Ten of the worst (health-wise) and most fat-filled Starbucks beverages

Topping the list at CallMeThirsty.com is the Peppermint White Hot Chocolate at 730 calories. It's followed by Iced Peppermint White Mocha at 700 calories. || Read "The Worst and Most Fat-Filled Starbucks Beverages"

Comments

[Coffee Drinker]

"Worst" implies lousy to drink. Is that the point? I don't drink any on the list, though today the barista gave me a sample of a dark cherry mocha. That tiny cup size was more than enough, and a nice dessert to go with my coffee.

[LV]

If you look below the chart, you'll see that it says a couple of these drinks are this number of calories when made with whole milk, not the standard 2%. Anything is going to be terrible for you when made with whole or half and half, so it seems like they're unnecessarily inflating the numbers. Also, what's up with the "Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino Blended Coffee with 2% milk"? Not sure where the 2% comes in. But don't think I'm excusing Starbucks or trying to make it sound like they're healthy by any means.

[Barista G]

I don't think these numbers are accurate by any means. If you make the Eggnog latte with the default 2%, you're getting as many calories as a Venti Double Chocolaty Chip.

Personally, I don't think people should complain. Starbucks initially only offered short and tall. These obnoxious sized beverages are the result of consumer demand. Don't get angry at Starbucks when you get what you ask for, even if you asked to be fat.

[javagirl666]

Blended Creme's are made with non-fat milk..standard..these #s arent accurate.

[StonedSoul]

javagirl,
Don't let the fact that cream base is made witn non-fat fool you into thinking that the product is some how low fat. That powder is nothing but sugar, fats, thickeners and emulsifiers, plus inclusions, plus whip; it adds up.

That chart is whack though, it doesn't tell you cup sizes.

[Mauddib]

It also includes whipped cream. Take a look at the fat content of those Fraps without whipped cream and they are much easier to look at, not great by any means but much better.

[Mauddib]

Case in point...Java Chip Frap Venti with Whip is 23 grams of fat but without whip 11 grams of fat. That DCCF goes from 19 to 8. So nix the whip and be happy.

[CallMeThirsty]

Thanks for posting the article, Jim! I really appreciate it!

Also, thanks for all of the comments! I've considered each one and have edited the article to reflect your concerns. The numbers are all based on the nutritional facts from Starbucks.com. I understand how having whole and 2% can be misconceiving so I've provided whole, 2% and nonfat numbers.

In some instances, there were no differences between whole, 2% and nonfat. I'm not sure if this is an error by Starbucks.com but those are the numbers that they provided.

I also provided a few tips all the way on the bottom on ways that you can reduce the calorie and total fat count. Obviously, going with a grande or small and 2% or nonfat will reduce the numbers significantly.

*Note, as of this comment, I have not yet edited the chart to reflect the changes....but I will!

Thanks again, guys!

[CallMeThirsty]

And yes, I went with a Venti and Whipped for each for shock value. Plus, based on casual observation, I see a LOT of people walk in and out with Venti's topped with whipped cream so it's not a stretch to think that a considerable amount of people would order a venti with whipped.

The whole milk option is another issue, considering that most of the time they use 2% as the base. That's why I decided to throw in whole and 2% numbers as well.

[flbarista]

Espresso truffle/signature hot chocolate base is made, by default, with nonfat milk.

[tampa ss]

@LV the 2% thing with the frap is probably because of the test in houston and tampa that has been going on for about 2 years...i believe that its going company wide pretty soon all fraps can be made with any milk including breve and soy.

[Torontodude]

(Sigh)

Here we go again. Please read the books by Gary Taubes and Michael Polan. Or just google "does fat make you fat?" The short answer is "no." It's yet another health and diet myth, right up there with "drink 8 glasses of water a day" or "don't swim after eating."

