Copycat Starbucks Pistachio Latte

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If you’ve been hanging out around my social media for any amount of time lately, you’ll probably notice that I have not shut up about the Starbucks pistachio latte.

I saw this item on the mobile app menu some time ago and just tried it out of curiosity. I wasn’t sure what a pistachio latte was going to taste like, but I figured I would give it a try and if I didn’t like it I never had to order it again.

Now, I find myself getting this drink more than any other drink I have ever ordered at Starbucks. It’s the perfect combination of everything that I love. 

It’s sweet, nutty, light, and also tastes delicious hot or iced. I tend to like all of my drinks iced, so I was really surprised when I enjoyed this drink hot.

Once I decided I loved this drink, I knew that I needed to find a way to recreate it at home. After a lot of tinkering and testing I finally came up with what I think are great ratios for this drink. 

Scroll for the recipe down below, but I’ve answered a few common questions that I’ve gotten on social media after making this drink.

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What does the pistachio latte taste like?

The pistachio latte has a sweet and nutty flavor, but it’s a little different than the salted pistachios that you’re probably used to cracking open out of their shells. 

While it does have that nutty taste, the pistachio flavor in this latte is sweetened, rather than savory. You don’t get any hints of saltiness but that nice nutty flavor does help bring out the roastiness of your coffee.

What about the browned butter topping?

Starbucks interestingly uses a brown butter topping on top of their pistachio latte. It adds a little bit to the butteriness of the latte.

Starbucks says that the ingredients in the brown butter include actual butter, almond extract – which is interesting for a pistachio latte – and a pinch of salt.

How to make a Starbucks pistachio latte?

Starbucks does offer a guided recipe on how to make their pistachio latte. However, in trying the pistachio latte a bunch of times at Starbucks there are few things that felt off-balance to me.

One of those things was that the drink was sticky-sweet. 

A lot of times when I would get the drink the pistachio syrup would settle to the bottom, and that would result in my coffee being bland on the initial first couple of sips and then in the middle. 

I would get a sticky sweetness from the syrup. While the drink is delicious, that unexpected blast of sweetness was not enjoyable to me. 

So, I wanted to find a way to create some balance and get the flavor of the drink, without getting so much of the sweetness factor. 

The other problem for me, is that this recipe uses a lot of whole milk. Because I’m lactose intolerant, I decided to do a swap and use oat milk instead in a smaller quantity to keep the carbs lower.

The ingredients in this homemade Starbucks pistachio latte are: 

How to make the homemade version of the pistachio latte:

• 2 oz espresso (I used Nespresso’s Hawaii Kona)
• ½ ounce pistachio syrup
• ½ ounce sugar-free vanilla syrup (or brown butter syrup if you prefer)
• 2-4 oz oat milk, frothed
• Ice to fill the glass

Begin by brewing your espresso. Add ice to your glass. Then, add a half-ounce of pistachio syrup, a half-ounce of sugar-free vanilla syrup, and frothed milk to your glass. Stir and enjoy. 

How many carbs and calories in a Starbucks Pistachio Latte?

A grande Pistachio Latte at Starbucks is 320 calories, 45g sugar, 9g fat per Starbucks. My version cuts the carbs almost in half.

Nutrition Facts in the at-home version of the Starbucks Pistachio Latte

Ways to make the Starbucks Pistachio Latte lower carb?

Lowering the carb count is relatively simple, and you can do it in a few ways:

• You can lower the portion, so getting a smaller drink will result in less carbs.
• You can make your own pistachio syrup with a low-calorie sweetener.
• You can swap out your milk option, almond milk will  likely give you the lowest carb count.
• You can reduce the amount of syrup in the drink, which still gives you flavor but less sugar.

Recipe for copycat Starbucks Pistachio Latte

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