"The best part of waking up..." for many people is their coffee in the morning. I know for myself, it's genuinely the thing that gets me out of bed and on time to my 8 A.M. class. Here's what an iced coffee addict has to say about the beautifully crafted, caffeinated drink handed to us straight from the gates of Heaven.
The Best Drinks
Every coffee drinker has "their drink", I have 5 of "my drink". I like my coffee to be sweet, but I still want to taste the deliciously ground beans that are coffee. My 5 favorite drinks are as follows:
1. Iced Vanilla Latte: I have never been to a coffee shop where I got a bad iced vanilla latte. They're my favorite drink to sip casually while walking through the mall, or to chug down before a 75 minute lecture in the morning.
2. Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte: Although this drink is only around during the fall season, it still ranks in as 2nd favorite drink. I prefer to get these from Starbucks mostly, but I also have the ground coffee mix in my dorm room now. Even when it's 80 degrees in September (thank you, climate change), I still can't get enough of the pumpkin goodness.
3. Cold Brew: The newest coffee trend in the past couple months has been cold brew coffee, which Bill Nye explained in a Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew ad as: "In cold brewing, coffee doesn't get hot, so there's far less acid making its way into your cup which makes it tastes naturally sweeter." Bill, I took your advice and may I say - COLD BREW IS WORTH THE HYPE. Cold brew is stronger and sweeter than coffee, so when I have a big assignment to finish, or a long day ahead of me, I grab a cold brew from any cafe, not specifically Starbucks.
4. Iced Carmel Coffee: This #4 drink on my list is the ONLY drink I get from Dunkin' Donuts. If I'm on a budget and really want coffee, I go to Dunkin' Donuts for a sweet, sweet wakeup call. I get cream and sugar in my coffee here, which makes it the sweetest tasting on my drink. If my sweet tooth is controlling me this day, I'll get coffee and a donut for under $5. C'MON PEOPLE!!!! CHEAP GOODNESS.
5. Iced White Mocha (no whip cream): Last, but CERTAINLY not least, is the first iced coffee I ever had. The iced white mocha is what fueled my addiction way back 4 years ago when I wanted to phase out the frappuccinos in high school. I was always mad the mochas came with the big whip cream lid because I was a freshman in high school - I was way too cool to have people thinking I still drank frappuccinos! I started getting no whip cream, and I've just stuck with it.
The Secret Trick Starbucks Doesn't Want You To Know
I know I'm not the first person to share this trick, but being on a college budget makes this sweet trick even sweeter. If you are tired of spending $6+ on a venti coffee, this is the trick for you! Start by getting a regular iced coffee, and you can add milk if you so please (I add milk), then add in 4-5 pumps of a flavor of your choice.* If I was at a Starbucks right now, my order would be said as the following: Venti iced coffee with milk, light ice, and add 4 pumps of pumpkin spice, keep the classic sweetener. It tastes the EXACT same! My venti coffee ends up being $3.75. Is that a steal of what?!
*NOTE: I use 4-5 pumps on a venti coffee, so modify for whatever size you will get.
Light Ice Makes All The Difference
If you are an avid iced coffee drinker like me, you know that all coffee shops try to ROB you of your sweet beverage by making your cup 3/4 ice and 1/4 coffee. That doesn't sit well with me... Or should I say SIP well with me?! When you ask for light ice, they cut the ice that goes in your cup by half giving you an almost equal ratio of ice to coffee. Wow - I almost failed 3 years of high school math and yet when I relate it to coffee I actually understand it.
