A Guide to Starbucks' Lingo

A person's first visit to Starbucks can be a little confusing. There are so many drinks and modifications it can be hard to know what to choose. Let's start with something simple, like the size of your drink.

Customer: I'd like a small coffee.
Barista: Ok, one tall coffee it is.
Customer: No, I want a small one.
Barista: A tall is small.
Customer: Small is tall?
Barista: Yes.

It's confusing already. A small in Starbucks lingo is called a 'tall'. A medium in Starbucks is a 'grande' and a large is a 'venti'. There is one other size and that is called a 'short'. A 'short' size would be comparable to extra small. Now that we've got the basic sizes down lets move on to some of the basic Starbucks coffee drinks.

Of course, Starbucks serves coffee. The brew that they serve every day without fail is called PIKES PLACE, NOT Pikes Peak. Starbucks also serves a regional "morning pick" until noon every day. If you'd like to try new coffees the morning pick will give a a chance to try different varieties of coffee. You can also buy various whole bean coffees that vary from mild to extra bold. You can also add steamed milk to regular coffee and make it a cafe misto. You can also order iced coffee.

Most of Starbucks drinks begin with espresso. You can order espresso by itself, with foam (called espresso macchiato), with whipped cream (called espresso con panna), or an Americano which is espresso with hot water. An Americano is a good alternative to regular coffee.

Next up is the classic latte. A latte is steamed milk, espresso, and a little bit of foam on top. The standard recipe for a latte does not include any sweetener so if you want it sweet ask for some sugar or your favorite sugar substitute. You can also add any number of flavored syrups including vanilla, caramel, cinnamon dolce, hazelnut, toffee nut, peppermint, gingerbread, and other seasonal syrups like pumpkin spice.

Similar to the latte is the cappuccino. The difference is that a cappucino has a lot more foam than a latte. This means that a cappuccino will be much lighter than a latte.

Mochas are exactly what they sound like. They are espresso based chocolate drinks. A regular mocha has mocha syrup, steamed milk, espresso and the Starbucks version has whipped cream on top. Of course, you can ask for no whipped cream if you'd rather not have it. A white mocha is the same thing, it's just a white chocolate base.

All of these drinks can be iced except for the cappuccino. A cappuccino by definition has lots of foam and in order to get foam you need to steam the milk. If what you think you want is an iced cappuccino you are probably thinking of an iced latte.

Of course, Starbucks serves more than just coffee, they also serve various teas. Starbucks serves Tazo teas and most Starbucks stores tea collections will include various black, green, and even white teas. Different teas will also have different levels of caffeine. Generally speaking black teas will have the most caffeine followed by green tea and then white teas. White teas will have little to no caffeine. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, Tazo African Red Bush is a black tea with no caffeine. The three teas that Starbucks serves iced are black (earl grey), passion, and green tea. Passion tea is a non-caffeinated hibiscus tea with a red tint. You can also add lemonade to any iced tea.

Starbucks also serves tea lattes. A tea latte is regular tea with steamed milk. You can also order a chai tea latte which is a chai concentrate base, very hot water, and steamed milk.

Next in our Starbucks drink line-up is the frappuccino. A frappuccino is a cold blended beverage. A frappuccino starts with a coffee base, milk, flavored sweetener, frappuccino base, and ice. After blended it is topped with whipped cream and possibly chocolate or caramel sauce. If you're looking for a non-caffeinated frappuccino there are a variety of creme based frappuccinos.

While we're on the subject of cold blended beverages, Starbucks has one other blended beverage called a vivanno. The two vivannos available are the banana chocolate vivanno (made of milk, ice, banana, and chocolate sauce) and the orange mango banana vivanno (made of odwalla juice, banana, milk, and ice).

Starbucks also has a host of non-coffee and non-tea based beverages including hot chocolate, salted caramel hot chocolate, flavored steamers (steamed milk and flavored syrup sweetener like vanilla or caramel), signature hot chocolate, and steamed apple juice.

Finally, there are all the drink modifications and extras you can use to personalize your beverage. Here's a short list of how you can modify your beverage to suit your taste.

Milk:
Whole
2%
Skim
Soy

Additions:
Extra shot of espresso
Matcha powder (green tea powder concentrate)
Protein powder
Energy powder
Flavored syrup
Nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, or chocolate powder
Whipped cream

Hopefully now you'll be able to order your Starbucks beverages with confidence!