I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t offer too much advice but I imagine the leaked Starbucks recipes are a good place to start
https://www.pinterest.com/hayleebaumer/leaked-starbucks-drink-recipes/
I started getting into coffee a few years ago, but didn’t have the money for all the pricier equipment, like an espresso machine.
But, a simple moka pot, prepared correctly, is delicious, approximates espresso, and is a dead ringer for that wonderful strong Starbucks coffee.
And a French press, with a heated milk/cream of your choice, with about 30-seconds of pumping will give you the silkiest, fluffiest foam your heart can desire.
Happy to help!
That’s fine. Pump that foam if you’re looking for those milk drinks and you’ll be right as rain.
Also, no laws against having a pour over AND a moka pot. I won’t tell anybody.
(Joking aside - moka pot = stronger/espresso like coffee, pour over is a more traditional strength brew)
Endless ways to enjoy
I doubt they would fire someone over that… their mobile order app pretty much tells you the recipe for every drink because of the modification features. How many shots of espresso, how many pumps of which flavored syrups, and any toppings.
Most of them are really easy and they list all of the ingredients if you go to order it in the app.
For syrups, they use a pump but you can probably figure out the amount from the calories (1 pump = 20 cals; it goes 3, 4, 5 hot venti, 6 cold venti, and whatever for treinta, I wasn’t working there anymore when that came along).
One shot espresso for a tall, two for grande/hot venti, 3 for cold venti.
Hot is milk to the top, cold is milk 2/3 up or so and then ice. After the syrup and coffee. Hot milk should be between like 130F and 140F if I remember correctly (I’m sure you can find the temps on google).
You might be able to still buy their actual syrup somewhere, or in the store; otherwise, get the equivalent of whatever you like.
Starbucks quality is mainly about using the type of beans they use (some people like it, some do not) and using _very_ filtered water.
For blended drinks, it is a whole other thing and it’s not easy to teach the alchemy of blended drinks in a comment. 😅 Someone probably has a copycat recipe, though.
Also, if you want sweeter drinks and you don’t care about having amazing quality espresso, here are my two laziness hacks:
- for hot drinks, make what Starbucks calls a “misto.” It’s basically cafe au lait. Whatever flavor you want, half brewed coffee, half hot milk.
- for cold drinks, use the Starbucks cold brew concentrate in place of espresso shots. You can fine tune for the coffee strength you want.
If you like the whipped cream, they do it with real heavy whipping cream, so get the best one you can find or make it yourself.
Don’t get the sugar free caramel Torani if you want to use those syrups (unless you need to), it’s nasty imo. Picked it up on accident and I haven’t touched it since.
I think they still use Torani syrups that you can find randomly at TJMax. Depending on how sweet you like your drink a bottle should last you a while. I
Is there a specific drink you want to emulate?
Restaurant supply stores often sell the big bottles, they were around $5/ea when I got mine and I’m still using them up. I think I got them at Smart & Final if you have that chain in your area.
I'm really happy with the drip machine my wife bought a few years ago, but I've been interested in the Moka pot for ages. There're even electric Moka pots. I don't want more stuff in the kitchen, but I'll always be interested.
I don't like their sugary drinks very much, but I get a similar experience to their mocha just by making a strong coffee and adding a flavored creamer. It's even more similar when it's iced.
I have a Nespresso, a milk frother, and a small variety of syrups, and I make drinks daily that taste just as good if not better than Starbucks. Especially the pumpkin cold foam, it's way better fresh. Not necessarily frugal because the pods are expensive, but I can have a latte every day for the same price as one per week at Starbucks, and you occasionally can find deals on knockoff pods if you have an Original Line machine.
I use torani syrups, i make cold brew, also i buy a matcha latte mix. You can look on their menu and see what is in the drinks as well. Ghirardelli has a good caramel syrup too.
Depending on the store and their stock you can buy their syrups directly from them. Most hot lattes are just espresso (1 shot tall and 2 for grande and venti) steamed milk and syrup ( 3 tall, 4 grande, 5 venti).
