Best Summer Starbucks Choices
Depending on where in the country you live, sometimes it can feel like there is a Starbucks at almost every corner. I live in a suburb and I count 5 Starbucks within a 10-minute radius of my home. It's summer and I've got two teen daughters in tow so let's just say we make just a few Starbucks runs a week.
I couldn't help but take my recent frequent trips to Starbucks and turn them into a blog or two. It seems to me, after perusing the menu, there are a few awesome options around 100 calories (not that I'm into counting calories)...
* Green Iced Tea (green tea blended with mint, lemongrass and lemon verbena, lightly sweetened) Tall size = 60 calories
* Iced Caffe Latte with Nonfat Milk Grande size = 100 calories, 0 gram fat, 9 grams protein, 25% Daily value for Calcium
* Coffee Frappuccino Light (no whip) Tall size = 110 calories, 1 gram fat, 5 grams protein, 15% Daily Value for Calcium
* Espresso Frappuccino Light Tall size (no whip) = 100 calories, .5 g fat, 4 grams protein, 10% Daily Value for Calcium
* Tazo Green Tea Lemonade (green tea blended with mint, lemongrass and lemon verbena, and lightly sweetened lemonade) Tall size = 90 calories
What is your favorite Starbucks drink?
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Caffeine: Sex Potion for Females?, Summer Sipping
Technorati Tags: starbucks, 100caloris, greentea, frappuccino, espresso
I couldn't help but take my recent frequent trips to Starbucks and turn them into a blog or two. It seems to me, after perusing the menu, there are a few awesome options around 100 calories (not that I'm into counting calories)...
* Green Iced Tea (green tea blended with mint, lemongrass and lemon verbena, lightly sweetened) Tall size = 60 calories
* Iced Caffe Latte with Nonfat Milk Grande size = 100 calories, 0 gram fat, 9 grams protein, 25% Daily value for Calcium
* Coffee Frappuccino Light (no whip) Tall size = 110 calories, 1 gram fat, 5 grams protein, 15% Daily Value for Calcium
* Espresso Frappuccino Light Tall size (no whip) = 100 calories, .5 g fat, 4 grams protein, 10% Daily Value for Calcium
* Tazo Green Tea Lemonade (green tea blended with mint, lemongrass and lemon verbena, and lightly sweetened lemonade) Tall size = 90 calories
What is your favorite Starbucks drink?
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Caffeine: Sex Potion for Females?, Summer Sipping
Technorati Tags: starbucks, 100caloris, greentea, frappuccino, espresso
75 Comments:
I would have to say my regular is my favorite. I get a tall-sugarfree hazlenut, non-fat latte. Very low cal. I also like the Americano with a splash of skim milk and two splendas in it. It is fat free and delicious!!
Hi Elaine-
Thanks for the great info. It's good to know that my favorite iced latte isn't doing that much damage.
Sorry to be "the grammar police," but you might want to change your comment about having two daughters "in toe" to "in tow". . . unless they're actually inside your big toe.
JJ
In toe indeed, it's changed - thanks for noticing!
This is a great list -- thanks! My personal summer Starbucks favorite is a Venti iced Americano, all ice, no water, no calories. :)
One of the baristas once explained the "Frappucino philosophy" to me -- get 'em hooked young with the sweet drinks so they keep coming back when they're older. I just love coffee, so didn't need a hook.
It's good to have information like this so I can inform my Frappucino-hazed kids that they really need to leave the whip off and go for the lower calorie drinks.
I'm all about cappuccinos, non-fat with two packs of hawaiian rock sugar!
Interesting array of drinks. My favorite and the only one I order is a Tall Americana, black.... iced in the summer and hot in the winter. Barbara
Just "found" this webpage. Will keep in my Favorites.
I alternate between hot and iced versions of a Venti decaf 5 shot Americano. No calories, no carbs, and no worries. Delicious.
My favorite new Starbucks drink (which I had many b/c I used to work there!) is the coffee light frappaccino with 2 pumps mocha and 2 pumps of coconut! It's not too naughty, yet it's a great summer treat! enjoy!
