12 Best Cold Brew Coffees at Starbucks, Ranked
Starbucks cold brew coffee is slowly steeped in cold water rather than quickly brewed with hot water. It’s smoother, richer, and lower in acid than regular iced coffee.
Starbucks offers a variety of cold brew drinks on the menu. Most of them start with their signature cold brew or nitro cold brew and feature different flavored syrups, milk, or toppings.
In addition, some Starbucks cold brew drinks are made with small-lot Starbucks Reserve coffee.
Starbucks fans on social media have created what’s called the “Starbucks Secret Menu,” where they share custom creations made by modifying existing drinks.
We’ve also included some of the best Starbucks cold brew drinks from the Secret Menu on our list.
Just note that Starbucks baristas are not trained in how to make Secret Menu drinks, so you’ll have to order them with the recipe rather than the name of the drink. We’ll provide instructions on how to order the Secret Menu drinks below.
Read on for our list of the best Starbucks cold brew drinks, including the Secret Menu cold brews!
12. Cold Brew Coffee with Milk
Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee with Milk is good, but it ranks last on our list for one reason.
Do you really want milk in your cold brew when there’s sweet cream and cold foam available?
If the answer is still yes (no judgment), you can customize your cold brew with any of Starbucks’ dairy or non-dairy milk, and you’ll save around 100-200 calories compared to a cold brew with cold foam (but at what cost! Ok, a little judgment.)
Cold Brew Coffee with Milk is made from Starbucks’ slow-steeped handcrafted cold brew. It’s served over ice with a splash of the milk of your choice.
Cold Brew Coffee with Milk is available in tall, grande, venti, and trenta Starbucks sizes.
A grande cold brew made with 2% milk contains 35 calories, 3g of sugar, 1.5g of fat, and 205mg of caffeine.
11. Reserve Nitro Cold Brew
Reserve Nitro Cold Brew is made with Starbucks’ ultra-smooth small-lot reserve coffee.
It’s a delicious way to support small coffee-growing operations such as co-ops or family-run farms, but there’s a catch!
Reserve Nitro Cold Brew is not available in all Starbucks locations.
If you’re interested in trying the Nitro Reserve Cold Brew, your best bet is to call your local Starbucks for information or look for a Starbucks Reserve location near you.
Starbucks Reserve Nitro Cold Brew is made from coffee beans sourced from small, single-origin growers.
These include community co-ops, historic estates, and small, family-run farms.
Each batch of coffee is specially roasted to bring out its individual, nuanced flavors.
The coffee is slow-brewed in cool water and mixed with nitrogen before serving.
Starbucks Nitro Reserve Cold Brew is available in tall and grande sizes.
A grande Nitro Reserve Cold Brew contains 5 calories, 0g of sugar, 0g of fat, and 280 mg of caffeine.
10. Reserve Cold Brew
Reserve Cold Brew is another Starbucks cold brew drink made from small-lot single-origin reserve coffee.
It’s a great way to taste some of the nuanced differences of small-batch coffees, but just like the Reserve Nitro Cold Brew, you may need to hunt to find a Starbucks location that serves it.
Reserve Cold Brew is made from hand-selected small-lot coffee beans that are roasted in one of Starbucks’ reserve roasteries.
The beans are ground and steeped in cold water for 20 hours to produce a bold, refined iced coffee.
Reserve Cold Brew is available in tall, grande, and venti sizes.
A grande Starbucks Reserve Cold Brew contains just 5 calories, 0g of sugar, 0g of fat, and 200 mg of caffeine.
9. Butterbeer Cold Brew (Secret Menu)
This one’s for all the Potter Heads out there. This magical brew is a sweet and foamy blend of caramel, toffee, cold brew, and sweet cream cold foam.
Just be forewarned: this one is sweet enough to be found on a shelf at Honeydukes!
How to Order It: Ask for a venti cold brew with three pumps of white mocha sauce, two pumps of toffee nut syrup, and two pumps of caramel syrup. Ask for vanilla sweet cream cold foam with one pump of toffee nut syrup mixed into the foam—top everything with caramel drizzle.
Note that you cannot ask to have syrup mixed into your cold foam on the Starbucks app or online, so you’ll have to order this drink in person!
Alternatively, you can skip the step of adding the toffee nut syrup to the foam and just order it with vanilla sweet cream cold foam instead — Hermione might be disappointed that you’re cutting corners, but we won’t tell!
8. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew
The Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew is one of the dreamiest cold brews on our list.
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is smooth enough on its own, but when you top it with a float of vanilla sweet cream, it becomes otherworldly.
Starbucks serves their nitro cold brews chilled but doesn’t serve them over ice, which can compromise the velvety texture of the drink.
Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew starts with Starbucks’ signature small-batch cold brew.
It’s steeped for 20 hours and mixed with nitrogen before being served cold through a Guinness-like draft system.
The cold brew is then topped with creamy, house-made vanilla sweet cream.
The Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew is available in tall and grande sizes.
A grande Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew contains 70 calories, 4g of sugar, 5g of fat, and 265mg of caffeine.
7. Cinnamon Roll Cold Brew (Secret Menu)
The Cinnamon Roll Cold Brew is as sweet as most other Starbucks Secret Menu items, but it’s one of the best-tasting Franken drinks that have been invented thus far.