The problem is that fat is often found in combination with the real nutritional bad guys: sugar and flour. And Starbucks is no exception. Healthy fats can play an important role in diet. Olive oil is good for you. Believe it or not, even whip cream can have its place. But Starbucks syrups
are evil. So is everything in the pastry case -- even the so called "low fat" items....because they are still packed with sugar and flour. I cringe when I see people ordering sugar-laden syrups in espresso drinks made with 2% milk, combined with "a low" pastry.

The healthy items at Starbucks are drip coffee, espresso drinks, and espresso drinks made with whole milk and/or whip cream...but without syrup or sugar. This is so far from conventional wisdomodm that many will dismiss this post as the ravings of a lunatic. But please research the matter.

[johnmc]

Thank you Torontodude, thank you! My standards at Starbucks are either drip coffee with half & half (or, if I can convince the barista, heavy cream) or a breve latte. I wish I could get an espresso con panna, but to no avail.

[me]

exactly right, torontodude... Whole milk is the whole version of milk - it has the lactose/sugar and the fat in the proportions intended by nature... so in my mind, thats what we should drink. And honestly, nobody needs a 20 ounce milk drink....

[Corvex Corvidae]

I'd just like to point out that the Mint Chocolatey Chip, Caramel Brulee and Espresso Truffle, as far as we know, aren't coming back anytime soon. I know this isn't claiming to be a "Worst of All Time" list or anything, but wasn't Chantico terrible too? I mean, yeah, it had tiny cups, but on a per-ounce basis wouldn't it be up there too?

[vdoprincess, barista from maryland]

I definitely think the whole milk as default thing is misleading, seeing as we don't use whole milk unless requested.
But here's the thing: I don't understand how anyone needs to drink a venti anything. I mean really? 20/24 ounces of milk/fat/sugar? When people complain about the price of Starbucks I just want to gently explain: their coffee isn't expensive. But fat and sugar? yes they are. It amuses me that the worse a drink is for you, the more it costs. Usually. :D

And then there's the customer from the other day who tried to tell me that coffee is better for you than water. Ok ma'am. You think that.

[STARBUCKS GOSSIP WEBMASTER JIM]

The Melody imposter has been banned. He's most often posted as "JOHN."

[Herman M.]

Well golly. It's a good thing Starbucks isn't a health food or diet food store.

Also a good thing that there is a lower calorie option. It's called coffee .Once upon a time, people actually came to coffee stores for it. And Starbucks used to sell it.

[Jen]

I'm not sure if anyone is aware, but the spring promotion is going back to basics, and we're going to begin enticing customers to get back to the roots of our coffee's, not our espresso drinks or anything else, (well the dark cherry mocha--which im sorry despite how horrible it is healthwise is soooo good.) So if anyone wants to really experience Starbucks, it's going to start happening. I'm super pumped.

[I.Heart.Spirit]

I know not relevant to this stuff... but I am excited about the coffee focus with this spring promotion.

Though... where is Columbia?!?!

[Jen]

I have NO idea why Columbia isn't included, it should be. All i know is that i will be 100% inviting our customers to come back weekly to try all the bold picks.

[buckaroo]

@johnmc

why can't you get an espresso con panna?

[Mark]

small coffee, 2 splenda and a splash of half&half.

No problem

[me myself and I]

The Columbia beans have all been converted into via, hence no whole bean Colombian.

The focus on coffee, especially bold coffees is a sham. We used to brew bold all day, in fact we were required to do so in Canada. With the start of the new promo we will stop brewing bold after two (because we can, not because there isn't any demand for it), at least in my district. If someone insists on bold we are supposed to to a pour over.

How is this promoting bold coffee? If we don't have it ready a lot of people will either switch to pike or their favorite coffee house. We have about 2 customers a week that want their decaf in the evening brewed. Everyone else switched to americanos or isn't coming back as often as they used to.

I do agree on the dark cherry mocha. Mmmmhhh!!!!

[Jen]

Ok, the pour over is not a bad way. It tastes 100% the same, every customer who has tried it has not know the difference. It's not a sham, but i'm curious to ask why you say that?

