After working at the popular chain for almost a year, I like to cool off with iced drinks like salted-cold-foam cold brew or a frozen refresher.
Inga Parkel
Inga Parkel
This is a personal favorite. But trust me, as long as the barista doesn't forget to add the caramel pumps, it's sure to become one of your top iced drinks, too.
The salted sweet foam perfectly combines with the strong black cold brew. It's basically a fancier and tastier version of your basic coffee with sugar and milk.
Inga Parkel
I've always been a huge fan of Starbucks' Frappuccinos — they're basically a milkshake-like dessert. But one standout is the mocha cookie crumble.
If you're looking for a chocolaty flavor that's not too rich, this one's for you. It's basically the equivalent of a McDonald's Oreo McFlurry with caffeine.
Inga Parkel
There are some days when I can acknowledge that my caffeine intake is a bit high. In these cases, Starbucks offers a wide variety of lower-caffeine and caffeine-free teas that are a pretty decent alternative.
I typically live by the chain's black iced tea. But in the summer, the seasonal iced peach green tea is a must.
It's quite a light tea, and you can still adjust the added sweeteners to your liking. Plus, it has a hint of mintiness, which is always a welcomed surprise.
Inga Parkel
You can already swap nondairy alternatives for any of Starbucks' milk-based drinks, but the chain specially crafted the iced brown-sugar oat-milk shaken espresso.
And as a nondairy milk enthusiast, I can assure you that oat milk is the perfect choice for this drink. It's creamy and pairs wonderfully with the blonde espresso and brown-sugar syrup. The end result almost tastes like graham crackers or s'mores.
Inga Parkel
I've always been a slushy advocate, and now Starbucks has finally agreed that the popular refresher drinks would be better blended.
This summer, I highly recommend trying a frozen refresher. You can order three flavors, frozen pineapple passion fruit, frozen strawberry acai, or frozen mango dragon fruit, with or without lemonade.
I personally don't like adding lemonade to drinks, so I recently tried the frozen mango-dragon-fruit option without it, and it was heavenly.
This story was originally published in July 2023 and most recently updated on July 17, 2024.
