Starbucks for the Holiday Vegan
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With the changing seasons comes the new holiday Starbucks drinks. Everyone has been talking about these new concoctions- more specifically, everyone wants to know if these bad boys are vegan. Well...
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Ah, winter is upon us. I’ve heard it’s already snowed in other places. Surprisingly, Ohio has been warm and sunny with no snow to speak of. Still, I can smell winter in the air and soon enough snow will be on the ground.
What is it about the first snow of the season that is so pretty and wouldn’t it be great if we could keep that feeling all winter long?
With the changing seasons comes changing Starbucks drinks. Their holiday lineup includes; Gingerbread Latte, Caramel Brulee Latte, and Peppermint Mocha. Everyone has been talking about these new concoctions- more specifically, everyone wants to know if these bad boys are vegan. Well…
The Gingerbread Latte:
Sugar, Water, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Carmel Color
Caramel Brulee Latte:
Corn Syrup, Water, Sugar, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Nonfat Dry Milk, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Bicarbonate (Topping contains: Sugar Corn Syrup, Natural Flavor, and Caramel Color)
Peppermint Mocha:
Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate, and Citric Acid (Chocolate Topping: Sugar, Chocolate Mass, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract) (Mocha contains: Water, Sugar, Cocoa, and Vanilla)
What are the artificial and natural flavorings you ask? Is the sugar organic and/or made from beets, or is it processed through bone char? Good, important questions. I don’t know and neither does Starbucks. I’ve called and spoken to several of their customer service reps only to be told that their “ingredient sheets” don’t list out what these ingredients are actually made from, so there is no way to know what you’re actually drinking.
I find that absolutely insane. I don’t know a single person that would walk into an auto parts store, pick out a random bottle of fluid, and then dump it into their car. Why would someone do that to their body?
I digress, so are these holiday drinks vegan?
Personally, I wouldn’t order one- even made with soy, leaving off any whip topping, and/or chocolate, caramel, or other “drizzle.” If it were me, I’d order a tall soymilk steamer and add cinnamon over at the sugar bar. It’s hot, it’ll warm me up- it is way healthier than a sugar-laden beverage AND I still get the whole Starbucks experience (which I love) so I don’t feel left out. Good for the animals, good for me. Win = win.
I’ve said it before in, How Vegan Is The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte?, and again in, Fall ushers in some hidden dairy products, but it bears repeating again:
Starbucks,
Vegans would like to drink your
[insert limited holiday beverage here]. Please start serving up some vegan lattes. You’ve made great strides already by offering up vegan fare. Let’s keep the momentum going and get a full menu that vegans and non-vegans can enjoy, and let’s leave the animals (alone) off of it. Thank You!Love, Vegans Everywhere
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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.
Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…
My current favorite is just a regular soy latte, but I ask for them to steam nutmeg (or cinnamon, or both) into the milk. It’s holiday-esque but without the added sugar.
[…] However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the dairy isn’t still present. As reported by Your Daily Vegan, a lot of the Starbucks syrups and flavors now list “natural and artificial flavors” […]
Is buying anything at Starbucks ever 100% ethical/vegan? No. Not even close. Not by a long shot. Starbucks’ supposed ethics sells its products. That’s it. That’s the bottom line.
The basics: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2011/feb/28/coffee-chains-ethical
I know very few multinational companies will pass the test, but there is no need to support multinational companies. THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS. Brew your own or support local coffee shops!!!
[…] Starbucks for the Holiday Vegan from Your Daily Vegan – With ingredients that the company itself can’t name, are these drinks being marketed as “vegan” actually that? Even if you’re not vegan yourself, are you comfortable drinking items that the company can’t identify? […]
I read an article about their “natural flavors”. I’d NEVER drink ANYTHING from there until it’s proven to me that they did not use a “natural flavor” created by some spooky place that used something from aborted baby fetuses to create a certain flavor. I haven’t seen proof it is true, but I haven’t seen anyone deny this claim. It’s on youtube and I googled it. Who knows? The article said Pepsi and Kraft use it also. I know this sounds insane, but people are still eating flesh and wearing a dead animals skin for a fashion statement.
Meh, I don’t care about health when I’m drinking coffee, and worrying about where sugar comes from is too fussy for my blood. I’ll avoid it if possible, but if there’s no way to know, I’m not gonna worry about it.
Meg, I totally get that part about not really caring if the coffee was healthy- I’m like that with cookies sometimes. Deciding what to do with you own health is personal choice, deciding an animals fate (through “fussiness”) really isn’t. I know that wondering what sugar your eating seems over-the-top, I can see how someone would think that. But at the same time, bone char is not vegan so why wouldn’t we avoid it if we can? And not getting a Starbucks latte isn’t really a sacrifice, is it? So why not remain consistent to our values? You’re not alone in that thought though, I have read that a lot of vegans are similar- they won’t worry too much if it’s a small amount of animal products in their food (especially when dining out). So, I’m curious as to why- please don’t feel offended I’m asking you all these questions. I just don’t understand, maybe you can help me.
I completely agree! Veganism is about doing your best and trying, and for me, going out of my way to contact companies to ask about artificial flavours or sugars is just too much. This level of veganism is what puts a lot of people off, gives vegans a bad name, and probably harms the movement (and therefore the animals) overall.
I loved this article. I was told a month or two ago by a Starbucks employee to not get any of the flavored syrups because I am vegan. Then the other day a vegan friend was drinking a peppermint mocha with soy and swore the barista said it was vegan. So I decided to do some research and found this post.
I think it’s great that you clarify that Starbucks won’t tell you the source of the sugar or what the natural ingredients are. Why would anyone want to put something that the company who sells it can’t or won’t even identify? I’ll stick to my iced coffee with soy milk.
Jo – That is not an option for everyone. I live in a small town, oddly enough overrun by Starbucks. Any small, “local” shops we have don’t offer soy milk or vegan options.
Or…you could just support your local coffee shop. :)