My favorite is the iced coffee, possibly with a shot of espresso and a few squirt of vanilla syrup. Then I add a little half and half-----------only $2.50.
Is this the same company who would not give to the soldiers because their against the war?
Just asking!!!
Yes this is the same company that would not provide coffee products to the military in Iraq due because they were against the war on terror.
I don't frequent Starbucks for political reasons. However, I do have a coffeehouse close that serves anything that Starbucks could offer. I go there and usually have black, premium blend coffee. I find something hot to drink makes me feel cooler.
It's a comment on a blog not a thesis, relax!
What is the calorie count for a Venti Non-Fat Cappuccino? tck
Starbucks, Schmarbucks.... I frequent Diedrich's... they have the best iced tea. (Starbucks' tea is red and tastes terrible.)Deidrich's is great just plain - no sweetners needed, but not too sweet for those who don't sweeten their tea. Try it! (By the way, don't send a bunch of hate-blogs just b/c I don't do Starbucks. Ü)
A sugar free vanilla non-fat latte is my favorite and I don't want really to know how many calories are in it. Thanks for the other info.
mmmm all sound delicious! but i'd have to say my fav is a grande iced cafe con leche...sweetened with classic syrup and nonfat milk w/light ice....tasty in these hot summer days! :)
The rumor about Starbucks and Iraq is NOT TRUE. The soldier who started it has since retracted his accusation.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/starbucks-iraq.htm
I opened your article because I frequent Starbucks (usually have Mocha Light Frappacino) and wanted to see nutrition info - you list everything but carbs. As Type 1 diabetic, I'm trying to get carb info on everything I eat (so I know how much insulin to take). Was disappointed with your info.
Hot or cold (weather wise) I have an Iced venti 2% no whip mocha every day.. sometimes twice a day. My DR says 'no problem' but now telling me I am getting a fat belly and blood sugar is going up. I am hooked and yes I know I need to find something I like with less calories, sugar and fat. I really need to taper off.
I am so hooked on Venti no whip, blackberry green tea frappachino.
It has such a different taste..
However, I have cut back thinking too many calories...
jp
I just love a Shaken Iced coffee with 2 sweet&lows and 2 creams, right after work, it is a great pick me up. I didn't know I could ask for light cream. Enjoyed your article, and really like the interesting things I am learning on WEB MD. Thanks for the info.
Gammy says...Hi Elaine. Do you know how much money a person could save a year by not drinking coffee at Starbucks everyday? I know. I quit, and I saved $1500.00!!!! I was hooked! But it was delicious while it lasted.
PS: whoever, whomever is correcting your grammer & spelling should get a life!
im sure glad someone pointed out the starbucks/iraq controversy isnt true. Would have a heck of a time pulling my girlfriend away from her weekly iced coffee, and id sure miss the million calorie white chocolate mocha.
Thank goodness for Starbucks! The lattes are the most delicious.
This business regarding Iraq is rediculous. NO ONE is opposed to stopping terrorism. The debate is about how to go about stopping it. I am hooked on a double shot espresso, a packet of raw suger, and only a touch of 1/2 and 1/2. Also cures headaches! LF
Seems like I'm the Poster Boy for Starbucks (can't seem to pass one without stopping in!), and my favorite is a venti non-fat, no-foam latte. On the surface, that would seem to be fairly healthy. Please tell me I'm right!
I have a Bunn coffeemaker. It is fast and I brew my coffee to my taste--black. No calories and much more economical!
I love Starbucks. I know that a lot of the country is against them but they crank out a great product. My favorite is an iced venti non fat caramel macchiato. I know this has some empty calories from the caramel syrup but I only treat myself twice a week, so I don't really care. Thank you for posting this information, though.
Oh please stop all this blog nonsense! You either love Starbucks or hate Starbucks. You either support the war or don't support the war. Just have a cup of coffee and relax -- whatever way you like it!
