If you’re eagerly awaiting the warm weather and sunny days of summer, then Starbucks is ready to get you prepped with a lineup of cool coffee drinks and frothy Frappuccinos. But, the downside of that is some of these drinks are high in sugar and calories — which is totally okay for once in awhile, but not ideal all the time (boo!).
That's why you’ll be excited to learn a few menu tricks for healthy drinks at Starbucks to make your order a little more health-savvy. Yum, and yay! let's get into the healthiest Starbucks drinks you can order today.
What are the healthiest Starbucks drinks?
The healthiest Starbucks drinks include any unsweetened tea (hot or iced), black coffee (hot or iced), or cold brew coffee because they have little no zero calories and no added sugar from syrups or whipped cream.
What is a "skinny" from Starbucks?
"Skinny" drinks from Starbucks are alternatives to the standard recipes for their beverages that use sugar-free syrups, nonfat milk, and omit whipped cream. "Skinny" Starbucks drinks aim to limit sugar, calories, and other additives.
Tips On How To Order Healthy Starbucks Drinks
First, we must prime you with a few tips on healthy Starbucks drinks. There are several things you can do when ordering to make your drink a bit healthier, low-calorie, and low in sugar. Here are our 3 best healthy Starbucks drinks hacks!
- Fewer pumps: Ask for less syrup pumps to help reduce the sweetness and calories in any Starbucks beverage.
- Make it light: Most handcrafted espresso drinks and Frappuccinos can be requested “light” or “skinny,” which basically means it's made with sugar-free syrup, nonfat milk, and no whipped cream.
- Skip the whip: Frappuccinos, lattes, etc. from Starbucks can be customized more than 36,000 ways. Request just a little whip or no whip to save yourself 80 to 110 calories, depending on the size and type of drink!
Healthy Starbucks Drinks To Try
Unsweetened Iced Coffee
Unsweetened iced coffee typically has fewer than 10 calories! But, Starbucks iced coffee is typically sweetened with their Classic syrup, so just ask for no Classic syrup to make it totally unsweetened, zero-sugar, and zero-calorie.
Black Hot Coffee
Black hot coffee is a classic, and has 0 calories and 0 grams of sugar.
Unsweetened Iced Tea
Unsweetened iced tea from Starbucks typically has fewer than 10 calories per serving. They have Black Tea (0 calories, 0 grams sugar for a tall size), Green Tea (0 calories, 0 grams sugar for a tall size), and Passion Tango Tea (0 calories, 0 grams sugar for a tall size) to order. There's an option to add peach juice and/or lemonade for a flavor boost, but this usually adds around 35-60 calories to your drink.
Unsweetened Hot Tea
Starbucks has a ton of hot teas to choose from, all of which have little to no calories and sugar. Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Emperor's Clouds & Mist (green tea), and Mint Majesty are all on the menu with 0 calories and 0 grams of sugar. To sweeten them up with a healthy twist, you can always ask for some honey and/or stevia packets.
Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte
A tall Iced Skinny Vanilla Latte is about 60 calories. This just means you're getting less syrup per sip and nonfat milk in the recipe.
Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso
For healthy Starbucks drinks on the sweeter side, shaken espressos are where it's at! The famed Iced Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso is one of the healthiest Starbucks drinks you can order without having to fully customize the bev. A tall size is 100 calories and 9 grams of sugar, and it's so yum. So easy, too!
Light Tall Caramel Frappuccino
Ordering a Frappuccino "light" or "skinny" means it's getting made with nonfat milk, less syrup pumps, and no whipped cream. This version (for a tall size) is about 100 calories.
Cold Brew
Starbucks' smooth cold brew is steeped for over 20 hours, which gives it a rich taste. A plain, tall Starbucks cold brew has fewer than 5 calories and 0 grams of sugar. You can always add a small splash of milk to bring a creamy side to its chocolatey, citrusy flavor.
Iced Americano
An iced Americano is just espresso shots with water served over ice. It's about 10 calories and 0 grams of sugar for a tall size with no added milk or sweetener.
Iced Skinny Mocha
Order an iced Mocha "skinny," and you'll get it with less pumps of mocha sauce, nonfat milk, and no whipped cream. These customizations knock the OG drink (260 calories, 23g sugar for a tall size) down by a lot.
Starbucks Refreshers
The fruity Starbucks Refreshers are perfect for summertime! Available in flavors like Strawberry Acai (80 calories, 16g sugar for a tall size), Pineapple Passionfruit (80 calories, 15g sugar for a tall size), and Mango Dragonfruit (70 calories, 15g sugar for a tall size), they're all also caffeinated lightly with green coffee extract.
We need to try each and every one of these healthy Starbucks drinks! Let us know your favorite @BritandCo!
Images via Starbucks and @starbucks on Instagram.
This post has been updated with additional reporting by Meredith Holser.