The promotion is because we are going to encourage customers by giving free samples weekly, and offering them stickers for each week, and if they collect them all by trying each coffee they will get something special.

[Shrug]

As a tenured coffee master I must say the Pour over is a little watered down. This is after I checked the grind on the grinder, ensured correct proportion, and tried many different peoples pour overs to see a difference. I think there is less flavor as well. My guess is that the Filter to Grounds ratio is higher than a regular drip brewer so the paper can absorb more of the oils. I have even pre-wet the filter like other companies do.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

Jen, I think the implication was more that it's a sham to not just bave bold brewed and ready to go. There are a few stores in my district which easily have the demand for bold and have been brewing bold in the afternoons - until they got the pour over equipment. Yes, it tastes great, but it still involves a bit of a wait, and the sad thing is, even offering pour over to people, most don't want to be bothered and either leave or get an americano.

[Shrug]

Well then atleast they are getting Shots of Espresso with water "Poured Over" it.

[Jen]

The thing is, Starbucks wasn't wrong to stop brewing Decaf and Bold after noon. Even BEFORE it was changed, my store never had a demand high enough for it, but because it was policy we brewed throughout the day, and ended up with the garbage full of just grounds. Some stores have a higher demand and they brew longer to accommodate that, we often do it until 2pm, but either way..the brew over if ground properly has a better taste than an americano.

[njManager]

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to get heavy cream for your brewed coffee, or an espresso con panna. What happened to Just Say Yes?

Rebel that I am, my store brews all three coffees all day long.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

I find the whole waste argument about not brewing bold all day to be so weak. We make so much money off of our brewed coffee. One cup off of a couple batches and we still make money.

[whatadink]

gotta love all the incorrect info and misleading "facts" on that blog. Holy anyone can write crap batman.

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

I see that this has turned into yet another "pour-over" thread.

So far, I like the pour-over. It's not without flaws, but it beats the "no decaf / bold after noon" thing we'd been doing, and it has its own merits to compare with brewing all three all day.

The biggest thing I like about the pour-over is that it gives a great opportunity to showcase different coffees. For instance, let's say we get a coffee connoisseur in who remarks that she wishes we were brewing up some Verona. I can grab a bag of Verona, grind up a little bit, and throw some in a pour-over.

Now, not only do we have a more satisfied customer, because we brewed her the exact coffee she wanted, but the next time someone comes in and asks for the Bold Pick of the Day, we can offer some choices. "Right now, for the Bold, we have the Sumatra, which is more full-bodied and has a sort of earthy, spicy flavor to it, or we have the Verona, which has a medium body and a more chocolatey flavor." THIS sounds like a coffee shop!

Also, we've had people asking about our pour-over system, because ours is in a pretty visible location. It's a conversation-starter. It gives the opportunity to connect with the customer regarding coffee.

The biggest downside so far is that if we happen to get an unusual number of people ordering decaf or bold, it slows things down.

[(former) FLA SM]

"the spring promotion is going back to basics, and we're going to begin enticing customers to get back to the roots of our coffee's"

Right. I remember when we did that during the big "espresso excellence" meeting. The same meeting that rolled out PPR. Back to basics should mean getting back to treating employees like partners instead of indentured servants.

[curious customer]

Question for the experts - why the reluctance to brew bold in the afternoon? I went in the other day, asked for bold coffee: register person looks away, says "oh, we don't have bold right now" - I say "I can wait" - SM (I think) behind her says "you know, Pike Place is kind of medium - have you tried it?" - I say "yes". Then they make the coffee.

I mean, who cares - can't they sell the bold just like they'd sell the Pike Place? Is the Pike Place so much cheaper to make that they lose money brewing a different coffee?

And then they brewed Verona, which wasn't really that bold... had to go back for an Americano with an extra shot

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

Curious customer:

The reason we went to only brewing up bold in the mornings is because in the evenings, most folks are coming in for lattes and frappuccinos and such, and brewing up two urns of coffee tends to be excessive and wasteful. And yes, an urn of coffee is trivially cheap...but those pennies do add up.

