Does Starbucks Use Regular Honey In Its Drinks?

The menu at Starbucks is endlessly customizable – customers have the freedom to add different syrups, extra shots of espresso, toppings, and more. They also offer a variety of sweetener options for their drinks, including regular sugar, Sugar in the Raw, Splenda, cane sugar, and their Honey Blend.

Although honey is primarily comprised of water, fructose, and glucose, it also contains small amounts of B vitamins, Vitamin C, amino acids, and antioxidants, per Healthline. They report that the antioxidants found in honey act as anti-inflammatories and note that honey can be a great way to ease a sore or scratchy throat. While honey is still a sweetener, and it may not be better for you than plain sugar, it can have a soothing effect when you are feeling a little under the weather.

If you order from Starbucks, you will notice they list a Honey Blend as a sweetener option. What exactly is in the blend, and how much of it is regular honey?

A Starbucks barista by the name of Swazey on TikTok makes videos sharing information about how the cafes operate. And, in one particular clip, they revealed that the chain uses a honey syrup blend, rather than regular honey in drinks, reports Independent.

According to Querysprout, Starbucks uses a honey blend in its drinks because the blend is thinner, allowing baristas to pump it out of bottles more easily while making drinks. The full list of ingredients includes honey, water, natural flavors, potassium sorbate, xanthan gum, and citric acid, per Starbucks. They reportedly do not add any extra sugar, allowing the honey itself to provide all the sweetness in the drinks, and the added ingredients are only to keep the sweetener shelf-stable (via Querysprout).

This honey blend is included in the Medicine Ball drink, which is said to fight off colds with a mix of jade citrus mint green tea, peach herbal tea, honey hot water, and steamed lemonade, and is formally known as the Honey Citrus Green Tea.