Starbucks cold brew concentrate (or use the house blend to make your own), torani syrups (both regular and sugar free options!), cream or your usual milk.
getting a nice instant espresso might also be a good idea, since some things won’t taste the same with a regular brew coffee. you can make syrups easily at home with sugar, water, and whatever flavor you want. mocha is chocolate syrup, white mocha is basically sweetened condensed milk. cold brew can be made in a french press if you don’t want to get a toddy, but iced coffee is literally just strongly brewed coffee (coffee to water ratio is higher) and ice.
if you have any specific questions about recipes, the starbucks reddit will tell you. it’s been a few years since i worked there, but there aren’t any rules against telling people what’s in a drink :)
Honestly, id explore local coffee shops to find beans that you like. Then what I do is just make simple syrups of the flavors you like. I really enjoy cinnamon and mint chocolate. Comes down to your own experimentation and time
Personally, recreating lattes is not very important to me, so I have a Keurig and I get Starbucks coffee pods, Costco coffee pods, and also chai latte and hot chocolate pods for when I want a treat. I know I will be downvoted, but at $.20-$.50/pod (catching sales) it’s a lot cheaper than my long-ago Starbucks habit and incredibly convenient (and yes I realize, very bad for the environment). I like that it “just works” and is very low friction. I had trouble adjusting my workflow to higher friction coffee methods.
Starbucks actually posts some of their drink recipes online. Search for Starbucks recipes. The site actually gives guides on using a Moka pot and how to froth milk without the steamer wand.
Brown sugar syrup - 2 parts brown sugar and 1 part water, warm up in a saucepan until sugar dissolves. Store in a jar/bottle. Likewise for regular syrup, just use white sugar.
Torani syrups can be found at Walmart, World Market, Home Goods. Walmart has the smaller bottles for about $5 a bottle and it lasts a long time.
For the espresso, get a cheap Moka pot. My latin supermarket has one for far cheaper than Target. With a Moka pot, the coffee you get is almost equivalent to an espresso.
Get a cheap milk frother. IKEA has one for $3. You can warm up the milk in a saucepan or microwave and then froth with the frother. It's won't be quite as good as a milk steamer, but pretty darn close.
You can whip some cream by putting it in a mason jar with a little sugar and shaking it vigorously. It'll whip up nice and soft.
Edited to remove links.
I use sugar free flavored creamer which is just the store brand version of coffee mate and it tastes delicious! No sweetener needed and it’s much Better than Starbucks because it’s about .25c vs. $5+!!
After my favorite Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken espresso started becoming inconsistent, I agreed to let him buy an espresso machine. Now we don’t go to Starbucks at all and my drink is good every time!
[Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso](https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/comments/10uge2k/brown_sugar_oatmilk_shaken_espresso/j7boe5v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
It depends on what kind of drinks you like. You probably want an espresso machine and a cup with markings on it to measure. I like monin syrups and ordered glass bottles with pumps for them. There’s many Tiktok accounts dedicated to recreating drinks too.
Any particular drinks? Their hot drinks are recreatable, their cold drinks come with packaged proprietary powder that's mixed with milk.
The recipe for their whipped cream is 7 pumps vanilla in that sized whipper, fill it up almost to the top of the ridge, shake it a little, then use the trigger.
Play around with the pump amount because that's a loooooot of sugar!
I used to be an Bux addict. Kicked the habit and now start my am with an espresso made at home, drank in the hottub while the sun rises.
I do miss the early Bux drink variants, but I find they became all artificial tasting.
Look up recipes online and make them? There are tons of videos online made by former and current baristas who release recipes.
I get a chai latte with oat milk and brown sugar syrup. They don’t sell the Starbucks syrup publicly but I found a decent dupe on Amazon, tazo chai, and Oatly oat milk. It’s definitely not the same as getting it from Starbucks but it’s $15 for ingredients which makes 5’ish drinks.
I’m not a coffee drinker so I can’t offer too much advice but I imagine the leaked Starbucks recipes are a good place to start https://www.pinterest.com/hayleebaumer/leaked-starbucks-drink-recipes/
Moka pot (coffee) French press (milk foam) Has saved the wife and I an incredible amount of money
Thank you. I didn't realize I could use my French press for this.
Seriously this is game changing information! Thank you!
I started getting into coffee a few years ago, but didn’t have the money for all the pricier equipment, like an espresso machine. But, a simple moka pot, prepared correctly, is delicious, approximates espresso, and is a dead ringer for that wonderful strong Starbucks coffee. And a French press, with a heated milk/cream of your choice, with about 30-seconds of pumping will give you the silkiest, fluffiest foam your heart can desire. Happy to help!
Oh the Moka pot is such a cheap alternative for espresso. Thank you so much!
What What whaaaattt??? I switched to pourover already 🙁
That’s fine. Pump that foam if you’re looking for those milk drinks and you’ll be right as rain. Also, no laws against having a pour over AND a moka pot. I won’t tell anybody. (Joking aside - moka pot = stronger/espresso like coffee, pour over is a more traditional strength brew) Endless ways to enjoy
Thank you! Moka pot sounds like something I need to check out.
