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Strongest Starbucks Drinks
A list of drinks from Starbucks with the highest caffeine content.
Published January 19, 2022
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Jennie Backteman
Coffee experts@The Coffee Lab
Organizing a list of the strongest drinks served at Starbucks isn’t always easy since you could order an espresso shot or a tall latte and they would have the same amount of caffeine in them, although the espresso would certainly taste a whole lot stronger. But drinking a few espresso shots is a lot easier than it would be to drink a few lattes or cappuccinos. If you are interested in learning more about the most caffeinated coffee at Starbucks, then this list rates Starbucks drinks based on how much caffeine is in the drink regardless of its size.
What coffee drink has the most caffeine at Starbucks? The most caffeinated drink at Starbucks that you can get is the Venti Blonde Roast, with a whopping 475mg of caffeine. What is the most caffeinated drink at Starbucks iced? If cold coffee is more your thing, the iced coffee drink with most caffeine is the Trenta Cold brew, with 360mg. If the Starbucks that you go to most often doesn’t offer the Trenta size, then the most caffeinated drink in the Venti size is the Iced Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso, with 340mg caffeine. You can expect a regular espresso shot to contain around 75mg of caffeine and adding an extra shot of espresso will make any espresso-based drink even stronger.
Blonde Roast Filter Coffee
What has the most caffeine at Starbucks? Despite the lighter taste of this coffee and the fact that it’s not an espresso drink, the Blonde Roast Filter coffee is in a surprising first place in Starbucks drinks ranked by caffeine content. While espresso drinks might be more intense when it comes to the volume, when it comes to the caffeine content alone, Blonde Roast is a clear leader. If you’re not a fan of black coffee, then you can make this coffee creamier and sweeter by asking your barista to leave some room for milk and add some vanilla syrup. Although, if you choose not to add anything to your coffee, the Blonde Roast isn’t just the strongest but also one of the healthier choices from Starbucks, with no sugar and no fat.
Pike Place Roast Filter Coffee
Pike Place is one of the most original Starbucks coffee drinks on offer, and it’s easy to find in any Starbucks coffee shop around the world. It’s also one of the most caffeinated drinks at Starbucks. It has been a firm favorite and popular option on the menu since it was created for the first time in 2008 by the master roasters and blenders. One of the most impressive things that Starbucks has managed to achieve is getting the coffee to taste exactly the same no matter which café you visit, which is more difficult than you might think when coffee is such a varied product. With 410mg of caffeine in a Venti cup of Pike Place, you’ve not only got a tasty coffee to start your day, but a great energy boost too.
Cold Brew Coffee
Despite being generally stronger in taste and the fact that you can get a Trenta cup of cold brew, it didn’t quite make the top of the list. However, it’s still quite high on the list of Starbucks most caffeine drinks. One of the main reasons for this is that you need to factor in the ice that cold brew coffee is served over, which takes up quite a lot of the cup. However, regardless of the fact that it’s poured over ice, a cold brew coffee from Starbucks is still one of the best drinks to go for if you want a lot of caffeine, with a huge 360mg. Also, the fact that it’s a cold drink can help you wake up and get more of an energy drink compared to something hot if you’re feeling half asleep. Starbucks makes their cold brew coffee by steeping it in cold water for twenty hours, resulting in a drink that is strong but very smooth.
Iced Shaken Espresso with Brown Sugar and Oat Milk
Made with four shots of the blonde espresso which is even stronger than the regular espresso from Starbucks for an even bigger energy boost, the Shaken Espresso with oat milk and brown sugar is the ideal brew if you need a wake-up call and even better is that it’s dairy-free and vegan-friendly. The perfect blend of blonde espresso, oat milk, and brown sugar makes this a light and refreshing drink that will get you going.
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
If the idea of drinking a large cup of black coffee doesn’t really help you feel more energized, you might want to try the vanilla sweet cream cold brew, a sweeter version with a little less caffeine at 320mg that will get you going with a great energy boost. The vanilla syrup and sweet cream make it an ideal choice if you have a little bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to your coffee or if you want to get all the energy boost of a black coffee that’s a little easier to drink. If the Trenta is just too big for you, then you can always get the Venti, which still packs a huge amount of caffeine at 275mg.
Americano
The classic Americano is one of the most popular drinks that Starbucks offer. It is a simple drink made with espresso topped with water and can be served either hot or cold depending on what you prefer. You can easily make it stronger by simply asking to add an additional shot or two of espresso, or if you like, ask for the blonde roast espresso rather than the regular espresso for around ten percent more caffeine. If you don’t like your coffee black, Americano can easily be made a little easier to drink by asking for room to be made for milk and adding some flavored syrup for a little more sweetness.
Espresso
A classic espresso shot is a great choice of drink from Starbucks if you want to get your caffeine fix as quickly as possible. A Quad espresso is a good choice made with four espresso shots that you can drink in no time. It would definitely wake you up a lot faster than sipping on a larger coffee made with milk; however, it depends on how you prefer to get your energy boost in the morning – if you prefer a slower wake-up, it might not be for you. If you want your coffee even stronger, then opt for blonde roast espresso instead, which adds an additional 40mg of caffeine to the four shots.
Nitro Cold Brew
The idea of drinking a coffee that looks like Guinness might not be something that you have ever given much thought to, but now that you’ve heard about it, it could be something that you are interested in trying. The Nitro cold brew is an exciting drink that is brewed in small batches. To serve, it’s infused with nitrogen, coming out of a tap that’s similar to a beer tap. This results in a cascading, bubbling look similar to a pint of Guinness and a sweeter flavor. Interestingly, you can’t get this in a Venti size or higher simply because it would be too strong to handle.
Iced Filter Coffee
Iced coffee from Starbucks is filter coffee poured over ice with simple sugar syrup added. If you go for the Trenta size, that’s a massive seven pumps of syrup in your drink, which might wake you up before the caffeine does! If you don’t like black coffee, you can also ask to have it served with milk.
Tips for Making Your Starbucks Drink Stronger
If you want to get your regular drink from Starbucks but make it even stronger, you’ll be glad to hear that there are some easy things that you can do.
Ask for an Extra Shot
The easiest way to get a stronger coffee from Starbucks is to ask your barista to put an extra shot of espresso in it. If you’re ordering a larger drink, it won’t change the flavor too much either, if you are trying to avoid a really strong flavor. If you like filter coffee, you can have a stronger option by asking for red-eye coffee, which is basically a filter coffee with an espresso shot in it.
Ask for Blonde Roast
The blonde roast from Starbucks is a lighter flavor as it’s a light roast, but don’t let this fool you when it comes to the strength. Compared to the regular espresso roast, the blonde roast has just over 10% more caffeine, which results in a stronger coffee if you ask for this blend instead.
Get a Long Shot of Espresso
While it might not make a huge amount of different, asking for your espresso as a long shot can help you get a stronger coffee. A long shot means that there has been more water run through the coffee which makes it twice as big, which should result in a higher caffeine content.
If you love a strong coffee to wake up in the morning, you can’t go wrong with these caffeine-high options from Starbucks.
About the author
Jennie Backteman
I´m a ultramarathon runner, landscape designer and a coffee lover.
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