In reality, Pike Place + Bold Pick of the Day is more variety than we used to have, when all we had was the Pick of the Week. If the customer didn't like whatever brew we had that week...well...tough luck. Also, if a new customer comes in and got, say, Sumatra, and they didn't like its tar-water taste, they could end up thinking that ALL of our coffee tastes like that. And even if they didn't, they'd still have to wait until next week for our next selection!

The idea behind Pike Place is that it's supposed to be the "standard" coffee, one that you can always count on us having. The reason why it's a kind of mediocre coffee is because it's designed to appeal to as broad a base of people as possible. It's the coffee that not everyone loves, but most people at least like enough to drink.

This is also why I like the pour-over system. It's fast, it cuts down on waste, and it allows us to provide the customer with the coffee they want.

[itsbold]

verona is the lightest of the bolds, but, it is indeed bold

[curious customer]

Thanks - but on average it's less than a half urn that gets tossed, right? You have to toss the coffee every 30 minutes or so - so if I come in 5 minutes before the coffee gets tossed, they can just sell the bold and no need to make Pike? Or are you forced to make Pike regardless?

Just seems like a weird interaction - as you say, why not just not make it available - take Pike or leave it. I'd personally leave it, just don't think it has any coffee flavor - but I'm sure I'm in the minority. It's as if someone told everyone - yes, we'll make bold, but make the customer uncomfortable when they ask for it...

[curious customer]

And this is 2 in the afternoon, not evenings...

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

Curious customer:

I'm not entirely sure I get your question about coming in 5 minutes before coffee gets dumped; are you suggesting that if you come in right when we're about to brew up a fresh batch of Pike Place, we could do the bold instead?

We can't, or at least we're not supposed to. Pike Place is always supposed to be available. If we're gonna brew the bold, it should be separate.

And the reason we end up making the customers uncomfortable when they ask usually isn't deliberate; it's because A.) it's a pain to brew up half an urn for a single cup, particularly when we're busy; B.) it feels like a waste to brew up half an urn for a single cup (even if that one cup more than pays for the urn, it feels like a waste); and C.) it takes 5 minutes, and all too often the folks who want their coffee want it now.

So it's an uncomfortable situation for us, and our discomfort bleeds over to you.

Like I said, the original point of Pike Place was actually to give the customer more options, rather than hoping that the Pick of the Week was something palatable. Now you have the Pick of the Day and Pike Place. I remember quite a few customers coming through the drive-thru before Pike Place, asking what we were brewing, and then driving off when it was something they didn't like.

But I agree that somewhere along the line, it seems like we went from Pike Place being an additional option to it being the only option. And I think the pour-over is doing a good job of remedying that.

[StLouieDrip]

When there was Coffee of the Week I used to occasionally leave empty-handed too. But I'd ALWAYS return in a few days to check again. Now with PPR I don't need to check, because I know it's the same every day. And I know I don't like it. FWIW I was an afternoon customer. Having PPR everyday limits variety, in my experience.

Curious customer, your experience is typical. Most of them have been sternly directed to brew PPR as the only option after 12pm. And it's why so many bold customers have now gone elsewhere.

[Cafe Nervosa]

Except... I would cut off my right arm to read "Brew Pike Place Roast on demand" on an action item next week. I can tell you right now the customers it would inconvenience... All two of them.

[(former) FLA SM]

@ Curious customer:

If you're not in a hurry, ask for your favorite bold as a french press. Be sure to specify which cup size, and you should only be charged for that cup, not the entire press. Coffees in general, but bolds especially, are much better from a press. You will still get that "what a pain in the ass" look from the barista but you will have your bold and it will taste awesome.

[Shrug]

If you mostly only brew one type of coffee all time every time then it takes less labor to roast it. EDB was put out so we could lay off some roasting plant workers. The more different types of coffee for them to mass roast then the more labor it takes.

