Starbucks is known for its fancy coffee drinks and world-famous blended beverage, their Frappuccinos. Not quite a milkshake, but creamer than a slushy, Starbucks has pioneered the frozen blended beverage niche and turned it into its own category of coffee.
You can now get Frappuccino’s in numerous flavors and dessert-like combinations that are refreshing and energizing. With simple and caffeine-loaded Frappuccinos like the Espresso Frappuccino, to the most extravagantly decked out beverage like their Mocha Cookie Crumble, Starbucks has a Frappuccino for everyone.
What Is a Starbucks Frappuccino?
Launched nationally in the summer of 1994, Starbucks changed the coffee game with their Frappuccino when they graced America with this coffee-blended beverage.
Originally only having two flavors, coffee and mocha, this drink was inspired by the numerous local coffee shops in Southern California that were serving blended coffee beverages that were slushy-like in appearance.
Combining the words frappe and cappuccino, Starbucks has coined and trademarked their now-famous Frappuccinos and created a new line of blended coffee and dessert drinks that aren’t quite a milkshake or a slushy.
Starbucks has well over 10 Frappuccino varieties on its menu at any given time, while frequently rotating out seasonal Frappuccino flavors and trying out new flavor combinations.
Frappuccino Menu Staples
These are the Frappuccinos you will find available at most Starbucks locations, no matter the time of year. They are classic favorites that are well-beloved!
Espresso Frappuccino
Espresso Frappuccino – With the least frills and fancy add-ins, this espresso coffee blend is only sweetened slightly and ready to give you a jolt of energy with its high caffeine content.
Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino
Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino – Another simple and basic blended beverage, this Frappuccino uses vanilla bean powder to create a deliciously yummy sweet and simple pick-me-up.
Caramel Frappuccino
Caramel Frappuccino – Being the first Frappuccino to get whipped cream on top, this simple caramel blend is just sweet enough to hit the spot while being a little less candy-packed than its sister, the Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino.
Coffee Frappuccino
Coffee Frappuccino – Stick with the basic classic of a coffee Frappuccino and appreciate the sweet goodness of this blended beverage.
Mocha Frappuccino
Mocha Frappuccino – With the mocha blended in, this sweet and chocolatey coffee drink has consistent goodness the whole way through.
Java Chip Frappuccino
Java Chip Frappuccino– With Frappuccino chips and mocha blended together with coffee and creme, you’ll get a textured and sweet drink that is topped with whipped cream and mocha sauce.
White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino
White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino – Enjoy the delightfully sweet white chocolate twist to this simple mocha frappuccino
Strawberry Creme Frappuccino
Strawberry Creme Frappuccino – Enjoy a cloud of strawberry goodness with this strawberry and creme blended drink that will refresh you and cool you down in equal measure.
Chai Creme Frappuccino
Chai Creme Frappuccino – Like your favorite chai latte, but blended with ice for a milkshake-like smoothness. Add a shot of espresso to create a dirty chai creme Frappuccino.
Double Chocolaty Chip Creme Frappuccino
Double Chocolaty Chip Creme Frappuccino – With chocolate chips blended in with mocha, ice, and milk, this frozen treat is a chocolate lover’s dream come true.
Matcha Creme Frappuccino
Matcha Creme Frappuccino – Blend your matcha with ice and milk to create this thick and smooth green goodness.
Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino
Vanilla Bean Creme Frappuccino – Enjoy all the warmth of vanilla beans in this icy blended beverage topped with whipped cream.
White Chocolate Creme Frappuccino
White Chocolate Creme Frappuccino – Sweet and smooth, this blended drink is like drinking liquid white chocolate, but chilled.
Seasonal Frappuccinos
These are some of the most common reoccurring Starbucks Frappuccino favorites that will come to the menu for a few months or a season at a time.
Chocolate Jave Mint Frappuccino
Chocolate Jave Mint Frappuccino – A delicious combination of chocolate, mint, and coffee, this sweet and delightful Frappuccino is topped off with whipped cream, mocha, and chocolate mint cookie crumbles.
Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino
Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino – With whipped cream and mocha sauce at the top and bottom of this blended beverage, this Frappuccino is brimmed with mocha java goodness and cookie crumbles the whole way through.
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino – If you are a caramel lover, then this is the Frappuccino for you. With caramel sauce rippled all the way through the coffee and cream, this blended drink is then topped with whipped cream and more caramel.
