Every Sunday night on Instagram, I put out an “ask me anything” sticker tag on my Instagram stories. I love doing these Q&A’s so much. I find they’re a really fun way for me to answer questions about things I might not be thinking to talk about, or that you’re all just generally curious about. Most of the questions that come in are in regard to my lifestyle, beauty, fashion, travel, and of course, food. This past weekend, I was asked if I’d ever tried to recreate the very popular Starbucks Iced Brown Sugar Latte. I have not, and when I shared that with everyone I was flooded with direct messages requesting a recipe. But the funny thing? I already had plans to make my own version of the iced brown sugar latte. With the hot August weather and the thousands of requests for this recipe, I figured it really was the perfect time. So here we are!
Onto the details
First off, huge shout out to a very kind reader, Tracey G. Tracey works at Starbucks and gave me the behind the scenes rundown of how they make the drink. It is EASY. I kept mine easy too, but added vanilla and cinnamon to the mix, to make things even better. And if you want, there is even a chai variation too.
Make the vanilla brown sugar syrup
This is really the key to the latte. You’ll need brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla. If you don’t have cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon works too! Simmer the syrup on the stove to dissolve the sugar and that’s it. Now you have homemade brown sugar syrup! If you want to take the flavor up a bit and make the latte cozier, add a few chai bags and steep the tea in the syrup to infuse. This will give you the warming flavors of chai…which is insanely delicious. Totally optional though and up to you!
Now shake that espresso
Pour three shots of espresso over ice. Add as much of the brown sugar syrup as you’d like, and then a couple dashes of ground cinnamon. Now shake, shake, shake. Pour the sweet coffee over ice, then pour over the oat milk. I like to finish with a small dash of cinnamon. And then, just because I love a pretty drink, I always add a sprig of fresh lavender. And voilà…just like Starbucks, but made with more flavor, and it’s SO GOOD. I love that we can control just how sweet we want the drink to be. It’s so customizable, you can really make this drink into something you’re going to love. So here’s my Friday tip, make the brown sugar syrup tonight…or over the weekend. Then make homemade lattes in minutes all week long. Trust me, it’ll be the best move you made all week! Looking for other fun summer recipes, try these: Cinnamon Maple Brown Butter Blackberry Peach Crisp Dirty Horchata Frothy Whipped Coffee White Russian No Churn Fudge Brownie Coffee Ice Cream Lastly, if you make this iced brown sugar latte with shaken espresso, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