[Charlie B]

Sorry Torontodude, but flour isn't what most of us would call fattening food. A single cup is 400 calories. It is the eggs, sugar, etc. etc. that make flour foods fattening.

[curious customer]

FLA SM - I don't enjoy french press - I prefer a paper filter - thanks for the suggestion though.

This is really the problem - I know what I enjoy and Starbucks claims to provide it, but makes the interaction uncomfortable.

My guess is that one group in corporate says "we must have a bold option, because we are a coffee shop!" - and another group says "oh, what a pain in the ass. We make all of our money on sweet and milk drinks, let's focus on them - times are tough" (this is probably where the DMs roll up to).

And someone tried to split the difference - and I am forced to deal with the fallout - I'm the enforcer of corporate policy and the barista is the put-upon, resentful staffer.

Fun!

[Shrug]

I think the barista frustration comes in part because at the same time they decided to only have us brew one coffee in the afternoons, they decided to make it last half as long. Because coffee was good for an hour for 30 years, and the recipe hasnt changed meaning it now as of April 2008 tastes way different. (Sarcasm exudes)

The problem is that coffee does start to taste burnt quicker when you have to brew so many small batches. The quality of coffee that is being circulated in a great enough quantity still tastes very good. Think of it as a pot of quarter-filled water boils much quicker than a filled pot.

Now when you ask to brew bold we have to brew twice the amount of coffee as we did before. With 30% less labor. Im not saying that I do not mind. To tell you the truth an Americano tastes much better. Im saying thats why the Barista looks at you frustratingly.

[curious customer]

I'm still not getting it - after all, does it really take any longer to put some coffee grounds in a filter and press the 'brew' button than it does to make a Caramel Brulee Creme or whatever - what with steaming milk, making shots, pumping syrup, etc?

Do you "look frustratingly" at every customer that comes in and asks for a Caremel Brulee Creme, or anything that doesn't involve just pouring liquid into a cup and handing it off?

[Enlightened Coffee Sage]

"Does it really take any longer to put some coffee grounds in a filter and press the 'brew' button than it does to make a Caramel Brulee Creme or whatever?"

Surprisingly, yes.

I can make a Caramel Brulee Creme in, oh, 45 seconds or so; far less if I already have milk steamed. Brewing an urn of coffee takes 5 minutes. Sure, putting the grounds in the filter and pushing a button is fast, but then I have to look over my shoulder constantly to see if it's done brewing, and constantly scan the lobby to see where the customer ran off to so I can yell to them when it's finished.

Moreover, the person brewing up the coffee is probably the one at the front register, rather than the bar. That means it slows down the line when we have to take time to brew up a coffee. And if it is the person at the bar making it...well...it still slows down the line because they have to step away from the bar and go over to the brewer.

It's more about time management and multitasking than it is physical effort.

Maybe it's one of those things where you have to work here and do it to get why it's annoying. Somehow the pour-over is more efficient, even though if you watch the actual process it's just as much physical effort, if not more.

[StLouieDrip]

The only reason the complicated, expensive, hi-calorie drinks are easier/quicker to make is because the sbux machine has set it up that way. If they wanted to make their bold coffee easier to make I'm sure those very brilliant people in charge could find a way to do that too. Now it seems there can't be a bold coffee because it interferes with the making of fancy drinks? And it also obviously interferes with PPR. That's also what the Shift Misto coffee master was ranting about in the other thread, that we picky coffee customers are now an intolerable inconvenience. And isn't it funny how that wasn't ever a problem when there was no PPR? Well, I personally find bold coffee is very easy to make, because that's my main focus and priority.

No criticism is meant personally towards any of you; I blame those at the top for this ridiculous mess. And they should stop pretending that premium bold coffee is their priority, because it just confuses and frustrates the customers who believe them.

Curious customer I used to also get very annoyed by the whole irrationality of it, and then I searched out the indies.