How to Make Your Favorite Starbucks Drinks at Home
- Bruce Coffman
- Nov 20, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 8
Not only is Starbucks wildly overpriced and cutting into your overall budget, they're also a horrible union-busting company not worthy of our financial support. But you love, love, love their stuff. I got you, boo. Make it at home! Save money, save hassle, and save the world.
SEE ALSO: Virgin espresso martini.
I tracked down six of their top customer faves, so see if yours made the list and check out how to dupe it at home. I even found some great stuff to make your concoctions with. The links are affiliate links, and I may make a small commission, but you'll get some special savings. Bonus! I do all this for free and mostly for fun but tips are always appreciated. Holla! paypal.me/brucecoffman Oh! It would be kind of liking tipping your barista! How fancy!
Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
So easy! To make your own Starbucks-style Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew, combine your favorite cold brew coffee with homemade vanilla syrup. Mix heavy cream and 2% milk for the sweet cream. Pour the cold brew over ice, add the vanilla syrup, and top with the sweet cream for a refreshing drink.
My personal favorite cold brew coffee is the most convenient in the world: the canned Kirkland brand from Costco. A little pricey, but oh so delish!
The ChocZero sugar-free premium syrups shown here are also a bit pricey, but they come in 25.4 fluid ounce bottles. A little goes a long way, making it more budget-friendly than however much per day that Starbucks swill is costing you.
Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
To whip up your own Starbucks-style Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, combine cold brew coffee with vanilla syrup. Top it with a homemade pumpkin cream made from heavy cream, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin spice. Blend or froth the cream until fluffy, then layer it over the cold brew for a delicious fall drink.
I don't have a specific recipe for the pumpkin cream, but it should be easy to whip up with just a bit of experimentation. The Pumpkin Pie Spice shown here should be delish and it's a good budget option.
Pink Drink
This one's not a coffee but was originally a secret menu hack that became so popular Starbucks added it to the regular menu. To make your own Starbucks-style Pink Drink, combine 1/2 cup of sliced fresh strawberries, 2 cups of Ocean Spray White Cran-Strawberry juice, and 1 cup of sweetened vanilla coconut milk over ice. Stir well and enjoy this refreshing beverage! Starbucks uses dehydrated strawberries, so your fresh strawberry blend should be even healthier and tastier. Bonus!
The sweetened condensed coconut milk shown here is a great dairy and soy-free, vegan option.
Iced Caramel Macchiato
This one's supposedly the single most ordered item and couldn't be any easier to dupe at home. To make your own Starbucks-style Iced Caramel Macchiato, combine 2 shots of espresso, 1 cup of milk, 2 pumps of vanilla syrup, and ice in a glass. Top it off with caramel sauce for a sweet finish.
You could easily make this one even better at home by customizing it with the 8 decadent flavors available in Stonewall Kitchen's Sea Salt Caramel Sauce shown here.
Iced White Mocha
To make your own Starbucks-style Iced White Mocha, brew 2 shots of espresso and mix it with 2 tablespoons of white chocolate sauce. Pour the mixture over ice, add 3/4 cup of milk, and top with whipped cream if desired. So easy!
I'm not familiar with the Cafe Bustelo brand, but the price looks crazy good to me. Definitely worth checking out. It has a 4.6 out of 5-star rating with over 1400 reviews on the site I found it on.
Strawberry Açaí Refresher
Okay, last one! This one sounds a little harder to pull off with the weird ingredients. Weird to me, at least. I have no idea where to even begin to look for passion fruit puree. Good luck with that! But I bet you could experiment and substitute to make your own delicious, satisfying version. Hey, I tracked down açaí powder for you!
To make your own Starbucks Strawberry Açaí Refresher, mix 2 ½ cups of white grape juice, 2 ½ teaspoons of freeze-dried strawberry powder, 1 teaspoon of freeze-dried acai powder, and 2 teaspoons of passion fruit puree. Combine these ingredients with water, stir well, and serve over ice for a refreshing drink.
Be sure to share this article if you find it useful and drop some comments if you try any of these dupes out for yourself. Enjoy! I do all this for free and mostly for fun but tips are always appreciated. Holla! paypal.me/brucecoffman
SEE ALSO: Keto Dessert Options for the Holidays
SEE ALSO: Virgin Espresso Martini
Ellen