Starbucks is by far the largest coffee chain in the world and offers everything from simple drip coffee to fancy coffee concoctions in every style and flavor.
With such a diverse selection of drinks, it begs the question of what type of coffee Starbucks uses in all of their creations.
Starbucks only uses ethically sourced 100% Arabica coffee beans from South America, Africa, and Asia.
Continue reading to learn more about the different coffees from Starbucks.
Different Types of Coffee Beans
You may be wondering what exactly Arabica beans are and if or how they differ from other varieties as well as what other varieties are available. Here are the different types of coffee beans:
Arabica (Coffea arabica): The most popular type of coffee, Arabica makes up 60% of the world’s coffee. They are considered the highest quality bean and are known for their smooth, rich taste.
Grown in the bean belt of South America, Africa, and Asia, Arabica beans are more expensive than other varieties because they are more difficult to grow.
Most consumers prefer a complex flavor along with a lack of bitterness in their coffee. Arabica varieties are known for these qualities along with their rich and smooth flavor profiles.
Robusta (Coffea caniphora): Grown primarily in Africa and Indonesia, Robusta is the second most popular variety of coffee bean.
Robusta beans are larger and more rounded than Arabica beans and the plants are quite a bit larger and grow with more ease.
The flavor profile of Robusta beans is more bitter, though they are seen in many blends paired with other varieties that help to tame the bitter notes.
Because Robusta beans are less expensive and easy to obtain, many roasters use these beans in blends as well to tweak the flavor profile and keep their costs down.
Liberica (Coffea liberica): Grown mainly in Liberia (hence the name), this type of coffee bean is polarizing for coffee enthusiasts due to its wide variety of flavor profiles and characteristics.
Thought of as a bold, smoky, and woody variety, Liberica beans are used mainly to help flavor blends. At only 2% of the world’s coffee supply, Liberica beans go widely unacknowledged.
Popular still in the Philippines and known as “kapeng Barako”, Liberica is served black with sugar and is an intense brew that is not for the faint of heart.
Excelsa (Coffea excelsa): Recently classified as a variant of Liberica, Excelsa is a blend of light notes such as fruit and florals along with traditional dark roast notes.
Grown mainly in Southeast Asia, Excelsa is another variety mainly used in blends to create unique flavor profiles. This variety can be difficult to find outside of Asia.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Espresso?
Starbucks uses their signature Dark Espresso Roast for their espresso shots and espresso based drinks. This blend was developed in 1975 and is still used today.
Starting in 2018, Starbucks also offers a blonde espresso option with a higher caffeine content and creamier taste.
Starbucks also offers a decaf espresso option for those who are avoiding the caffeine usually in espresso drinks.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Lattes?
Lattes are an espresso based drink that blends espresso, steamed milk, and a layer of milk foam on top.
Starbucks uses their signature Dark Espresso Roast for their lattes. They sell their espresso roast in store and online if you want to make a latte at home.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Cold Brew?
Starbucks Cold Brew is a mixture of African and Latin American Arabica beans that are brought to a medium roast and steeped in cold, filtered water for 48 hours.
Cold brew is not ever heated above room temperature to ensure the coffee’s rich and balanced flavor profile.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Decaf?
Starbucks uses their own proprietary roast for their decaf coffees and espressos.
While it is unknown the exact method they use to decaffeinate their coffee, you can find a variety of roasts for both coffee and espresso available in decaf form.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Macchiato?
Starbucks offers espresso macchiatos as well as a caramel macchiato in both a hot and cold version.
Macchiatos are an espresso based drink combined with milk foam for their hot version and milk for their cold version. Their signature espresso blend is used in all of these drinks and are available in decaf.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Cappuccino?
Cappuccinos are a hot espresso drink combined with steamed milk and topped with milk foam. Starbucks uses their signature espresso blend to create their cappuccinos.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Frappuccino?
While many Frappuccinos are a coffee based treat, Starbucks doesn’t in fact use a typical coffee or espresso base for these drinks.
What Starbucks uses for Frappuccinos is called Frap Roast, which is a powdered base that is paired with cold water. It compares fairly closely with an instant coffee mix.
Because of the syrups and high amount of sugar that is added into Frappuccinos, the Frap Roast actually starts out with a very bitter flavor profile to counteract all the sweet additions to their signature drinks.
What Coffee Does Starbucks Use For Americano?
Americanos are another espresso based drink. Because of that, Starbucks uses their exclusive espresso blend to create them.
Americanos are simply brewed espresso combined with water and topped with crema- a coffee foam. Because this drink is simply espresso and water it contains no dairy or sweetener.
Americanos are also available in decaf.
Is Starbucks Coffee Stronger Than Others?
Starbucks has a wide variety of coffee roasts and blends available, and because of that there is a fluctuation in strength and caffeine content.
However, Starbucks is known for having a stronger flavor and caffeine content than many other chain coffee houses and restaurants.
Starbucks coffee is stronger than McDonalds coffee by more than twice the amount of caffeine, and outranks other companies such as Dutch Brothers, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Seattle’s Best as well.
Which Starbucks Coffee Has the Most Caffeine?
The Blonde Roast Brewed Coffee comes in at the most caffeinated drink the company has to offer. In a grande 16 oz serving, there is 360 mg of caffeine.
Because it is roasted for a shorter amount of time, blonde roasts actually retain more caffeine and therefore make for a stronger cup of coffee.
After the Blonde Roast, the Pike Place Roast coffee and Nitro Cold Brew are the highest in caffeine content.
As for non coffee drinks, Starbucks Hot Chocolate rates the highest in caffeine.
How Many Cups of Coffee Does Starbucks Sell Per Day?
According to USA Today, Starbucks sells over 4 million coffee drinks per day.
When this is divided between the number of locations around the world, an average Starbucks location is producing around 388 cups of coffee and coffee drinks per day.