's sweet but not too sweet. It's also nostalgic in its flavor and color but refined and modern in its use of cold brew.

Overall, it has all of Starbucks' best drink qualities in a cup: cold brew, vanilla syrup, and pumpkin flavor. It even has a beautiful orange hue in the cold foam (if you're lucky), which mixes in with the rest of the drink. The pumpkin cream cold brew is simply number two because the number one drink does most of these positive qualities a little better.

Though it may go against your values, oat milk is kind of the best of the non-dairy milk. That's one of the many attributes that earn the iced brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso the top spot on this list. The grande size is made with more espresso than usual: three shots. That means there are 255 milligrams of caffeine per cup. It's a strong drink that makes the trip to Starbucks — and the money spent on the drink — worth it. Despite the high caffeine content, it's also pretty low in calories for the chain's best creations, at only 120 calories per 16-ounce cup.

Baristas add ground cinnamon, blonde espresso shots, and four pumps of brown sugar syrup together, then shake them. The result is a drink that's already been perfectly mixed. Do you know how people with those green straws are always twirling their iced coffee cups to mix it? This drink makes it so that you never have to do it ever again. Also, the brown sugar flavor is nostalgic and sensory (just like how Starbucks wants it to be). It's there to remind you of simple memories like baking cookies while sipping your morning coffee.

When selecting the popular drinks for this list, I considered what I recall as a barista being the most commonly ordered drinks. I also spend a large amount of time in Starbucks, researching through the mobile app, and looking at new drinks customers create on social media. These insights informed what beverages made the list. 

For the overall ranking, I organized them by flavor, the potential to use the drink as a base for another creation, review opinions from consumers, and perceived popularity from research. For example, the reason that brewed coffee is at the bottom of this list while the oatmilk shaken espresso tops the list is that, based on personal and professional experience, fewer and fewer people are ordering brewed coffee, while many more are looking for a flavored espresso beverage.