However, it loses a few points for being harder to order than other Secret Menu drinks on our list (see the Cookies and Cream Cold Brew below.)
The Cinnamon Roll Cold Brew is a cinnamon lover’s delight, and while it is sweet, it’s somehow less sweet than other cinnamon-related Starbucks cold drinks (cough, Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, cough.)
How to Order It: Ask for a venti cold brew with four pumps of white mocha. Then, ask for vanilla sweet cream cold foam with two pumps of cinnamon dolce syrup mixed into the cold foam. Ask for cinnamon dolce sprinkles on top.
Note that since there’s no way to ask for the syrup to be mixed into your cold foam online, you’ll have to order this Secret Menu cold brew in person.
6. Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew
The Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew is a little sweet and a little savory.
The touch of salt brings out the flavor of the caramel and keeps it from tasting too sweet.
It’s a decadent and ultra-delicious way to enjoy your morning (or afternoon) coffee.
Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew starts with Starbucks’ signature small-batch cold brew.
It’s sweetened with a splash of vanilla syrup and served over ice.
Then the magic happens: the cold brew is topped with a glorious cloud of salted caramel cold foam.
The Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew comes in tall, grande, venti, and trenta sizes.
A grande Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew contains 220 calories, 24g of sugar, 13g of fat, and 185mg of caffeine.
5. Cookies and Cream Cold Brew (Secret Menu)
The Cookies and Cream Cold Brew is a little too sweet, but it’s delicious and tastes just like cookies and cream.
The combination of vanilla and white mocha flavors works perfectly together, and the cookie crumble adds a satisfying crunch to the drink.
How to Order It: Ask for a grande Chocolate Cream Cold Brew with one pump of vanilla syrup, three pumps of white mocha syrup, and chocolate cookie crumble topping on top.
The addition of chocolate cream cold foam to the Starbucks menu made this drink easier to order since, previously, you would have to ask for a pump of mocha syrup blended into vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
You can order this Secret Menu drink online or on the Starbucks app, but you won’t be able to add the chocolate cookie crumble topping — you’ll have to order in person for that.
4. Cold Brew Coffee
Starbucks Cold Brew is objectively the simplest way to enjoy a Starbucks iced coffee, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less delicious than its more complex cousins.
It’s a classic for a reason and remains one of the most refreshing ways to enjoy your daily coffee.
Like most drinks on the Starbucks menu, it can be customized with flavored syrups, sweeteners, toppings, and even a splash of lemonade — don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee is made daily in small batches. Coffee is steeped in cool water for a period of 20 hours.
Unlike the nitro cold brews, Starbucks’ regular cold brew is served over ice.
Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee is available in tall, grande, venti, and trenta sizes.
A grande Cold Brew Coffee contains 5 calories, 0g of sugar, 0g of fat, and 205g of caffeine.
3. Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew is iced coffee with cream, but so much better!
If your favorite dessert is a classic espresso and ice cream affogato, this is the Starbucks cold brew drink for you.
Once you try a float of silky vanilla sweet cream on top of your cold brew, you’ll never go back to boring old milk again.
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew is made from Starbucks’ cold-steeped small-batch cold brew coffee sweetened with a splash of vanilla syrup.
It’s served over ice and topped with a float of house-made vanilla sweet cream.
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew is available in tall, grande, venti, and trenta sizes.
A grande contains 110 calories, 14g of sugar, 5g of fat, and 185mg of caffeine.
2. Nitro Cold Brew
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew is one of the best cold brew coffees at Starbucks because it’s the smoothest way to enjoy a cold coffee.
The coffee is infused with nitrogen to give it an incredible texture. It’s creamy, rich, and subtly sweet.
Like most drinks on the Starbucks menu, the Nitro Cold Brew can be customized with your choice of syrups, sweeteners, milk, and toppings, but it’s delicious enough on its own, and customization isn’t necessary.
Nitro Cold Brew is made from Starbucks’ small-batch slow-steeped cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen. The coffee is served cold, but it isn’t served on ice.
The nitrogen adds a ton of smooth, rich texture to the coffee and gives it a velvety, Guinness-like crema on top.
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew comes in tall and grande sizes. A grande contains 5 calories, 0g of sugar, 0g of fat, and 280mg of caffeine.
Nitro Cold Brew is one of the most caffeinated Starbucks cold brew coffees.
1. Chocolate Cream Cold Brew
Chocolate Cream Cold Brew is the best Starbucks cold brew drink on the menu!
It’s a decadent treat that’s not too sweet or heavy. Plus, it’s hard to justify adding a splash of milk to your cold brew when you can have it topped with velvety chocolate cream cold foam!
The Chocolate Cream Cold Brew starts with Starbucks’ smooth, small-batch cold brew coffee served on ice.
It’s sweetened with vanilla syrup and topped with a luxurious drift of chocolate cream cold foam.
Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew is available in tall, grande, venti, and trenta sizes.
A grande Chocolate Cream Cold Brew contains 250 calories, 28g of sugar, 14g of fat, and 185mg of caffeine.
Conclusion
Cold brew is a rich, smooth way to enjoy cold coffee. Starbucks offers a variety of cold brew coffees on the menu, with plenty of options to customize them.
Next time you’re in the mood for an iced coffee, choose one of Starbucks’ delicious cold brews on our list or create your own modified version!
For more information about Starbucks, check out the articles below.
