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Starbucks is famous all over the world for not only its classic coffee, tea, and espresso drinks, but also for its non-caffeinated beverages and seasonal menus, with highly anticipated flavors like polarizing pumpkin spice in the fall or pistachio in the winter. Starbucks has a few pistachio-flavored beverages, including a Pistachio Latte, Pistachio Frappuccino, and a Pistachio Cream Cold Brew. While they may not be ideal for those who love a strong brewed black coffee or those seeking to enjoy the delicate notes of a shot of espresso, the pistachio-flavored drinks are a rich and decadent option for anyone looking for more of a flavorful treat along with a dose of caffeine.
For both its Pistachio Latte and Pistachio Frappuccino, Starbucks uses a pistachio sauce — which gets its flavor and texture from pistachio butter, and also includes sugar, condensed nonfat milk, and other stabilizers — in the base drink. This pistachio sauce is also what Starbucks uses in its Pistachio Sweet Cream, which flavors the cold foam that tops its Pistachio Cream Cold Brew beverage. According to a Reddit user who claims to be a Starbucks supervisor, the Pistachio Cream Cold Foam gets its desirable rich, thick, and creamy texture from the pistachio butter and sweetened condensed milk found in the chain’s signature pistachio sauce.
Pistachio syrup is easy to make at home
For the die-hard enthusiasts, you can actually purchase some of the syrups at Starbucks, but there’s a catch. And the limited-edition pistachio sauce will likely not be offered for sale. Thankfully for those of us who like to make things from scratch, Starbucks published a recipe for pistachio syrup on its website, and it’s pretty simple to DIY. The pistachio syrup contains sugar, water, pistachios, and one other ingredient that you might not expect: almond extract. The almond extract usually adds a bit of sweetness and a marzipan-like flavor, rather than the flavor of pure, raw almonds.
In the stores, 1 pump of Starbucks syrup is equivalent to about ½ of a tablespoon, so you can use that measurement to recreate pistachio drinks at home with your own syrup. It’s important to note, too, that this syrup will not taste exactly like the pistachio sauce used in Starbucks’ pistachio drinks. For that, you will need to get creative with sweetened condensed milk and pistachio butter (which is available on Amazon). All three of Starbucks’ pistachio drinks are topped with Starbucks’ Salted Brown Butter Topping, which is easy to make at home using two ingredients. Adding this to your espresso beverages alongside your homemade pistachio syrup or sauce will allow you to more or less replicate the entire Starbucks pistachio experience.
The combination of salt and caramelized milk solids from the salted, browned butter combined with the crunchiness of the cookie-like bits is a classic sweet-and-salty pairing that works perfectly in a pistachio beverage. For more nutty, slightly green-hued beverages at home, pistachio paste is an easy and simple way to add a pistachio punch to your matcha lattes or other drinks. Pistachio paste, butter, and cream are all similar products that are relatively easy to find in stores, with different ratios of pure, ground pistachios to sugar and fat, so you can choose the version that best suits your needs.
