Hot chocolate is a menu item at Starbucks and is popular with dark chocolate lovers. You can order it as it appears on the menu or you can modify it to your fancy.
On this blog, we usually show you different ways to change up Starbucks beverages to improve the way you enjoy your drinks. Let’s not kid ourselves; ordering the same drink over and over again can get boring no matter how much you love that drink.
Other factors that necessitate customizing a drink are problems such as intolerance to caffeine, gluten, or dairy.
This article answers questions about Starbucks hot chocolate including whether it’s vegan.
Is Starbucks Hot Chocolate Vegan?
Starbucks hot chocolate is not vegan by default as it contains dairy milk and dairy whipped cream. However, you can order a vegan hot chocolate from Starbucks by substituting plant milk for dairy milk and leaving out the whipped cream.
Fortunately, Starbucks mocha sauce is vegan. It is made by mixing dark cocoa powder with hot water to make a thick sauce.
White hot chocolate and toasted white hot chocolate are not vegan and can not be made vegan as the sauces already have condensed milk in them.
The Starbucks drinks menu shows you the drinks with the default ingredients but also offers you various ways to customize them. These include cup size choices, milk options, sweetener choices, flavorings, and espresso shots options among others.
How to Order a Vegan Hot Chocolate at Starbucks
The best way to order a vegan hot chocolate at Starbucks is by asking for a hot chocolate with plant-based milk, preferably oat milk and no whipped cream. We recommend oat milk because it is creamier than the other dairy-free milk options but you can also use almond, soy, or coconut milk.
Initially, Starbucks hot chocolate had vanilla in it but Starbucks has since stopped adding vanilla by default. Vanilla sweetens and adds more body to a hot chocolate so you may consider adding it. Other sweeteners that pair well with hot chocolate are brown sugar and sugar-free vanilla.
Adding a choice of syrup to hot chocolate comes with an extra charge. See our guide to Starbucks’ policy about adding extra sauces and syrups to better understand the best way to go about it.
Is Hot Chocolate Caffeinated?
Yes, hot chocolate is mildly caffeinated as it is made from dark cocoa which, naturally, has caffeine. The amount of caffeine in Starbucks hot chocolate is lower than the caffeine in black tea. A grande cup of hot chocolate has 25mg of caffeine as compared to about 90mg in a straight grande cup of black tea.
The caffeine in hot chocolate is also lower than in green tea.
The chart below compares the caffeine in hot chocolate with the caffeine in tea and Starbucks brewed coffee.
| Caffeine (mg) in 12oz | Caffeine (mg) in 16oz | Caffeine (mg) in 20oz | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot chocolate | 20 | 25 | 35 |
| Green Tea | 30 | 40 | 60 |
| Black Tea | 63 | 84 | 105 |
| Starbucks Brewed Coffee | 232 | 310 | 387 |
Is Starbucks Hot Chocolate Gluten-Free?
Yes, Starbucks hot chocolate is gluten-free if you go by the company’s list of ingredients but it is not certified gluten-free. Moreover, you may want to avoid it altogether if you are intolerant to gluten due to the high risk of cross-contamination. The same hands and equipment that handle the products with gluten are going to make your drink.
Furthermore, Starbucks sauces usually have some other ingredients that are not listed. These ingredients may have gluten. The baristas may not even be aware of such ingredients so persons with celiac disease may want to avoid Starbucks drinks that use sauces such as caramel.
What is Starbucks Mocha Sauce
Starbucks mocha sauce is a thick dark chocolate liquid with a bittersweet flavor. The ingredients in mocha sauce include water, natural flavor, sugar, and alkali processed cocoa. One pump of Starbucks mocha sauce has about 30 calories.
Final Thoughts
Starbucks hot chocolate, as it appears on the menu without modifications, is not vegan You can order a vegan hot chocolate at Starbucks by swapping dairy milk with dairy-free options and leaving whipped cream out of the drink.
Starbucks hot chocolate is mildly caffeinated and is considered gluten-free but there is a high risk of cross-contamination from other products with gluten.