Also, to the diabetic blogger -- here's a great book for you! I look up my Starbucks information in here, as I, too, am diabetic and have to watch the carbs.
http://www.calorieking.com/
Elaine -
Fantastic post, thanks! I have recently been a frequent fan of the Tazo iced tea - especially the black tea with just a tiny bit of sweetner - its fantastic!
I love Vente Latte w/velencia and whipped cream 3 or 4 shots of espesso depending on how awake I need to be.
I love my Starbucks and I have to admit I'm pretty stuck on a tall or grande nonfat Caramel Macchiato, be it hot or cold depending on the weather. I am on Weight Watchers, and to me it is worth the 3 or 4 points. I have maybe 1-2 per week.
anonymous looking for carb info:
You can get estimates on the carbs in Starbucks' drinks by doing a search on the terms "Starbucks" and "carbs". Since Starbucks doesn't publish that data it's all an estimate based on comparisons to foods published with similar ingredients.
I found one site that gave your light frappucino (tall, no whip) a glycemic index of 10, disclaimed as being an estimate.
Bobbe said.....
My favorite Starbucks drink is a Tazo Chai Tea blended Frappucino. So delicious it'll make your tongue slap your lips off your face!
I actually like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Company's product better as it does not make my tummy hurt like Starbucks but there is not one in my town so I go to my local guy and get a tall non-fat latte with 1 splenda....
I'm totally addicted to the iced grande vanilla latte! I usually get it with regular milk, but after having read this article I will try the non-fat! 100 calories per drink is excellent and I won't feel so guilty about having 3 a day! Bonny in NYC
I absolutely love Starbucks. I go there between two and three times a day - the two things I almost always get are 7 shots over ice with a touch of soy and 2 equals - or a venti iced non fat extra extra extra... extra carmel carmel machiato - it's just so good. Starbucks is great.
Two quick points:
1. I don't think anyone pointed out that you can get nutritional information at http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_comparison_popup.asp with options to sort by calories, carbs, etc. The article could just be a google search for "starbucks nutrition info".
2. Doppio con panna (double shot espresso and whipped cream) combines a dose of caffeine and sweet for around 100 calories. It's pretty great.
to anonymous right above me,
I just looked at the link you copied. No carb info on their nutritional analysis. Everything else but carbs.
quad cap soy. Awesome. 4 shots expresso cappuccino with soy milk. This is my all time favorite drink. Thanks to starbucks. I need calorie check on that. Help!
I would never imagined that coffee could stir such commentary! From a cup of Joe to war support - rather amazing! My random 'treat' used to be a small green tea rasberry frappachino - after the publicity concerning the calories, there is no way I could drink one without thinking each sip, gains ten lbs. Thanks for the showing healthy alternatives, I may be a Starbucks customer again!
Quad Venti Caramel Macchiato for me - I'm sure it helps immensely that it is with low fat milk, right? ;-)
Anonymous with the quad soy, you are looking at around 150 calories, probably a little less. And if you are Canadian, 20 calories less because their soy milk is lower calorie there.
i prefer this interface for starbucks nutritional information..
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_beverages.asp
i wish more restaurants would post info like this...
I love Starbucks and drink a cup every morning, but I buy the whole coffee beans and grind my own at home - saves $$ and is delicious. About once a week, I visit my favorite Starbucks for a summer treat and order a venti, black iced coffee and put a dash of sugar and small splash of half-and-half - delicious and under 50 calories.
every morning on my way to work i get a venti iced green tea, unsweetened ... i have had it "sweetened" with lemonade, but i like it plain.
on those special days, it's a venti quad mocha, skim, no whipped.
i am a starbucks addict. i have cut out all the little symbols to make a really cool screen design for my computer at work ... : )
Wow! I'm always surprised at which of my blogs end up stimulating discussion/comments.
I would have guessed the "Recipe Doctor Gets Wrapped" blog would have gotten a few takers, but no...it was the Starbucks blog that received 47 comments!
I guess you just never know! I think I'll do a Winter Starbucks Choices blog in November!
Elaine Magee
Thanks for the info on quad cap soy. More hot drinks from starbucks with low cal. Help!
