5 iced drinks everyone should order at Starbucks, according to a former barista
Inga Parkel
- I was a Starbucks barista for nearly a year, so I've tasted a lot of the iced drinks on the menu.
- I love ordering refreshing coffee drinks like the salted cold-foam cold brew.
I always recommend the chain's salted cold-foam cold brew.
This is a personal favorite. But trust me, as long as the barista doesn't forget to add the caramel pumps, it's sure to become one of your top iced drinks, too.
The salted sweet foam perfectly combines with the strong black cold brew. It's basically a fancier and tastier version of your basic coffee with sugar and milk.
You can't go wrong with any of the Frappuccinos, but the mocha cookie crumble is a highlight.
I've always been a huge fan of Starbucks' Frappuccinos — they're basically a milkshake-like dessert. But one standout is the mocha cookie crumble.
If you're looking for a chocolaty flavor that's not too rich, this one's for you. It's basically the equivalent of a McDonald's Oreo McFlurry with caffeine.
An iced peach green tea is the perfect alternative to coffee when you're still in need of a caffeine boost.
There are some days when I can acknowledge that my caffeine intake is a bit high. In these cases, Starbucks offers a wide variety of lower-caffeine and caffeine-free teas that are a pretty decent alternative.
I typically live by the chain's black iced tea. But in the summer, the seasonal iced peach green tea is a must.
It's quite a light tea, and you can still adjust the added sweeteners to your liking. Plus, it has a hint of mintiness, which is always a welcomed surprise.
If you're lactose intolerant, the iced brown-sugar oat-milk shaken espresso is a delight.
You can already swap nondairy alternatives for any of Starbucks' milk-based drinks, but the chain specially crafted the iced brown-sugar oat-milk shaken espresso.
And as a nondairy milk enthusiast, I can assure you that oat milk is the perfect choice for this drink. It's creamy and pairs wonderfully with the blonde espresso and brown-sugar syrup. The end result almost tastes like graham crackers or s'mores.
Starbucks' refreshers have been popular for years, but now there are frozen versions.
I've always been a slushy advocate, and now Starbucks has finally agreed that the popular refresher drinks would be better blended.
This summer, I highly recommend trying a frozen refresher. You can order three flavors, frozen pineapple passion fruit, frozen strawberry acai, or frozen mango dragon fruit, with or without lemonade.
I personally don't like adding lemonade to drinks, so I recently tried the frozen mango-dragon-fruit option without it, and it was heavenly.
This story was originally published in July 2023 and most recently updated on July 17, 2024.
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