Who does not know Starbucks? One of the largest multinational corporations that have so many branches in many countries. First established in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl. Now, they have more than 30,000 retail stores in 84 markets. In this article we will see about Is Starbucks Iced Coffee Sweetened?
Is Starbucks Iced Coffee Sweetened?
As a coffee company, their main product is of course based-coffee product. There are so many kinds of a menu in Starbucks, but in this article, we will focus on one of their menus, which is the “Starbucks Iced Coffee”. Do they sweetened or not?
Iced Coffee in Starbucks
As mentioned before, coffee is the main menu provided in Starbucks. The iced coffee in Starbucks itself has several options or additional components that customers can add. Those components are:
1. Flavors
Since the first time they were established, the company has developed so many kinds of coffee, including the iced coffee itself. This iced coffee in Starbucks has several flavor options that are divided into two different categories, which are syrups and sauces.
For the syrups, they have around 10 different tastes such:
- Brown Sugar
- Caramel
- Cinnamon Dolce
- Hazelnut
- Peppermint
- Raspberry
- Toasted Vanilla
- Toffee Nut
- Vanilla
- Sugar-Free Vanilla
While for the sauces, they have 3 different kinds of sauces.
- Mocha
- Dark Caramel
- White Chocolate Mocha
In terms of taste, both have almost the same taste. However, both have different characteristics at the level of viscosity where the sauce has a greater viscosity than syrup and both have different characteristics after being poured into iced coffee. The sauce will settle more easily than syrup which dissolves easily,
2. Toppings
They have toping which is divided into 5 types, namely:
- Sprinkles
- Drizzles
- Cold Foam
- Powders
- Whipped Cream
All those five toppings have different shapes. I think those of you who often order this coffee here, will know the difference.
3. Sizes
Four available sizes are provided by Starbucks for the iced coffee. The four are
- Tall (12 fl oz)
- Grande (16 fl oz)
- Venti (24 fl oz)
- Treta (30 fl oz)
- Others
They have many different creamer flavors and shots of expresso. Besides that, they also have 2 different kinds of sweeteners.
Do They Use Sweeteners in Their Coffee?
Specifically talking about this, Starbucks itself has provided 2 different kinds of sweeteners.
The first one is package sweeteners that consist of:
- Sugar
- Honey
- Splenda
- Stevia
The second one is liquid sweeteners that consist of:
- Classic Syrup
- Cane Sugar
- Honey Blend
So, yes they use sweeteners in their coffee. However, it is back again to the tastes of the customers, whether they want to use the sweetener or not. In essence, Starbucks itself has provided two choices of sweeteners for this type of iced coffee. Coupled with the toppings and various types of flavors that they offer, I think they have provided more than just sweeteners for their customers.
Effects of Using Sweeteners
In general, there are several kinds of sweeteners used for food or drinks. For example, natural sweeteners like honey, syrup, etc., there are also artificial sweeteners, dietary supplements, and sugar alcohol which have different sugar levels and side effects.
Natural sweeteners, it is not bad to consume because they produce energy when metabolized by the body. They have some nutritional value in the form of trace vitamins and minerals. In contrast to artificial sweeteners, dietary supplements, and sugar alcohol, which have high sugar levels and have short- and long-term effects on the body if consumed in excess.
Then why do people get used to using this kind of sweetener? There must be reasons why people keep using sweeteners in their coffee, one of the reasons is for most people, using sweeteners make the taste of the coffee better than not using sweeteners. Nevertheless, it is not always good for your health to use sweeteners in your coffee.
1. Weight Gain
Usually caused by artificial sweeteners, which if you consume them often, will change your diet so that it can increase your weight. Well, scary isn’t it, especially for those of you who are on a diet?
2. Headache
Excess sugar levels in your body can also cause you to get headaches.
3. Cardiovascular
In line with the first point, where if you experience weight gain in numbers above normal, then your cardiovascular system can be disturbed. Long-term effects of this disease can lead to stroke, liver damage, hypertension, and even heart attack.
4. Diabetes
I guess you already know the most common effect you can get by consuming the sweetener in excess. Yes, diabetes is the effect that occurs most often, and no doubt can spread to other dangerous diseases such as stroke, and so on.
5. Alzheimer
Unhealthy lifestyles such as consuming sweeteners in inappropriate amounts can also cause you to get this disease. Weak memory of your brain due to the large amount of sugar that enters your body is an effect that you should pay more attention to.
6. Risk for Pregnant Women
According to research, consuming extra boosts during pregnancy can increase your baby’s risk of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome disorders.
7. Cancer
The long-term effect that you have to worry about is the risk of getting cancer. Besides, because no medicine can directly cure it, this is also not good for your offspring.
Tips for Dealing with The Effects of Artificial Sweeteners
1. Reduce excess sugar consumption
Try to eat some foods or drinks without sugar. Like coffee without sugar, unsweetened tea, or whatever. It helps you avoid the bad effects of artificial sweeteners.
2. Switch to natural sweeteners
If you really can’t eat something without sugar, switch your artificial sweetener to a natural sweetener like honey or syrup. This type of sweetener makes you healthier.
3. Take care of your lifestyle
Most importantly, take care of your lifestyle. Even if you don’t like consuming excess sugar but your lifestyle is bad, it just doesn’t mean anything.
Conclusion
Now we have learnt Is Starbucks Iced Coffee Sweetened? you know that Starbucks used sweeteners for their iced coffee. There are two kinds of sweeteners that they used, natural ones (honey and syrup) and artificial sweeteners (Splenda). They add those sweeteners because all kind of drinks they provided is sugar-free. So, the consumer can add the sweetener at their request.
However, there are some bad effects of those sweeteners on your health. From the short-term to the long-term effect, they are all not good for your body. So, reduce your consumption of foods or drinks that contain high sugar levels if you don’t want to get this disease.
FAQ’s
- Is it better to use sweeteners or not?
Well, as long as you consume a proper portion, it won’t be a problem for your health. But, if you consume this sweetener, especially the artificial one, you might get the diseases mentioned above.
- Why artificial sweetener is not good for our health?
Because they contain additional chemicals like Aspartame, Sucralose, Saccharin, etc which are not good for our body.