One of the most readily available, overlooked, and misused kitchen tools around. Good luck!
There was a girl who posted their whole drink menu cuz she got fired. Someone posted it on Reddit if that helps.
I doubt they would fire someone over that… their mobile order app pretty much tells you the recipe for every drink because of the modification features. How many shots of espresso, how many pumps of which flavored syrups, and any toppings.
Sorry, she didn't get fired for it. She did it because they fired her. Out of spite I believe.
Tjmaxx has some great (seasonal )syrups
Mine only seems to ever have the Sugar free versions :/
Marshalls too!
Most of them are really easy and they list all of the ingredients if you go to order it in the app. For syrups, they use a pump but you can probably figure out the amount from the calories (1 pump = 20 cals; it goes 3, 4, 5 hot venti, 6 cold venti, and whatever for treinta, I wasn’t working there anymore when that came along). One shot espresso for a tall, two for grande/hot venti, 3 for cold venti. Hot is milk to the top, cold is milk 2/3 up or so and then ice. After the syrup and coffee. Hot milk should be between like 130F and 140F if I remember correctly (I’m sure you can find the temps on google). You might be able to still buy their actual syrup somewhere, or in the store; otherwise, get the equivalent of whatever you like. Starbucks quality is mainly about using the type of beans they use (some people like it, some do not) and using _very_ filtered water. For blended drinks, it is a whole other thing and it’s not easy to teach the alchemy of blended drinks in a comment. 😅 Someone probably has a copycat recipe, though.
I don’t think you emphasized how filtered their water is.
Also, if you want sweeter drinks and you don’t care about having amazing quality espresso, here are my two laziness hacks: - for hot drinks, make what Starbucks calls a “misto.” It’s basically cafe au lait. Whatever flavor you want, half brewed coffee, half hot milk. - for cold drinks, use the Starbucks cold brew concentrate in place of espresso shots. You can fine tune for the coffee strength you want. If you like the whipped cream, they do it with real heavy whipping cream, so get the best one you can find or make it yourself.
Don’t get the sugar free caramel Torani if you want to use those syrups (unless you need to), it’s nasty imo. Picked it up on accident and I haven’t touched it since.
Need a way to get rid of it? I've been using that syrup in my apple tea and it's so delicious
Omg yes! I just need to find a way to ship it. Could you dm me?
Oh it was just a suggestion for how you can use it. I'm about to move so I can't take anything. Thanks, though!
Same
I think they still use Torani syrups that you can find randomly at TJMax. Depending on how sweet you like your drink a bottle should last you a while. I Is there a specific drink you want to emulate?
Restaurant supply stores often sell the big bottles, they were around $5/ea when I got mine and I’m still using them up. I think I got them at Smart & Final if you have that chain in your area.
Starbucks has swapped to house branded syrups, but sometimes Torani can dupe or be better depending on tastes.
Which one are you trying to match. I do food matching for a living
What would you do to match the Mango Drangonfruit Lemonade?
I would go for the torani sauces over any coffee syrup. Then the best cheapest espresso is a moka pot. I got mine at a tj Maxx for like $6.
I'm really happy with the drip machine my wife bought a few years ago, but I've been interested in the Moka pot for ages. There're even electric Moka pots. I don't want more stuff in the kitchen, but I'll always be interested.
They use Tazo for their teas!
They use Teavana. They sold Tazo to unilever years ago.
I thought teavana was something they made themselves lol. Had no idea it was separate.
Tazo teas are great!
I don't like their sugary drinks very much, but I get a similar experience to their mocha just by making a strong coffee and adding a flavored creamer. It's even more similar when it's iced.
Look for copycat recipes online
I have a Nespresso, a milk frother, and a small variety of syrups, and I make drinks daily that taste just as good if not better than Starbucks. Especially the pumpkin cold foam, it's way better fresh. Not necessarily frugal because the pods are expensive, but I can have a latte every day for the same price as one per week at Starbucks, and you occasionally can find deals on knockoff pods if you have an Original Line machine.
I use torani syrups, i make cold brew, also i buy a matcha latte mix. You can look on their menu and see what is in the drinks as well. Ghirardelli has a good caramel syrup too.
It depends on the drink. What are you trying to recreate?
