Best sugar-free starbucks drinks

Sugar is everywhere and health-conscious people are trying to cut it out of their diet or reduce the amount of added sugar they consume daily. Unfortunately, those living in the United States will find it difficult to reduce their sugar intake. If you need your daily coffee fix, but without sugar, can you rely on Starbucks?

Yes, there are many drinks available at Starbucks that are 100% sugar-free, including coffee and espresso drinks. And, as a former employee of Starbucks, I can show you how to reduce the amount of sugar in most drinks.

According to the World Health Organization, the average adult should reduce the number of added sugars in their diet to only 10% of their total caloric intake. So, if you eat a 2000 calorie diet, then only 200 calories can come from added sugars. But 200 calories seems like a lot as well. The American Heart Association says that if the public can reduce their daily sugar to only 5% or even 25 grams, they would experience many health benefits.

Sugar-Free Drinks at Starbucks

So, you’re trying to reduce the amount of sugar in your diet. Perhaps you’re on the low-carb or keto diet? Well, Starbucks has several options available to you. Here is a list of drinks I guarantee won’t have any sugar.

• Brewed Coffee.
• Cold Brew – At some stores, simple syrup is added to cold brew.
• Nitro Cold Brew.
• Americano – This drink is espresso and hot water.
• Espresso Shots.
• Iced Coffee – A standard iced coffee comes with milk and sugar, but you can request a black ice coffee.

Iced Teas

When you order an iced tea, the barista will add 3, 4, or 5 pumps of sweetener, depending on the size. Just ask the barista for no syrup and the drink will be sugar-free.

• Iced Black Tea
• Iced Green Tea
• Iced Passion Tango Tea

Hot Teas

Starbucks has several hot brewed teas available.

Here are the hot teas available:

• Emperor’s Clouds and Mist
• Peach Tranquility
• Chai Tea
• Earl Grey
• London Fog
• Royal English Breakfast
• Jade Citrus Mint
• Mint Majesty

Honey Citrus Mint Tea – This tea is the only brewed tea that contains sugar because the barista adds honey.

Barista’s Tip: It is unlikely that the barista will add any sugar or honey to the brewed tea without your say so, but different locations have different instructions. If you don’t want any sweetener in your tea, tell the barista.

So, you may have noticed that there are no lattes or Frappuccino’s on this list. That is because a latte, although made with coffee, has sugar in it. The sugar will come from the syrup pumps or from the milk itself. So even if you don’t order an unsweetened drink, like a plain latte, which is just milk and espresso, there are natural sugars in the milk.

Does The Selection of Milks Available at Starbucks Contain Sugar?

All milk contains natural sugar, which is called lactose. However, if you are only cutting out added sugar, then it should be fine for you to drink milk and you can drink lattes and tea lattes.

Below is the type of dairy milks available at Starbucks and the amount of sugar each milk contains in 1 cup:

Unfortunately, someone who is looking to reduce the amount of sugar in their diet cannot rely on the alternate non-dairy milks to be sugarless. The lowest amount of sugar is in almond milk and the highest amount of sugar is in soy milk.

Coconut Milk
1 cup of the Sumatra Coconut Milk has 8 grams of added cane sugar.

Almond Milk
There are only 5g of carbohydrates in 1 cup of almond milk and only 3 of those 5 grams are from added sugar.

Soy milk
1 cup of soy milk has 13 grams of added sugar and 16 grams of total carbohydrates.

Oat Milk
One cup of Starbucks Oat Milk contains 4 grams of added sugar and 5 grams of sugar in total.

Reducing Added Sugar in Lattes

When you order a flavored latte, the standard amount of syrup pumps in a tall drink is 3. A grande flavored latte has 4 pumps and the venti will have 5 pumps. To reduce the amount of added sugar in your coffee, request fewer pumps of flavor in your latte.

For example, in fall or winter time, the pumpkin spice latte is available at Starbucks. When you order a Grande pumpkin spice latte, it will come with four pumps of pumpkin spice flavoring. If four pumps are too sweet for you, ask the barista to add only two pumps of pumpkin spice flavor. The flavor will not be as strong, but there won’t be as much sugar in the latte.

I wrote earlier that the average human should only consume 25 grams of added sugar a day. So how many grams of sugar does the pumpkin spice latte have? A 16 oz pumpkin spice latte has 52 grams of sugar, and 50 grams are of added sugar.

That is twice the recommended daily amount!

There are seven teas available all year round, and there are limited edition teas for certain seasons and promotions. Unlike hot teas, the iced teas have syrup included in the drink, but the syrup is not premixed into the tea. You can ask the barista to add any syrup and the drink will be sugar-free.

A Tea latte Has Sugar but Not Added Sugar

The barista can turn any hot tea into a tea latte. Just inform the barista about which tea you would like and what type of milk to use. Instead of steeping the tea bag in hot water, the barista will heat the milk of your choice and allow the tea bag to sit in the milk for two to three minutes. The tea latte will have sugar from the added milk, but it does not contain added sugar.

Sugarless Sweeteners

While most selection is limited, Starbucks carries several sugarless sweeteners in case you would like flavor in your coffee without the sugar. Starbucks carries:

• Sugar-free vanilla
• Sugar-free caramel
• Stevia
• Splenda
• Sweet and low

Can a Frappuccino Be Sugar-Free?

Absolutely not. There are three types of sugar in a Frappuccino. The first type of sugar comes from the Frappuccino base, which is a syrup. This base cannot be left out or removed. The second type of sugar comes from the syrup that gives the Frappuccino its flavor. The last type of sugar in a Frappuccino is the milk.

If you order a sugar-free caramel latte cappuccino made with water, which sounds terrible, the barista still has to use the Frappuccino base, which has sugar. There is no way to make a completely sugar-free Frappuccino, only a reduced sugar Frappuccino.

The Frappuccino with the lowest amount of sugar would be the tall coffee Frappuccino without whipped cream, which still has 31 grams of sugar.

Packaged Sugar free Drinks

Starbucks sells a few packaged drinks, and most have sugar. Here are the drinks that do not have any sugar.

• Teavana Unsweetened Peach Nectarine Green Tea
• Teavana Unsweetened Meyer Lemon Black Tea
• Galvanina Sparkling Mineral Water
• Ethos Water
• Spindrift Sparkling Water

Possible Questions on Your Mind

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