Warm Coffee From Starbucks: The Hot Coffee and Espresso Menu

The quickest way to read the list is by what sits in the cup besides coffee: milk, foam, water or sauce. Most hot drinks are built from the same few parts, so once you know the family, the name on the menu stops being a mystery.

Hot coffee drinks at Starbucks, grouped by what goes in with the coffee.

Not every warm cup has coffee in it. For starbucks hot drinks without espresso, look at the tea menu or the hot chocolate and cocoa page. Both share the same cup sizes and the same milk choices.

Two habits make the board easier to read. Any drink with Blonde in the name uses the lighter Blonde Espresso instead of the signature shots. And any drink with Iced in front of it is the same family served over ice, so learning the hot version teaches you the cold one too.

The mocha and the white chocolate mocha are the two hot espresso drinks with chocolate in them: shots, steamed milk, a chocolate sauce and whipped cream. The mocha uses dark mocha sauce, so it tastes like a coffee-forward hot chocolate. The white chocolate mocha uses a sweeter, creamier sauce and tastes closer to dessert.

Both carry the caffeine of the espresso inside, and both are sweeter than a plain latte. Hot chocolate is the odd one out: it has no espresso, so it carries only the small amount of caffeine found in cocoa. Sweetness is the main thing to plan for. The mocha is the less sweet of the two, because cocoa adds a faint bitterness that sits well with the shots. The white chocolate mocha has no cocoa edge, so the coffee flavor sits further back. In either one, fewer pumps of sauce and no whipped cream trim the sugar. See the hot chocolate and cocoa page if you want chocolate without the coffee. For the full breakdown of each mocha, open Caffe Mocha details or White Chocolate Mocha details.

Starbucks espresso is sold by the shot, and the names solo, doppio, triple and quad simply mean one, two, three and four shots. A Signature shot carries about 75 mg of caffeine and a Blonde shot about 85 mg, so a quad adds up to roughly 300 to 340 mg before any milk goes in.

Most hot drinks scale their shots with the cup. This table shows the standard builds for the three most common hot espresso orders.

The Venti hot latte has the same two shots as the Grande, so the extra size gives you more milk, not more coffee. If you want a stronger Venti, add a shot. Each added shot adds about 75 mg of caffeine with Signature espresso, and extra shots usually carry a small charge in the app.

A single shot is roughly an ounce of liquid, which is why the same shot count tastes so different from drink to drink. In a Venti Americano, four shots share the cup with hot water, so the coffee flavor is sharp and clean. In a Venti latte, two shots sit under a lot of steamed milk, so the cup is mellow and creamy. The shots are the same. The dilution changes the experience.

Starbucks Espresso Doppio and the Shots in Every Drink

A doppio is a double shot, two shots of espresso pulled together. It is the default in a Grande latte, so you are drinking a doppio whenever you order one.

The number of shots of espresso in Starbucks drinks depends on size: one shot in a Short or Tall latte, two in a Grande or Venti, and more in an Americano. To change it, ask for "one fewer shot" for a milder cup or "an extra shot" for a stronger one. In the app, the espresso option sits on the customize screen. Decaf shots are available on most espresso orders, and a shot split half and half works as a half-caff.

Starbucks Triple Shot and Ristretto Orders

A triple is three shots of espresso in one cup, ordered as "triple" or "add one shot" to a Grande. It lifts a Grande latte to roughly 225 mg of caffeine with Signature espresso, so go slowly if you are sensitive.

Ristretto is a different thing. Ristretto Starbucks style means a shorter pull that uses the same coffee with less water, which gives a sweeter, more concentrated shot with less bitterness. The Flat White is built on ristretto, and the Pecan Cortado on the menu uses three ristretto shots of Blonde Espresso. You can ask for ristretto shots in other drinks too, and the change is about taste more than strength.

Every hot cup comes in Short (8 oz), Tall (12 oz), Grande (16 oz) and Venti (20 oz), and caffeine climbs with size for brewed coffee but not always for espresso drinks. The Short size is usually left off the menu board, so ask for it at the counter, and availability varies by store.

Hot beverage Starbucks sizes with typical caffeine. Figures are approximate and come from the sizes Starbucks lists.

Roast changes the brewed number. A Grande Blonde Roast lists around 360 mg, a Grande dark roast around 260 mg, and a Grande Pike Place about 310 mg. A Grande decaf brewed coffee still holds a small amount, roughly 25 mg. For a quick size comparison across the whole menu, see cup sizes in ounces.

Calories vary mostly with milk. For a Grande made with 2% milk and no whipped cream, the commonly listed figures are about 15 calories for an Americano, 110 for a Caffè Misto, 140 for a cappuccino, 190 for a latte and 220 for a flat white. Whole milk and flavored syrups push those numbers up, and nonfat or unsweetened plant milks pull them down.

Caffeine deserves a plain-spoken warning. Health agencies commonly cite up to 400 mg a day as a level most healthy adults can handle, and a Venti brewed Pike Place at about 410 mg reaches that line in one cup. If you plan a second drink later, a Tall or an espresso drink with fewer shots keeps the day in range.

You can change the milk, the syrup, the shots and the temperature on almost every espresso drink, and the app shows each option on its customize screen. These are the changes that matter most:

• Milk: whole, 2%, nonfat, oat, almond, soy or coconut. Two percent is the usual default, with whole milk in the Flat White.
• Syrup: a standard build uses about 2 pumps in a Short, 3 in a Tall, 4 in a Grande and 5 in a Venti. Ask for fewer pumps to cut sugar.
• Shots: add, remove, or switch to Blonde, decaf or ristretto.
• Temperature: ask for extra hot, or for kid's temperature if you want a milk drink you can sip right away.
• Foam: ask for light or extra foam, or no foam at all.
• Sugar-free syrup: vanilla is the usual choice, but availability varies by store.

Milk changes the character of a drink more than most people expect. Oat milk gives a rounder, slightly sweet body. Almond is lighter with a nutty edge. Soy is creamy and mild. Coconut brings its own flavor into the cup, and nonfat is thinner but makes the most foam.

Say the order the way the app lists it: size, hot or iced, milk, syrup, shots. The same order works at the counter and keeps a busy barista from guessing.

Choose by what you want from the cup, then match the drink.

Strong: a Blonde Roast has the most brewed caffeine, a Cortado or Flat White packs the most espresso per sip, and an Americano gives a long black cup. Add a shot to any latte if you want the strength without changing the flavor.

Sweet: a Caramel Macchiato, Cinnamon Dolce Latte or white chocolate mocha lands closest to dessert. Ask for the whipped cream if you want the full effect, and skip it if the drink already feels rich.

Light: a Caffè Misto or Blonde Vanilla Latte is mellow with soft coffee flavor. Both suit a morning when you want warmth more than a jolt.

Low sugar: an Americano, brewed coffee or an unsweetened latte keeps the sugar low, and the low-calorie drinks page has more options. Want the same drinks cold? Try the cold coffee alternatives. That is the whole starbucks warm coffee menu, sorted by what you are in the mood for.