5 Best Starbucks coffee to make cold brew with (How do you customize Starbucks cold brew? + more information)

Starbucks offers a variety of coffees on its menu. In this article, you will find the best Starbucks coffee to make cold brews with.

I love having cold brews during those hot afternoons when I need a pick-me-up. Starbucks cold brews are my favourite. Starbucks prepares its cold brews by steeping cold water in coarse ground coffee for 20 hours. With this method, time is the equivalent of heat when extracting the coffee and the end product is a cold coffee concentrate. This coffee is mixed with ice and water to create a cold brew. To learn about the best Starbucks coffee to make cold brews with, keep reading.

Which Starbucks coffee is best for cold brew?

The best Starbucks coffee for cold brews is medium roasted coffee or dark roasted coffee if you prefer the darker variation of the drink. Starbucks recommends that you avoid the light roast when preparing a cold brew. Some of the best Starbucks medium roast coffee for cold brews include; Pike Place, Colombia, Kenya African Blend and Starbucks cold brew multi-serve concentrate signature black.

What is in Starbucks cold brew?

The Starbucks cold brews are prepared with cold-brewed coffee, ice cubes and water or milk. Some cold brews incorporate cream (sweetened and unsweetened) and syrups (for flavouring and sweetening) depending on the customer’s preference. However, the major Starbucks cold brew ingredients are cold-brewed coffee and ice.

What kind of coffee is used in Starbucks cold brew?

Starbucks uses medium roast coffee or dark roast coffee in their cold brews. Typically, in-store, Starbucks uses their Pike Place medium roast coffee in their cold brews or their French roast in the darker variation of the beverage. However, this can change upon the customer’s request.

Also, Starbucks has provided its customers with Starbucks Cold Brew Pitcher Packs perfect for preparing cold brews at home. These pitcher packs are made from 100% Arabica African and Latin American ground coffee.

Where is Starbucks coffee made?

Starbucks coffee is made at the York Roasting Plant, one of the largest roasting plants in the world, roasting over 3 million pounds of coffee weekly. Additionally, the York Roasting Plant is the largest distributing centre for Starbucks, distributing products to Starbucks locations in some parts of Europe and Canada and across the Northeast.

Do Starbucks coffee beans come from China?

Starbucks sources its coffee beans from over 30 countries in three major regions; Asia/Pacific, Africa and Latin America. China is among the countries that supply Starbucks with coffee beans. Also, Starbucks launched an ultra-modern facility in China, which serves as a warehouse, roasting plant and distribution centre. This facility plays a crucial part in the company’s global roasting network.

What type of coffee beans does Starbucks use?

Starbucks uses 100% Arabica beans to produce their coffee. There are four main types of coffee beans; Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica. According to Starbucks, the company only uses Arabica beans due to their refined and complex flavours. The acidity of these coffee beans allows Starbucks baristas to create and blend new, interesting tastes.

Does Starbucks coffee go bad?

Yes. Starbucks coffee can go bad. Starbucks coffee is sealed within 2 hours of roasting, that’s why their sealed coffee can last up to 34 weeks. However, once opened and ground, the coffee can maintain its freshness for up to a week. You should place your ground coffee in an airtight container to keep it fresh. If your brewed coffee lacks the bold and fresh flavour and taste of coffee, then chances are, it has gone bad.

How we choose the best Starbucks coffee to make cold brew with.

The criterion we used to select the best Starbucks coffee to make cold brew with is how good the coffee’s flavour and taste are and how well the coffee blends into beverages. Starbucks offers a wide range of coffees but with the help of several veteran Starbucks baristas, we compiled the best coffee to make cold brews with.

In addition to that, we asked hundreds of Starbucks customers both in-store and online, what their favourite coffee to prepare cold brew with is, and why and compiled their answers. You can trust this post to provide you with accurate and impartial information, because not only is it the opinion of professional Starbucks baristas but also that of several Starbucks customers who love cold brews.

5 Best Starbucks coffee to make cold brew with.

Below, we have ranked the top five Starbucks coffees we found to be the best for making cold brews.

