I am the person in the Starbucks line who shamelessly orders a latte with four shots of espresso. I would also argue that the greatest part of my life has been spent in coffee shops — when I'm not at school or at work, I am most definitely at Starbucks. As a teenager, I indulged in white peppermint mochas, obsessed over the double chocolate frappucino and drank steaming hot chocolates with thick wisps of whipped cream on the daily. But when I went vegan two years ago, my Starbucks orders changed — for the better, I would argue. I grew to love cold brew as well as just-your-average black coffee, iced or hot, but I also discovered my new favorite vegan drinks on the Starbucks menu:
10. Mango Black Tea
The mango black tea is a seasonal drink that pops up around the summer and spring. It is typically offered with lemonade, but I'm all about the fairly unhindered flavor of pure tea (besides the mango flavor), so I'm not a huge fan of adding lemonade. In the summer, I found this was one of the best ways to get a kick off caffeine in the morning without the dehydration that coffee brings when it's hot outside.
protip: I love ordering this with light ice — it stays nice and cold, but you get exponentially more product when half of the tea isn't diluted by a cupful of ice.
9. Peppermint Latte [soy milk — hot]
Fun fact: the peppermint syrup is in fact available at Starbucks year-round, so if your'e feeling the holiday season in October, you don't have to wait till the red cups pop out to order it. However, this latte has become my personal favorite substitute for the white peppermint mochas I used to love when I was younger. In fact, not being able to drink white peppermint mochas was seriously one of the reasons I considered not going vegan. But I can say with confidence that this is the perfect substitute — it brings the peppermint flavor and the creaminess of milk mixed espresso without the sweetness of the white chocolate.
8.Mocha [soy milk, no whip — iced]
I had actually never been into mochas until I discovered that Starbucks mocha syrup is vegan. I prefer the iced mocha to the hot one because I'm not a huge fan of the strong chocolatey flavor, but I have found that iced mochas are some of the best vessels for my four shots of espresso.
7. Strawberry Acai Refresher w/ coconut milk
I love this refresher on its own to give me a slight kick of energy, but I prefer it with the coconut milk because it adds a creaminess that I sometimes feel refreshers are lacking in. To order this, just ask for a strawberry acai refresher made with coconut milk instead of water.
6. Cool Lime Refresher
This was the first refresher I ever tried, and I still absolutely love it. It's definitely a very summery drink, and I can't see myself drinking it at any other time during the year, but it's a great way to get an energy boost in a pretty light drink.
5. Chai Tea Latte w/ 2 shots of espresso [soy milk, almond milk — iced, hot]
note: If you are vegan and do not eat honey, this drinks contains honey.
I'm slowly starting to transition away form this drink as I transition away from consuming honey, but I thought I would still mention it because it's always been one of my favorites. Chai tea lattes are great on their own but are exponentially better with espresso inside because, like with the mocha, the sweetness of the chai tea latte creates a good balance with the bitterness of the espresso.
4. London Fog Latte [soy milk, almond milk — hot]
Even the name of this drink essentially summarizes my favorite time to drink it: on a cold, rainy day. There's something about the balance of the bergamot from the earl grey, the steamed milk, and the vanilla in this drink that is so comforting, and I've found that in the colder seasons, it's my go-to drink when I don't feel like drinking coffee.
3. Vanilla Latte [soy milk, almond milk — iced, hot]
This was the first drink I ever tried vegan from Starbucks, and it was this drink that convinced me that it was possible. I'm a huge fan of lattes in general, and I would argue that the vanilla latte actually tastes exponentially better with soy milk. Also, this is one of the drinks that tastes amazing both hot and iced.
2. Cinnamon Dolce Latte [soy milk — no cinnamon topping — hot]
To me, this drink is best described as a "warm hug." I absolutely love cinnamon, and this latte is definitely the fall drink that I would choose over the pumpkin spice latte any day. The downside? Cinnamon dolce lattes are best served hot, and I'm not a huge fan of iced cinnamon dolce lattes; however, how good it tastes hot makes up for the fact that it's not great iced.
1. Green Tea Latte [soy milk, coconut milk — iced, hot, frappucino]
My absolute favorite. I never thought that for a person who is obsessed with coffee as I am, a non-coffee drink could ever be the best. But green tea lattes are incredible. I recently learned that a lot of people actually don't know about their existence, so this right now is a prompt to those people to go out and try a green tea latte. I definitely prefer them hot because the matcha dissolves better while in the iced ones it can get clumpy in the bottom and on the sides, but on a hot summer day, I can definitely go for the iced, or even for the frappucino.
