What is the Starbucks Iced Chocolate Almondmilk Shaken Espresso?
Starbucks recently released new shaken espresso beverages, and the Iced Chocolate Almondmilk Shaken Espresso is one of the two. (Here’s the review of the Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.) This one pairs Starbucks Blonde espresso with almondmilk and chocolate malt powder.
How is it?
Um, yum.
I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty it is. This thing tasted like a melted candy bar – and I loved it. The most notable thing with this drink compared to its Brown Sugar cousin is the espresso was more muted, perhaps masked by the chocolate malt powder. With a smooth finish, this is a delightful dose of caffeine if you like your morning java to have some flavor.
Now let’s talk about that chocolate. I was super intrigued to see the drink used malt powder as opposed to a sauce or syrup. But I am here for it! The malt powder made it sweet, but not too sweet, and reminded me of a milkshake you might have gotten with your grandpa when you were a kid. Since the baristas shake these ingredients in a shaker like you would a cocktail, I’m thinking the malt powder mixes more evenly.
The other thing I really enjoyed is how “shaking” the beverage really mixed the almondmilk with the espresso. Sometimes I find almondmilk and coffee can separate easily, but that was not the case here.
Anything else you need to know?
Is the chocolate malt a little strong for you? Or just want a hint? As with most other ingredients, you can request different levels of the powder – extra or light powder are also options.
Conclusion:
Cannot wait to have this one again. If I’m feeling fancy, I might even add some whipped cream on top to take it to the next level.
Purchased Price: $5.45
Size: Grande
Purchased at: Starbucks
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 110 calories, 3 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 80 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 grams of dietary fiber, 16 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of protein, and 255 milligrams of caffeine.
I’m surprised that they don’t call it a chocolate malted espresso. Malt powder has a very pronounced flavour (and is awesome) and I think they could have utilized that in the advertising of this drink.
Honestly hearing that there is malt gives me a reason to actually try this drink. I can’t believe that they didn’t put that in the name either.
The one I purchased had a watery cocoa taste. I couldn’t even tell it had milk in it. Horrible.
I just discovered this drink after giving up on my discontinued hazelnut syrup. I chose it randomly from the app and I love love love it.
Same! The Brown Sugar shaken espresso from a Safeway Starbucks stand was cravable. This one was no flavor but almond milk.