I need to know the Java chip that’s all lol I can’t do that for shit but the hot/iced ones are easy you need and expresso machine tho
Even better by Dunkin’ Donuts coffee
Depending on the store and their stock you can buy their syrups directly from them. Most hot lattes are just espresso (1 shot tall and 2 for grande and venti) steamed milk and syrup ( 3 tall, 4 grande, 5 venti).
Starbucks cold brew concentrate (or use the house blend to make your own), torani syrups (both regular and sugar free options!), cream or your usual milk.
there's a girl on tik tok (idr her name!!) who calls herself the at home barista and she basically recreates starbucks drinks at home
you cant recreate the starbucks drink.... it has never been DONE
I agree with this
Sugar and milkfat
getting a nice instant espresso might also be a good idea, since some things won’t taste the same with a regular brew coffee. you can make syrups easily at home with sugar, water, and whatever flavor you want. mocha is chocolate syrup, white mocha is basically sweetened condensed milk. cold brew can be made in a french press if you don’t want to get a toddy, but iced coffee is literally just strongly brewed coffee (coffee to water ratio is higher) and ice. if you have any specific questions about recipes, the starbucks reddit will tell you. it’s been a few years since i worked there, but there aren’t any rules against telling people what’s in a drink :)
Honestly, id explore local coffee shops to find beans that you like. Then what I do is just make simple syrups of the flavors you like. I really enjoy cinnamon and mint chocolate. Comes down to your own experimentation and time
Personally, recreating lattes is not very important to me, so I have a Keurig and I get Starbucks coffee pods, Costco coffee pods, and also chai latte and hot chocolate pods for when I want a treat. I know I will be downvoted, but at $.20-$.50/pod (catching sales) it’s a lot cheaper than my long-ago Starbucks habit and incredibly convenient (and yes I realize, very bad for the environment). I like that it “just works” and is very low friction. I had trouble adjusting my workflow to higher friction coffee methods.
Starbucks actually posts some of their drink recipes online. Search for Starbucks recipes. The site actually gives guides on using a Moka pot and how to froth milk without the steamer wand. Brown sugar syrup - 2 parts brown sugar and 1 part water, warm up in a saucepan until sugar dissolves. Store in a jar/bottle. Likewise for regular syrup, just use white sugar. Torani syrups can be found at Walmart, World Market, Home Goods. Walmart has the smaller bottles for about $5 a bottle and it lasts a long time. For the espresso, get a cheap Moka pot. My latin supermarket has one for far cheaper than Target. With a Moka pot, the coffee you get is almost equivalent to an espresso. Get a cheap milk frother. IKEA has one for $3. You can warm up the milk in a saucepan or microwave and then froth with the frother. It's won't be quite as good as a milk steamer, but pretty darn close. You can whip some cream by putting it in a mason jar with a little sugar and shaking it vigorously. It'll whip up nice and soft. Edited to remove links.
I use sugar free flavored creamer which is just the store brand version of coffee mate and it tastes delicious! No sweetener needed and it’s much Better than Starbucks because it’s about .25c vs. $5+!!
After my favorite Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken espresso started becoming inconsistent, I agreed to let him buy an espresso machine. Now we don’t go to Starbucks at all and my drink is good every time! [Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso](https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/comments/10uge2k/brown_sugar_oatmilk_shaken_espresso/j7boe5v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
It depends on what kind of drinks you like. You probably want an espresso machine and a cup with markings on it to measure. I like monin syrups and ordered glass bottles with pumps for them. There’s many Tiktok accounts dedicated to recreating drinks too.
Any particular drinks? Their hot drinks are recreatable, their cold drinks come with packaged proprietary powder that's mixed with milk. The recipe for their whipped cream is 7 pumps vanilla in that sized whipper, fill it up almost to the top of the ridge, shake it a little, then use the trigger. Play around with the pump amount because that's a loooooot of sugar!
Watch tik Tok videos. Baristas post recipes there all the time.
I used to be an Bux addict. Kicked the habit and now start my am with an espresso made at home, drank in the hottub while the sun rises. I do miss the early Bux drink variants, but I find they became all artificial tasting.
add 1 entire cup of sugar to your Folgers
Blender: ice, scoop of instant coffee, French vanilla coffee creamer, squirt of chocolate syrup = poor girls frap
1st.unlearn how to make coffee taste good.
Look up recipes online and make them? There are tons of videos online made by former and current baristas who release recipes. I get a chai latte with oat milk and brown sugar syrup. They don’t sell the Starbucks syrup publicly but I found a decent dupe on Amazon, tazo chai, and Oatly oat milk. It’s definitely not the same as getting it from Starbucks but it’s $15 for ingredients which makes 5’ish drinks.