Is Starbucks Coconut Milk Sweetened? (is it healthy, ingredients + more)
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Coconut milk provides a reliable alternative for those who can’t or don’t want to consume cow’s milk.
Starbucks finally introduced coconut milk as an option a few years ago, and if you’re wondering if it’s sweetened or unsweetened, read on to find out what I found!
Will Starbucks’ coconut milk be sweetened in 2022?
Starbucks’ coconut milk is sweetened, but as of 2022, it has less sugar than any other alternative except almond milk. This applies to plant-based and dairy options, namely soy, oat, 2%, whole wheat, half and half, and skim milk. When placing your order, you can request that your drink be further sweetened with stevia and sugar.
To learn all about Starbucks coconut milk, including how healthy it is, where it comes from, and more, read on!
Does Starbucks coconut milk have sugar?
Starbucks’ coconut milk contains natural sugars, as well as the company’s own added sweeteners.
Additionally, Starbucks coconut milk contains about 10 grams of sugar, which is about 16 ounces.
Beyond that, Starbucks’ coconut milk uses different ingredients for sweetening, which I’ll mention in the next section, including cane sugar.
What’s in Starbucks’ coconut milk?
Starbucks’ coconut milk contains the following ingredients:
- coconut cream
- water
- Concentrated coconut water
- sucrose
- Vitamin A Palmitate
- Vitamin D2
- Tricalcium Phosphate
- natural flavor
- sea salt
- Carrageenan
- gellan gum
- corn dextrin
- Xanthan Gum
- Guar Gum
Is Starbucks coconut milk healthy?
According to most sources, Starbucks’ coconut milk is the second healthiest option after almond milk among all plant-based and dairy alternatives.
Additionally, these sources compare the number of calories and sugar in the same number of available options, not individual ingredients.
So to give you a better idea of how these options compare, here’s the sugar content in a tall latte without flavored syrup or whipped cream:
- Coconut milk: 9 grams
- Almond milk: 4 grams
- Soy milk: 14 grams
- Skim milk: 14 grams
- 2% milk: 14 grams
- Whole milk: 14 grams
- Oat milk: 11 grams
- Half and half: 12 grams
As for the calorie content, Starbucks’ coconut milk has 180 calories in a large (16-ounce) serving.
Additionally, an extra-large Starbucks latte made with coconut milk contains about 6 grams of saturated fat.
With that out of the way, here’s how Starbucks’ coconut milk compares to other options when it comes to calories in a regular high coffee latte:
- Coconut Milk: 110 calories
- Almond milk: 80 calories
- Skim milk: 100 calories
- 2% milk: 150 calories
- Soy milk: 150 calories
- Whole milk: 180 calories
So, even if you look at calories instead of sugar, coconut milk is still Starbucks’ second-healthiest option after almond milk.
Where does Starbucks’ coconut milk come from?
Starbucks’ coconut milk is made with coconuts from the tropical Indonesian island of Sumatra.
That said, like most of Starbucks’ other plant-based milk alternatives, coconut milk is made by a supplier that doesn’t sell to the public.
Can you buy coconut milk from Starbucks?
Unfortunately, you can’t buy the coconut milk that Starbucks uses, the only way to get it is to order drinks that contain it from their coffee shop.
As mentioned above, Starbucks gets the coconuts used in its coconut milk from a single source and has only one supplier.
That said, large companies that do so often pay suppliers enough to supply them with products they don’t sell to the public.
Does Starbucks have any unsweetened milk options?
Yes, Starbucks has several unsweetened milk options, including almond milk, 2% milk, skim milk, and whole milk.
In fact, coconut milk and soy milk are currently Starbucks’ only sweetened milk options.
Plus, almond milk is the only unsweetened non-dairy or plant-based option Starbucks offers.
Additionally, Starbucks uses oat milk from Oatly, which the company says has no added sugar, but that claim has been challenged in recent years.
However, an unsweetened option doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain any sugar, just that Starbucks itself doesn’t have any added sugar.
That said, the coconut milk Starbucks uses has less sugar than all unsweetened options except almond milk.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on what is Starbucks brew, Starbucks almond milk sweetened, and Starbucks iced coffee sweetened.
in conclusion
Starbucks’ coconut milk is sweetened, but it’s still lower in sugar than other unsweetened options offered by coffee shops.
Plus, almond milk is the only option at Starbucks that contains less sugar than coconut milk, which contains several ingredients, including cane sugar.
Starbucks’ coconut milk comes from coconuts grown in Sumatra, and the milk itself isn’t available to the public unless it’s used as part of a drink you buy at one of its cafes.
In terms of calories and sugar, Starbucks coconut milk is healthier than all other milk alternatives except almond milk.