This is my favourite. I get a Grande , Two percent, two raw sugar , 175 degree latte and it is great
Roy
I am trying to acquire a taste for coffee. It always taste burnt to me. Is there any coffee drink at Starbucks that you recommend that covers up the coffee taste.
The www.calorieking.com web site is fantastic.
check it out.
Dear Elaine - it's a toss up between tall coffee w/lowfat milk or a mocha w/skim (no whip cream!)
It was just green tea frappucino, no whip, for me but since the blackberry green tea frappucino came into being, I've switched. I also love the Chai latte frappucino.
Re: Starbucks Burnt Taste
Yes, they definitely overroast all their beans, especially their dark (Italian/espresso) roasts. I have found that Kenya and Gazebo are the only two that do not have that "burned rubber tire" taste, as my husband calls it!
For the Deidrich lover: The founder, Martin Deidrich, has left the company to start his own shop, called Kean (named after his son). The shop is in Costa Mesa, CA (the city just north of Newport Beach). Their website is www.keancoffee.com. Their light roast espresso is exceptional, and all of their products are very good. Martin is in there every day, roasting and cupping, so the quality control is fantastic. They are not yet shipping their whole beans, but hope to be doing so soon. Hope this helps!
honeybun1946: Was really glad to hear that there is low calorie drinks to choose from at Starbucks. One of my favorite spots and will go out of my way to make the stop. Really enjoy my choice at Starbucks in the grocery store. My choice is the venti coffee of the day with a shot of sugar free hazelnut with cream. So enjoyable to shop up and down the isles while sipping on my Starbucks. Also have started to purchase the coffee and make my own at home but will always continue to have my Starbucks while shopping.
bocajava.com is a coffee co that enables you to send coffee to the troops if you are interested
Purchase Only from those who support our troups.
You don't mention the carb count! That's what I have to count for my Type 2 Diabetes. At 110 pounds it doesn't seem fair.
Carb count, as someone mentioned earlier, is on Starbucks website at http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_beverages.asp.
I make it a habit to stay away from Starbucks. It keeps my waistline trim and my wallet fat and its only 2 blocks from home on the other side of a BIG grocery store.
My favorite drink is a real tongue twister and they pause and have to think about it for a second. I order a tall, non-fat, sugar-free Hazelnut Steamer. It's steamed skim mile with a shot of sugar-free syrup. Since I'm not a coffee drinker, it lets me partake of the whole Starbucks experience.
Also, the whole Starbucks antiwar claim is an urban legend hoax. Check it out on any number of hoax sites and you'll see that it's not true.
Starbucks is one of the lowest rated coffees. You can buy much better coffee much cheaper. Three to four bucks a cup is a rip off. A pound of coffee beans, ground at home will yield between 45 and 75 cups of coffee depending on strength. $8.00 a pound coffee at 60 cups per pound is $ .13 per cup. Good coffee you can drink black. You can't drink Starbucks black. If you can't drink it without putting in a quarter pound of sugar and a quarter pint of milk then it's not good coffee. Short answer: Starbucks sucks.
I actually drink a quite complicated drink... its an Iced Grande 2 pump Almond, 2 pump sugar-free vanilla soy, Light ice, Latte...it's delicious, lower calorie with the sugar free and i'm throwing in some soy protein...and it's sooooo good.
Passion iced tea with light lemonade, no added sweetener. Very refreshing.
Double espresso over ice with a nice dollop of Half & Half -- my alternative to icecream. Great treat.
Coffee: my favs are Anniversary, Christmas, and House blends.
Here's a $$$ saving way to partake in the Starbucks experience:
Buy the tiniest amount of coffee you can get from them. It's usually a shot of expresso, and costs less than a regular cup of coffee. Ask the barista to serve it in the BIGGEST possible cup.. You'll get a puzzled look. Pay for your mostly empty cup, and then walk over to the self-serve island and add all the skim milk you want to fill the cup... The milk is free and you get a big drink.
The political thing made me laugh, although I avoid it because it's a monstrous chain. I think it was good for me to have whipped cream when I was a kid. It made me want ice cream less. Of course, I didn't know what a frappucino was back then. Actually, now the once in a blue moon I do have something like that (not to be too graphic) it helps to slow the digestive process to have whipped cream.
