It’s that magical time of year again: the air gets chillier, exams are slowly piling up, and the Starbucks Holiday Menu dropped this past week, bringing back all our festive flavors! While we love our red cups and those dreamy Christmas flavors, the reality check hits hard every time we see that price tag.
Let’s be honest, my wallet can no longer handle the over $7 tall lattes, especially when they used to charge an extra $1 for milk alternatives. Instead of breaking the bank every day (because, hello, we have gift shopping to do!), why not bring the holiday cheer home?
Something that surprised me when working at Starbucks was that most of the items used to make the drinks can be found at the grocery store for lower prices. With a few ingredients, we can recreate some holiday drink classics, like the Caramel Brûlée Latte, Peppermint Mocha, Iced Gingerbread Chai Latte, and Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte.
So, grab your comfiest sweater, turn on a Christmas playlist, and prepare your taste buds for the holidays with these four recipes!
HOW TO MEASURE INGREDIENTS
Before we start, I won’t give out ingredient measures for each drink, but rather the different size measurements that Starbucks uses for all its drinks to make them standard. As many of you know, Starbucks uses “tall, grande, and venti” as size measurements for their drinks. Each size determines how many pumps of syrup or scoops of powder go into each drink. A tall drink is 12 ounces (1.5 cups), a grande drink is 16 ounces (2 cups), and a venti drink can be 20 ounces (2.5 cups) for hot drinks or 24 ounces (3 cups) for cold beverages. These measurements also consider the amount of ice that typically comes with each drink, so you may add more or less depending on what you prefer with your coffee.
For syrup measurements, a syrup pump is about a tablespoon, so a tall drink would have 3 tablespoons, a grande would have 4 tablespoons, and a venti would have 5 (hot) or 6 (iced). For scoops of powder, it’s 2 for tall, 3 for grande, and 4 for venti. As for espresso, typically, one shot of espresso goes into talks, and two shots will go into grande and venti. However, for an iced drink, they can get 3 shots. Again, Starbucks uses these for their drinks to make them taste the same. However, you can customize these measurements to whatever you prefer.
Also, if you want to get syrups that taste exactly like Starbucks syrups, Torani is the brand used to make your drinks. This brand can be found in stores like Walmart, T.J.Maxx, and more at affordable prices!
How to Make Starbucks Cold Foam
Before we start making any drink, you might want to know how to make Starbucks cold foam, as it’s a staple in most of their signature beverages. A fun fact is that many flavored drinks, such as the Iced Gingerbread Chai, don’t have gingerbread syrup in the drink; it’s just in the cold foam itself. Cold foam can add a little bit of magic to any drink, and it’s so easy to make at home!
For this drink, you’ll need two tablespoons of regular milk, four tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, and one tablespoon of vanilla syrup. First, add milk, vanilla syrup, and cream into a jar or cup. Then, froth using a handheld frother (or shake in a sealed jar for about a minute if you don’t have one). Finally, pour over any of your iced drinks and watch that foam float!
Now, without further ado, let’s get into brewing!
HOW TO recreate the DRINKS
Caramel Brûlée Latte
For this latte, your ingredients include brewed coffee or shots of espresso, your milk of choice, caramel sauce or caramel syrup, vanilla extract, whipped cream (optional), and caramel crunch topping (crushed caramel candies work great!).
First, brew your coffee or espresso, and heat the milk until warm. If you have a frother, use it to get that creamy latte texture. Then, add caramel sauce and vanilla extract to the coffee, stirring to combine. Finally, pour the milk into your coffee mixture and top it with whipped cream and caramel crunch. Sounds so yummy!
Peppermint Mocha
This recipe requires brewed coffee or shots of espresso, your milk of choice, cocoa powder or chocolate syrup, peppermint extract (be careful, it’s strong!), whipped cream, and crushed peppermint candies for garnish.
All you need to do is first brew your coffee and heat the milk. Then, stir in the cocoa powder or chocolate syrup until it’s nice and chocolatey. Add peppermint extract to the milk and combine with the coffee. Top it with whipped cream and sprinkle crushed peppermint for total winter wonderland vibes!
Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte
For this drink, you’ll need Chai tea (brewed or in a box), oat milk, gingerbread syrup (which can also be made with molasses and ginger), and ice. Additionally, as an option, you could add ground cinnamon to top it off.
When making the drink, either brew the chai tea or pour it from the box and add gingerbread syrup. Pour milk over ice, then add the spiced chai. Finally, stir and dust with cinnamon if you’re feeling fancy. This drink is perfectly spiced and refreshing!
Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte
For this last drink, you’ll need your brewed coffee or shots of espresso, almond milk, vanilla syrup, almond extract, and holiday sprinkles for garnish!
Just brew your coffee and heat up the almond milk before adding the vanilla syrup to it. Lastly, pour the milk into the coffee and top it with festive sprinkles to make an Insta-worthy drink that’s delicious!
Now, whenever you crave that holiday pick-me-up, you can whip it up at home! These drinks don’t just save money, they also bring all the coziness and holiday feels right to your kitchen. Happy sipping, and happy holidays!
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