5 iced drinks everyone should order at Starbucks, according to a former barista

• I was a Starbucks barista for nearly a year, so I've tasted a lot of the iced drinks on the menu.
• I love ordering refreshing coffee drinks like the salted cold-foam cold brew.
• Some customers don't know that you can now order frozen refreshers that are kind of like slushies.

I always recommend the chain's salted cold-foam cold brew.

This is a personal favorite. But trust me, as long as the barista doesn't forget to add the caramel pumps, it's sure to become one of your top iced drinks , too.

The salted sweet foam perfectly combines with the strong black cold brew. It's basically a fancier and tastier version of your basic coffee with sugar and milk.

You can't go wrong with any of the Frappuccinos, but the mocha cookie crumble is a highlight.

I've always been a huge fan of Starbucks' Frappuccinos — they're basically a milkshake-like dessert. But one standout is the mocha cookie crumble.

If you're looking for a chocolaty flavor that's not too rich, this one's for you. It's basically the equivalent of a McDonald's Oreo McFlurry with caffeine.

An iced peach green tea is the perfect alternative to coffee when you're still in need of a caffeine boost.

There are some days when I can acknowledge that my caffeine intake is a bit high. In these cases, Starbucks offers a wide variety of lower-caffeine and caffeine-free teas that are a pretty decent alternative.

I typically live by the chain's black iced tea. But in the summer, the seasonal iced peach green tea is a must.

It's quite a light tea, and you can still adjust the added sweeteners to your liking. Plus, it has a hint of mintiness, which is always a welcomed surprise.

If you're lactose intolerant, the iced brown-sugar oat-milk shaken espresso is a delight.

You can already swap nondairy alternatives for any of Starbucks' milk-based drinks, but the chain specially crafted the iced brown-sugar oat-milk shaken espresso.

And as a nondairy milk enthusiast, I can assure you that oat milk is the perfect choice for this drink. It's creamy and pairs wonderfully with the blonde espresso and brown-sugar syrup. The end result almost tastes like graham crackers or s'mores.

Starbucks' refreshers have been popular for years, but now there are frozen versions.

I've always been a slushy advocate , and now Starbucks has finally agreed that the popular refresher drinks would be better blended.

This summer, I highly recommend trying a frozen refresher. You can order three flavors, frozen pineapple passion fruit, frozen strawberry acai, or frozen mango dragon fruit, with or without lemonade.

I personally don't like adding lemonade to drinks, so I recently tried the frozen mango-dragon-fruit option without it, and it was heavenly.

This story was originally published in July 2023 and most recently updated on July 17, 2024.

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