Chocolate Mint Creme Frappuccino
Chocolate Mint Creme Frappuccino – Want all things mint and chocolate without the coffee? Look no further than this delicious blend of mint chip goodness topped with mint cookie crumble.
Chocolate Cookie Crumble Creme Frappuccino
Chocolate Cookie Crumble Creme Frappuccino – With mocha sauce and Frappuccino chips blended into milky goodness, this delicious cookie crumble blended drink makes for a sweet treat.
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Creme Frappuccino
Caramel Ribbon Crunch Creme Frappuccino – Caramel, milk, ice, and more caramel is what this yummy and sweet frappuccino is all about.
How to Customize a Frappuccino To Make a Secret Menu Option
You may have heard of Starbucks’ “secret menu” before and wondered where to find it. In short, Starbucks’ secret menu isn’t an actual menu.
It’s simply drink recipes that have gone viral online that you can ask baristas to make or customize through the Starbucks app. Sometimes these “secret menu” drinks will get names and be well-known by Starbucks baristas.
But more often than not, your barista won’t know the ingredients or recipe to a secret menu item off the top of their head. So although there are already some fantastic secret menu recipes out there already – and easy enough to find with a simple Google search! – make sure you bring the recipe with you if you’re ordering in-store!). What’s most important is learning how to customize a drink through the app to create your own unique and totally personalized drink!
Base and Coffee Content
The first step for creating your own unique Frappuccino is choosing what base to work with. Starbucks Frappuccinos come in two different categories – creme or coffee.
With any creme base, you can customize what dairy will be used, opting for non-dairy options if desired. The Vanilla Bean Frappuccino is simply ice, milk, and Vanilla bean powder, making it very easy to add in additional ingredients and get a whole new drink.
With a coffee base, you can choose to start with an espresso or coffee to be used, depending on desired caffeine levels. Choosing either the Espresso Frappuccino or Coffee Frappuccino are both great options as they have very few other ingredients and can easily be customized.
Flavors
Once you have your base ready, you can add flavors in either sauce or syrup form, depending on the flavor.
Sauces include:
- Mocha Sauce
- Dark Caramel Sauce
- White Chocolate Mint Sauce
- Which Chocolate Mocha Sauce
Syrups include:
- Brown Sugar Syrup
- Caramel Syrup
- Cinnamon Dolce Syrup
- Hazelnut Syrup
- Peppermint Syrup
- Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup
- Toasted Vanilla Syrup
- Toffee nut Syrup
- Vanilla Syrup
These are the flavors that can be added to any Frappuccino, but you can also line the cup with either Caramel or Mocha sauce.
Add-Ins
Another element you can add is whether you want an additional espresso added along with blended options. You can have a double blended option or add Frappuccino chips for a more textured Frappuccino.
In addition, you can add Chai or Matcha to any customized Frappuccino, along with liquid or powder sweeteners, Chocolate Malt Powder, or Vanilla Bean Powder
Toppings
And then lastly, you can customize any toppings to include whipped cream, cinnamon, a sauce drizzled on top, or one of their numerous cookie crumble toppings.
FAQ
You can learn all about the history and story behind Starbucks Frappuccino on their Starbucks Story website. But for those last lingering questions, we have answers here!
What’s the Difference Between a Frappe and a Frappuccino?
A frappe is an iced coffee or espresso beverage that is shaken or blended to create a layer of foamy goodness. The Starbucks Frappuccino is a blended iced coffee beverage that has a milkshake-like consistency to it and is topped with whipped cream and flavored syrup.
How Many Starbucks Frappuccinos Are There?
Starbucks has anywhere between 10 and 20 Frappuccino flavors and varieties available on their menu at any given time. Some flavors are launched and then discontinued due to no traction in popularity, while others are launched and then put out seasonally.
You can also customize Frappuccinos, creating your own unique drinks. Many of these will sometimes gain popularity online and become well-known “secret menu” items.
Do Frappuccinos Have Coffee in Them?
Starbucks Frappuccinos have two bases for their Frappuccinos – coffee or creme. All of the coffee Frappuccinos have either coffee or espresso in them, while the creme Frappuccinos do not. This does not mean they are caffeine-free, however, as some of the creme Frappuccinos have caffeine from other ingredients used such as Matcha.
Which Starbucks Frappuccino Is Sweet?
Unless customized to be otherwise, Starbucks Frappuccinos add sweeteners and flavors to all of their Frappuccinos.
Happy Caffeinating!