Rank.	Coffee.	Ingredients.
1	Pike Place Roast.	Medium roast Arabica coffee beans.
2	Kenya African Blend.	Medium roast Arabica coffee beans.
3	Starbucks Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate Signature Black.	Medium roast Arabica coffee beans.
4	Starbucks Cold Brew Single-Serve Concentrate Signature Black.	Medium roast Arabica coffee beans.
5	Colombia	Medium roast Arabica coffee beans.

Pike Place Roast.

The Starbucks Pike Place Roast is a sweet and smooth blend of medium-roasted Latin American Arabica coffee beans. Pike Place Roast coffee is rich, with subtle chocolaty notes and steady flavours. This coffee is sold as K-Cup pods, ground coffee, whole beans, Starbucks Instant coffee, Starbucks by Nespresso Original Line and Starbucks by Nespresso for Vertuo.

Kenya African Blend.

The Starbucks Kenya African Blend is a sweet, bright and balanced blend originating from Kenya, Africa. This coffee serves brown sugar and tropical fruit notes perfect for cold brews. Starbucks recommends pairing your Kenya African Blend cold brew with muffins or berry cobbler.

Starbucks Cold Brew Multi-Serve Concentrate Signature Black.

This Starbucks coffee is smooth and delicious with subtle sweet and chocolaty notes. The bottle packaging holds multiple servings, perfect for at-home cold brew preparation.

To prepare your cold brew at home, simply add water and ice and enjoy. Alternatively, to customize, you can add sugar, cream (sweeten or unsweetened) and your favourite syrup to the cold brew.

This Starbucks cold brew coffee is made with Latin American medium roast brewed coffee and water. Its nutritional facts per 180ml serving (1 serving) include; 15 calories, 2g of carbs, 1g of protein and 559mg of potassium.

Starbucks Cold Brew Single-Serve Concentrate Signature Black.

The Starbucks Single-Serve Signature Black coffee has a smooth body, is sweet and delicious with chocolaty notes and is sold in pods. To prepare (1 serving) of cold brew with this coffee, add ice and water to a single pod and enjoy. The nutritional facts of this coffee (per 1 pod serving) include; 15 calories, 2g of carbs, 1g of protein and 385mg of potassium.

Colombia.

The Starbucks Colombia medium roast coffee is well-rounded with a mellow taste and precise notes of fresh herbs and nuts. Colombia coffee is made from 100% Arabica coffee and is known for its trademark nutty finish. This coffee comes as K-Cup pods, Starbucks Instant, ground coffee, Starbucks by Nespresso for Vertuo and Starbucks by Nespresso Original Line.

Informative section.

How does Starbucks process their coffee beans?

The method that Starbucks will use to process their coffee beans will depend on the origin of the beans. The most common Starbucks processing methods are; washed, semi-washed and naturally processed. The first step to processing coffee is, however, letting the coffee cherries dry either on the tree or on the ground before the beans are extracted from the cherries by submerging them in water.

How is Starbucks coffee produced?

The first step to producing coffee is roasting the green coffee beans that have been extracted from the coffee cherries. The green coffee beans are placed in a large rotating drum and intensely heated for 5 to 7 minutes to evaporate much of the moisture in the coffee beans. After the 5 to 7 minutes of roasting, the coffee beans turn yellowish with a popcorn-like smell and after the 8^th minute in the roaster, the “first pop” is heard. As the beans are heated, they crackle as they double in size. Depending on the type of roast being prepared, the roasting time and the number of “pops” occurring will vary.

For instance, coffee beans used to make blonde roast coffee are ready after 8 minutes of roasting and after the “first pop” is heard. Coffee beans used to make medium roast coffee are ready a few minutes after the first “pop” and the dark roast coffee beans are ready right after or a few minutes after the second “pop” is heard.

After roasting, they can be packaged as coffee beans or ground coffee. It is this roasting that brings out the coffee aroma, flavours, tastes and acidity we enjoy in every cup.

Where are Starbucks coffee beans processed?

Starbucks coffee beans are processed in three major locations in the US; Jacksonville in Florida, Nashville in Tennessee and Dallas in Texas.

Are Starbucks coffee beans ethical?

According to Starbucks, 99% of the company’s coffee is sourced ethically, making sure coffee farmers who supply them with coffee receive fair wages. Also, Starbucks ensures that the coffee beans they purchase are cultivated and processed with environmentally friendly methods.