I’ve been working as a barista at Starbucks for about nine months now, and through my experience, I’ve developed a new appreciation for and understanding of coffee and tea. In fact, I didn’t drink coffee at all until I started working there. Taking into consideration all the drinks I’ve made and tried these past nine months, I’ve compiled a list that I recommend, with and without coffee.

COFFEE 

Under the name of each coffee drink, I will put the number of espresso shots for the grande and venti (medium and large) sizes if it is a drink where the espresso is being customized.

1. Iced Chai latte with blonde espresso

1. • Grande: 1 shot, Venti: 2 shots
   • This was the first drink I had consistently after I started working. I wasn’t a coffee drinker until I started working at Starbucks, but I loved the chai latte, especially iced. Once I discovered how good the blonde espresso was, I knew I had to try it with the chai. I always make it with oat milk because it’s my favorite, but I think it’s good with other milks too. 
   • The ‘dirty chai’ which is just a chai latte with a regular espresso shot is fairly popular, but I think the blonde compliments the spicy-sweet flavor of the chai much better.

2. Blonde espresso shots over ice with salted caramel cream cold foam

1. • Grande: 2 or 3 shots, Venti: 3 or 4 shots 
   • Sometimes I just need a little pick me up, something sweet and light with enough caffeine to keep me alive for the rest of my shift. These days, I’ll pull some blonde espresso shots, pour them over extra ice, and finish them off with my favorite of the cold foams, the salted caramel cream cold foam. It’s the perfect combination of salty and sweet. I’m not the biggest fan of caramel coffee, but it’s so good in the foam. 
   • If I’m really not feeling it, I’ll just drink straight blonde espresso. It’s got a little more caffeine than the regular espresso and tastes a lot lighter.

3. Hazelnut White Mocha

• • Espresso shots will remain as is for this one
  • A standard grande white mocha comes with 4 pumps of white mocha, so I order this with 3 pumps of white mocha and 3 pumps of hazelnut. (tall: 3, venti: 4) I prefer this one hot, but it is still good iced. I always order without whipped cream out of personal preference. The white mocha and hazelnut together in a hot coffee makes this such a cozy drink. It’s very sweet so I don’t get it often, but it was definitely on my regular drink rotation this winter. 

NOT COFFEE  

1. Black Tea Lemonade

• • The black tea lemonade was my #1 this summer. It’s so refreshing and I love the taste of a classic iced tea. I’ll order this one as is, or I’ll add some flavor to change it up. Add classic syrup if you like it sweet, or raspberry syrup for a fruity, refreshing flavor.

2. Brown Sugar Black Milk Tea

• • Order this one a black tea with brown sugar syrup (standard pumps per size) and a splash of milk, shaken. I love milk teas, as they are light and sweet. Sometimes I’ll get this with classic sweetener instead of brown sugar syrup if I want a lighter flavor.

3. Iced Matcha Chai Latte

• • This is one of my favorites. I love both the matcha and chai lattes: both hot and iced, and the combination of both is so delicious. I order this as a matcha latte with one less scoop of matcha and 3 pumps of chai for a grande, and 5 for a venti. This drink is great both hot and iced, I strongly recommend either. I often order it with oat milk but it’s good with any milk.