I Tried Starbucks' New Iced Coffee Blends For At-Home Brewing

Having the perfect cup of coffee first thing in the morning just got easier thanks to Starbucks’ new Iced Coffee Blends collection. Instead of heading to your local cafe, all you need to do is roll out of bed and walk into your kitchen to have a delicious cold brew in minutes. Whether you use a K-Cup machine, prefer drip coffee, or just want to pour and go, Starbucks has an option for you.

I actually got to try the Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends collection before its launch on May 1 to see if it’s worth picking up during your next grocery store run, and I was surprised at how good everything was. All together, the collection includes:

• Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends Signature Black K-Cups
• Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends Vanilla K-Cups
• Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends Signature Black Ground Coffee
• Starbucks Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate Dark Chocolate Hazelnut
• Starbucks Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate Sweetened Black

I’m a huge coffee drinker, but I would never categorize myself as a skilled at-home barista. My morning cup of coffee does its job of getting me going, but unless I’m putting in a lot of effort to add creamer, sugar, or a cold foam on top, it’s never quite as delicious as the drinks I order at my local cafe or Starbucks on the corner. However, this new at-home blend that Starbucks has for cold drinks is a game changer.

Using my machine at home, I can brew a Starbucks-quality cup of coffee in seconds that doesn’t need any additional ingredients other than ice. With summer just around the corner and the warm weather making it officially iced coffee season, these at-home Starbucks options couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends K-Cups ($10)

If you have a K-Cup machine at home, you’ll want to get the new Starbucks blends in pod form. The first thing I noticed about the taste was how strong it was. I love the ease of using my Keurig. I just put a pod in, press a button, and have coffee in seconds, but oftentimes, my brew isn’t as rich as I would like.

That’s not an issue with these Iced Coffee Blends. They’re super flavorful, where they almost taste like a cold brew concentrate. All you need to do is add some ice after brewing. I did pour in some vanilla-flavored milk to go along with my Signature Black K-Cups to give my iced coffee just a slight sweetness. Brewing over ice can also help to dilute the coffee’s bitterness, and if you’re not a plain black coffee fan, I recommend adding a sweetened cold foam to the top to give it a nice flavor.

The K-Cups come in Signature Black and Vanilla, with 10 cups for $10 or 22 cups for $17. Brewing your own coffee is definitely going to save you some money.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends Roast & Ground Coffee ($11)

My favorite thing about this collection is how easy it is to make a cup of iced coffee, so that’s why the ground coffee version was my least favorite. It just takes more effort to scoop out the coffee than it does to pour a concentrate or pop a K-Cup into my machine. However, with this option, you can make more than one cup at a time, which is nice if you’re a multiple coffees in one day type of person.

Similar to the K-Cups, this is super strong, but adding in your ice or even some milk will help if it’s too rich for your taste. Just know a little goes a long way here — especially if you’re planning to brew an entire pot. One 12-ounce bag of the Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends ground coffee is about $11.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate ($11)

This new dark chocolate-flavored cold brew concentrate was my favorite. Not only is this the easiest to make — just pour your concentrate and water into a cup — but the chocolate and hazelnut flavor was delicious. This was the one I didn’t need to add any additional ingredients to, because it was perfect on its own.

You can, of course, customize it to your liking by adding in less or more water, or mixing in milk, a cold foam, or additional syrups. That’s what’s so great about having at-home options — you can easily make your own adjustments. These new cold brew concentrates are part of Starbucks’ current portfolio, which includes Signature Black and Caramel Dolce as well.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Sweetened Black Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate ($11)

The Sweetened Black flavor of Starbucks’ cold brew concentrate was just as easy to make, but not as exciting — since it was just black. If you like your coffee plain, you’ll prefer this. Starbucks actually recommends adding in their creamers if you want some flavor, so that’s also an option.

The recipe calls for equal parts concentrate and water, but I added just a bit more water because it was so strong. Both new concentrate flavors come in 32-ounce bottles for about $11 each, and are available nationwide in stores like Amazon, Target, and Kroger.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5