Starbucks Just Launched an Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso—but Is It Healthy?

Lauren Wicks
·3 min read
Starbucks vanilla shaken espresso on a designed background
Starbucks vanilla shaken espresso on a designed background

Starbucks

Now that March is here, we're one step closer to spring blooms, longer days and warmer temps. Starbucks is celebrating the festivities early with the debut of its spring menu, which is available nationwide today. The brand's most exciting spring news is the announcement of a new beverage: the Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso (try saying that five times fast).

Starbucks' Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso joins the other two iced shaken espresso flavors—Brown Sugar Oatmilk and Chocolate Almondmilk—as part of Starbucks' permanent menu. Let's see how this beverage stacks up nutritionally.

A grande size of the brand-new Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso has 140 calories (40 of which are from fat), 4.5 grams of fat (none of which are saturated), 23 grams of carbohydrates (11 of which are from sugar), 1 gram of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. This beverage also contains 255 milligrams of caffeine, which is a little over half of the daily recommended limit for adults.

The ingredients in the Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso are ice, oat milk, brewed espresso and toasted vanilla flavored syrup. The oat milk is made of water, oats, canola oil, dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, dicalcium phosphate, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin D2 and vitamin B12. The syrup is made of sugar, water, natural flavors, potassium sorbate and citric acid.

The new Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso is lower in saturated fat, sugar and calories than many of the other espresso-based beverages on Starbucks' menu and may be a nice substitute for your typical order. If you were really looking to minimize sugar intake here, you could ask for half the amount of syrup to keep the drink under 6 grams, as the oat milk doesn't have any sugar in its ingredients list. And while some people don't respond well to certain additives and natural flavors, this new menu item could be a fun swap for your favorite hot latte or cappuccino as the weather starts to warm up for the season.

"This drink could be a nice morning treat that is lower in added sugar than other drinks of Starbucks' menu," says Jessica Ball, M.S. RD, associate nutrition editor at EatingWell, "But this drink still contains almost half of the recommended daily maximum of added sugar so it might not be the best everyday drink. To make your daily coffee more interesting, try adding spices like cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the grounds for a sugar-free flavor boost."

Starbucks also announced that its new Baya Energy drinks will become available in select stores nationwide, as well as returning favorites of its whole-bean coffee bags: Starbucks Anniversary and Odyssey Blends. The brand will also feature a new whole-bean coffee, Starbucks Reserve Brazil Fazenda Catanduva, and will bring back the popular Starbucks Reserve Papua New Guinea Moanti whole-bean coffee bags for a limited time in select stores across the country.

There's even news for those who prefer to get their Starbucks beans or grounds from the supermarket. The brand announced today that there will be a slew of new products hitting grocery store shelves this spring. The festive Honey & Madagascar Vanilla Flavored Coffee and Starbucks Spring Day Blend are both arriving in time for the season's arrival. Shoppers can also be on the lookout for new canned drinks like the Nitro Cold Brew Splash of Sweet Cream and Tripleshot Zero Sugar Milk Chocolate if they prefer their caffeine fix on-the-go.