Starbucks Holiday Drinks Are Back, Here’s How to Make Them Healthier

Three new Starbucks Refreshers are joining the holiday menu this season. According to the official announcement on the company’s website, these include:

• New Cran-Merry Orange Refresher: features flavors of sweet orange, tart cranberry, and warm spices, including notes of cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, shaken with ice, water, and real cranberries.
• New Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher: combines the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher shaken with ice, lemonade, and real cranberries.
• New Cran-Merry Drink: features the Cran-Merry Refresher with creamy coconut milk poured over ice and real cranberries.

Courtney Pelitera, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with Top Nutrition Coaching, said that these three twists on the classic Starbucks Refreshers drinks are among the healthier items being offered on the company’s 2024 holiday menu.

However, she noted that their sugar content is her biggest concern.

“罢丑别 Cran-Merry Orange Refresher has 20g of added sugar at the lowest, while the Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade refresher has 31g sugar at the highest thanks to the lemonade addition,” she said.

She also noted that Starbucks Refreshers are often not easily customizable “due to the base mixture being pre-made and unable to adjust the sugar content.”

“If you do want to enjoy one of these beverages, I would recommend limited added sugar intake during the rest of the day, as this accounts for about half of the recommended 50g of added sugar for the average adult.”

Aliza Marogy, registered nutritionist and founder of supplement brand Inessa, said the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai is far from healthy, but may also be one of the better options on the Starbucks holiday menu.

A 16oz grande contains 45g of sugar, 10g of fat, and 370 calories.

However, she raised concerns about the inclusion of the preservative sodium benzoate.

“Although it’s deemed safe for human consumption in the amounts permitted in food, sodium benzoate can react within the body to form benzene, a known carcinogen,” she said.

Sodium benzoate is sometimes added to syrups to intensify the flavor and increase shelf life, so one of the easiest ways to make this drink a little healthier would be to ask for fewer pumps of gingerbread-flavored syrup.

This will also help to reduce the amount of sugar and the number of calories.

“罢丑别 oat milk that Starbucks uses contains canola oil,” Marogy added.

She suggested ordering your drink with full-fat dairy instead.

To cut the calories even further, consider ordering a tall instead of a grande. It has 100 fewer calories and 11g less sugar.

Signature Espresso Roast, steamed milk, sweet mocha sauce, and peppermint-flavored syrup, along with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls, give this drink its whopping calorie content.

You’ll find 440 calories, 54g sugar, and 16g fat in one grande Peppermint Mocha. That’s a lot, and worse still, Marogy said a drink like this is unlikely to leave you satiated.

In other words, you’ll want to consume more calories shortly after drinking it.

One of Marogy’s biggest concerns for this beverage is the inclusion of the emulsifier carrageenan.

“Carrageenan has been linked with disturbance of the gut microbiome and increased inflammation in the bowel,” she said. “Even in small doses, I would avoid foods containing it at all costs.”

However, if you still want to enjoy a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha, there’s an easy way to remove the carrageenan. The ingredient is found in whipped cream, so simply order your drink without it.

The Peppermint Mocha is also available in the smaller short size. Choosing this option can nearly cut the calorie and sugar content in half, as well as reduce the amount of fat.

Additional healthy hacks for this drink include asking your barista to hold the chocolate curls topping and requesting half the number of peppermint syrup and mocha sauce pumps.

This drink — with its blend of espresso, steamed milk, caramel brulée sauce, whipped cream, and caramel brulée bits topping — has 410 calories, 48g sugar, and 14g fat per 16-oz serving.

Like the Peppermint Mocha, Marogy noted that the Caramel Brulée Latte also contains carrageenan, so forgoing the whipped cream is an easy way to cut it and lose some of the calories and fat in the process.

To reduce the amount of sugar even further, ask for your drink without the caramel brulée topping and fewer caramel brulée sauce pumps.

Choosing the short serving size can also cut the sugar content in half.

With 330 calories in a grande cup, Karine Patel, leading dietitian at Dietitian Fit, said the Chestnut Praline Latte is the equivalent of a small meal.

She also pointed out that it’s very high in fat and sugar and is unlikely to fill you up for long or provide much nutritional benefit.

“Apart from the 12g of protein you get from the milk and some of the nutrients you get from milk (calcium, vitamin D, and other vitamins and minerals), this drink isn’t very nutritious. Add to that the chestnut syrup and whipped cream make it a highly processed drink,” she said.

However, Patel said a few swaps can help reduce the unhealthier aspects of this seasonal drink

“First, start by ordering a short size instead of a grande,” she advised, as this can cut 120 calories. “罢丑别n remove the whipped cream, and ask them to put only one pump of chestnut praline syrup. This will help you save over 50% of the sugar and fat.”

With 180 calories in a grande, the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte boasts a considerably lower calorie count than several of Starbucks’ other holiday latte options.

It’s also lower in fat than most other drinks, with 6g of total fat, but it’s still high in sugar.

In fact, Patel pointed out that the sugar content in a grande-sized serving of this drink contains the equivalent of seven cubes of sugar.

It’s also low in protein.

“This drink has just 3g of protein due to the almond milk alternative to milk,” Patel said.

Still want to order it?

“I would strongly recommend cutting the sugar cookie syrup pump by half by asking for two pumps instead of four,” Patel said. Doing so will significantly reduce the sugar content of this sweet brew.

If you also opt to remove the red and green topping, Patel says you’ll have a drink that contains only 70 calories and roughly 12g of sugar.

A variety of new and returning cold foams are also being offered for the 2024 season to complement your choice of Starbucks Cold Brew or iced coffee, which “can be made non-dairy and added as a customization for an additional charge,” according to the company’s website.

The official descriptions for the five available flavors are:

• New Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam: Sweet and deliciously spicy gingerbread flavors blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream.
• Peppermint Chocolate Cream Cold Foam: Peppermint-flavored syrup and chocolate malt powder blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream.
• Sugar Cookie Cream Cold Foam: Sugar cookie-flavored syrup blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream.
• Chestnut Praline Cream Cold Foam: Festive flavors of caramelized chestnuts and spices blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream.
• Caramel Brulée Cream Cold Foam: Rich caramel brulée sauce blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream. Not available as a non-dairy cold foam.

What is cold foam?

Generally, the dairy versions are low fat milk, blended until frothy with the sweetener or syrup of your flavor choice, Pelitera explained.

“Essentially, that adds several ‘pumps’ of sweetener to your beverage,” she said.

Pelitera said you can reduce the calorie and sugar content of these add-ons in several ways, including asking for your cold foam with sugar-free sweetener and sugar-free vanilla.

To get a similar flavor profile, she also suggested adding toppings like cinnamon and nutmeg to your drink.

“Overall, I also recommend customizing your drink order to reduce sugar. You can do this by requesting only one pump of the sugar cookie syrup or whichever flavor you like,” Pelitera said. “This helps ensure that you are not exceeding your sugar intake with just one drink in your day and keeping mindful of any additions to your usual diet during this season of treating yourself.”

Winter holiday drinks are available once again at Starbucks.

The company’s seasonal menu includes eight seasonal drinks and five holiday cold foams for 2024.

While these drinks can contain unhealthy ultra-processed ingredients and are high in calories, sugar, and fat, nutritionists say you can improve the overall nutritional value of most drinks by making simple requests when you order.