Starbucks Drink Guide - Iced Teas

As a Starbucks barista with a lot of experience, one of my favorite parts of my job is teaching people about our menu. I love when I'm able to find a customer the drink they're craving! I decided to write a series of guides to explain all of the drinks on the Starbucks menu. There really is something for everyone! If you're new to Starbucks or totally unfamiliar with the terminology, I recommend checking out my first guide, which details the sizes and basic terms you'll run into. In the previous section of my guide, I discussed the Starbucks hot Tazo tea selections.

In this installment, I'll be explaining everything about iced teas.

Usually, Starbucks drinks are only offered in three sizes - Tall, Grande and Venti. However, a new size was added exclusively for iced teas, iced tea lemonades and iced coffees. This monstrous 32 ounce cup is called the Trenta.

All iced teas and iced tea lemonades come sweetened with Classic syrup by default. Classic syrup is a simple syrup, which is basically a fancy way of saying sugar water or liquid sugar. The standard amount of pumps are as follows:

Tall - 3 pumps

Grande - 4 pumps

Venti - 6 pumps

Trenta - 7 pumps

Alternatively, you can get your iced tea unsweetened, or you can get it with any of the other sweeteners Starbucks offers. (Sugar, Raw Sugar, Honey, Sweet and Low, Equal, or Splenda.) I would reccommend against using raw sugar or honey - they don't mix into the tea very well, and a lot of it just gets left behind in the shaker. If you're feeling adventurous, add a syrup! Raspberry and Vanilla (available sugar free) go very well in iced teas. Peppermint (also available sugar free) is a less common choice, but I think it's refreshing from time to time.

Why are they called shaken? Well, because they are! All Starbucks iced teas are made in shakers with equal parts tea and water. Ice and sweetener are added, and the drink is shaken before it is served. Every part of this drink is able to be customized - for a stronger tea, ask for light or no water, and subsequently to make it weaker, feel free to add extra water and extra ice.

Technically, any of the Tazo teas can be made iced. It takes a few minutes to make them, though, so I wouldn't reccommend ordering one that's not a standard menu iced tea if you're in a hurry or are going through a drive-thru. To make a non-standard iced tea, the barista has to first steep the tea, then pour it over ice. This takes at least five minutes for green and herbal teas, and a little less time for the black teas. I'm sure that any barista would be happy to do this for you, but as it is not a common request, they may have to step away to look up the recipe!

The teas that are brewed in the store are actually made with bags that are specially designed for the way Starbucks baristas brew their iced tea. They use one of these special tea bags, then steep it in one liter of hot water for five mintues, then top it off with cold water. This tea is what is added to the shakers - it's brewed double strength so that it doesn't taste watered down when water and ice are added.

Below are the standard iced teas that are brewed daily in Starbucks stores.

Black Tea

Our black iced tea use to be made with the same blend as our Awake tea, but over the summer of 2011, Starbucks changed this. The tea is less strong than it used to be and is a blend made specifically just for this purpose. If you're looking for a standard ice tea, this is the closest we offer. If you were a fan of the old black iced tea, try ordering this without the water added.

Green Tea

The green iced tea offered in Starbucks is made using Zen tea. It's minty and lemony, which may sound off putting, but it's very refreshing. I prefer to drink this over the black tea, though it has a bit less caffeine.

Passion Tea

Our only decaf iced tea, passion tea is very fruity and floral. I've noticed that it's a popular choice for kids, and though I think part of that is because it's red, the flavor is also great. I like to drink mine with a little bit of sweet and low because it works well with the tea's tart and fruity flavor.

These beverages are made much the same as the basic iced teas, but lemonade is used in the place of water. Everything else is the same! The lemonade that Starbucks uses IS sweetened, but very lightly.

Black Tea Lemonade

A very refreshing twist on the usual black iced tea, this drink is similar to an Arnold Palmer. The lemonade itself is sweetened, but not a lot. If you don't have much of a sweet tooth, I wouldn't reccommend adding additional sweetener.

Green Tea Lemonade

This is my favorite of the Starbucks iced teas. I think it's the most refreshing overall, and the flavor is very unique. Because the Zen tea has a lemon flavor to it on it's own, it goes very well with the lemonade.

Passion Tea Lemonade

This reminds me of other fruit flavored teas I've drank. It's tart and tangy and I love it on a summer day. Most of the baristas at my store would highly reccommend trying this with raspberry syrup, and I totally agree. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, and I only take two pumps of raspberry in a venti, though (which usually gets six.) My reasoning for this is that the Passion tea is already tart, with a tart lemonade added, and then the raspberry... well, it gets very tart, hehe.

Thanks for reading! To learn more about the Starbucks menu, visit the next part of my guide, where I go back into the world of espresso to talk about Macchiatos.