I thought I'd respond to a few people since I worked at a gourmet coffee place that competed with Starbucks (successfully, I might add).
As for the carbs, get half and half with espresso (or drip/ice coffee would work too). I don't know if they let you add the half and half yourself, but if they do it would make it really cheap too. I think it's great personally, and I don't even have to worry about carbs (also good for the "tummy" problem as someone else mentioned).
Add your own sweetener and you'll know how much it is. The information you need should be on the syrup bottles as well.
For the coffee newcomer, try different kinds. I'm not sure what you mean by "burnt." If you mean bitter, try a dark roast (it may be counter-intuitive, but they have a more mellow taste). A good one Starbucks has (I was surprised) is Arabian Mocha Sanani.
If you don't mind the sharper flavors of medium roasts (which I'm not sure Starbucks brews), then problem solved.
If it's too strong or bold, the best thing to do is add water afterward instead of using a higher water-to-coffee ratio (the more beans are strained the more the coffee begins to get bitter). There are mellow medium roasts as well, but they're harder to find. Most grocers have Jamaica blue mountain, but for a medium roast, I like Kenyan.
And for the comment right before mine, they probably aren't puzzled but mad that you didn't pay for an iced latte.
Honestly, some of the bloggers who aren't commenting on Elaine's Starbucks article,but are repeating urban legends really strike me as way too stoked on whatever they're drinking. Can we keep political opinions, and that is what they are—just opinions—out of health-related discussions? Doesn't anyone remember the rule of thumb in social interaction: Don't discuss religion or politics. Can we apply this to our physical health blogs and keep our mental health healthier? Just wondering...
FYI. I love Starbucks products. For the people that mistakenly belive that Starbucks refused to send coffee to the troops because Starbucks supposed didn't suppor the war or the troops. It's false. It's a myth. Look it up for yourselves. I hate to see a good company the victim of unsubstantiated hoaxes.
My fave, by the way.. is the seasonal Gingerbread steamer, no whipped cream. :)
Oh, and it's not very nice to rip off a company by using all of their milk. Starbucks and other companies are trying to figure out a way to stop people from abusing the milk that's left out for topping a drink.. not making a drink. It's essentially stealing.
sorry Starbucks lovers, the best coffee out there is found at the Coffee Bean and tea leaf, they do not burn the beans and the taste is much smoother, anony.
I'd like to know how many calories are in my favorite Starbucks drinks! Whatever the weather is I always get a Venti Passion Tea Lemonade with Strawberry and instead of getting classic which is a sweetener I get 4 Splendas and I have them blend it. If I don't get that I just get a Venti Passion Tea Lemonade with 4 Splendas. So how many calories am I looking at for the two different drinks that I get?
I order the tall upside down nonfat sugar-free iced (in the summer and hot in the winter) vanilla caramel macchiato with a ristretto shot. Or its equal the tall nonfat ristretto shot iced/hot vanilla latte (only diff. is no caramel and the shot can go in first). I don't order whip cream on top unless its house made, not canned because that's too good to pass up. W/O the cream its only 90 cals and it really does taste the same. However, my favorite coffee shop is Gloria Jeans, they have much sweeter drinks, more options,and located in your local malls. Some even offer more sugar-free options than Starbucks but I go all out at Jeans . I think the average drink has just under 500 calories. I think of it as dessert b/c cheese cake has 500 cals. or I don't think about it much b/c I'm not on a "real" diet. I'm just on the American girl/women diet, just trying to be aware of what you consume b/c T.V. say we're the fat nation or that 80lb. 6 foot tall girls are pretty not death on heels.
I have to comment to the person that assumes that what you read in your email is always the truth. starbucks sent many of care packages and donated alot to our troops and the email that was in circulation was remarkably false. I did some checking within the Starbucks Headquarters (yes I do have contacts there that can find out alot of information for me) and that email appearently came from someone who knows nothing of what they were writing.
Try the quadruple Vanilla Latte while you are there.
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