How to Order a Healthy Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks (Ways to customize your peppermint Mocha: Healthy alternative to peppermint mocha Starbucks + FAQS)

If you’re on a diet and want to try a healthy alternative to peppermint mocha Starbucks, this post is written for you.

Starbucks offers numerous beverages whose standard versions carry many calories, sugar, fat, cholesterol, and carbs. The Peppermint Mocha is one of those beverages whose original version isn’t considered healthy. Thankfully, Starbucks allows for customizations meaning that you can modify your Peppermint Mocha to be healthy.

Since Starbucks released the Peppermint Mocha, I have always had it in its standard form until recently, when I decided to reduce my calories, fat, and sugar intake. Not willing to give up the mocha, I had to find ways of ordering it healthy. With the help of my barista friend and dietitian and in-depth research, I discovered methods of still enjoying the indulgent Peppermint Mocha but in a healthy state. I have shared all these tips in this article, so keep reading to find out more.

Best ways to order a healthy Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks

The best way to order a healthy Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks is to select non-dairy milk, reduce the additives used, and opt out or reduce the number of toppings used. However, before we get in too deep with these tips, let’s first see what’s in the Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks.

The Peppermint Mocha is prepared with mocha sauce, peppermint syrup, brewed espresso, milk, whipped cream, and dark chocolate curls. The mocha sauce contains cocoa processed with alkali, natural flavors, sugar, and water. The peppermint syrup, the star of this recipe, contains sodium benzoate, sugar, natural flavors, water, and citric acid.

The brewed coffee is pure espresso shots made with water and ground coffee beans. The whipped cream used to top the mocha contains natural flavors, water, sugar, citric acid, mono and diglycerides, cream, and carrageenan. Lastly, the dark chocolate curls added to the mocha have cocoa butter, sugar, chocolate mass, soy lecithin, milk, and vanilla extract.

Choose the smaller sizes

The first tip for ordering a healthy Peppermint Mocha is to select the small sizes. Starbucks Peppermint Mocha is available in four sizes; Short, Tall, Grande, and Venti. The Short has 8fl oz., the Tall has 12fl oz., the Grande has 16fl oz., and the Venti size has 20fl oz. The smaller sizes have fewer calories, sugars, fat, and other nutrients.

The calories in the Short size are 240, 350 in the Tall size, 440 in the Grande, and 540 Venti. The sugar level in the Short size is 28g, 42g in the Tall, 54g in the Grande, and 68g in the Venti. The fat amounts in the Short size are 10g, 13g in the Tall, 16g in the Grande, and 18g in the Venti. These numbers show that smaller mocha sizes are healthier because they contain fewer calories and nutrients.

Select plant-based milk instead of dairy

Another way to order a healthier Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks is to customize the kind of milk used in its preparation. Typically, 2% milk is used, and it contains more calories compared to dairy-free options.

Ask the barista to use plant-based milk like coconut, almond, soy, or oat for a healthy mocha. For this drink, the best option is almond or coconut milk. Avoid whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla, sweet cream, and breve. If you’d love dairy, ask for nonfat milk to be used.

Reduce the amount of peppermint syrup and mocha sauce added to the mocha

The peppermint syrup and mocha sauce added to this drink add more sugar and carbs. Note that a single pump of peppermint syrup has 27 calories and 6.3g of sugar, while one mocha sauce pump contains 25 calories and 5g of sugar.

Reducing the number of pumps by half will slash around 100 calories and 20g of sugar from your Peppermint Mocha. Generally, the short-size Peppermint Mocha uses two pumps of each ingredient; the Tall-size uses three, Grande-size four, and Venti-size five pumps.

Ration the amount of topping used in the mocha

Lastly, reducing the amount of topping used to garnish your Peppermint Mocha will lead to a healthier drink. The toppings used in this mocha are whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. These toppings add more sugar and carbs to the drink, so lowering their amount results in a healthier Peppermint Mocha. You can opt-out of these toppings or simply ask for a “Light” amount.

INFORMATIVE SECTION

How to order a Dairy-Free Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks?

To order a dairy-free Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks, ask the barista to prepare the mocha with either almond, coconut, soy, or oat milk. These are the non-dairy options available in the coffeehouse. Also, avoid whipped cream and dark chocolate curls toppings because they contain milk.

How to order a Vegan Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks?

To order a vegan Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks, simply eliminate the dairy from the mocha by asking for non-dairy milk and no whip and chocolate curls.

How to order a keto Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks?

To order a keto Peppermint Mocha, ask the barista to eliminate whipped cream and reduce the number of mocha sauce and peppermint syrup added to the drink. Additionally, ask for rich and fatty milk like whole milk.

Healthy alternatives to peppermint mocha Starbucks?

Some healthy alternatives to Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks include skinny vanilla latte, caffé misto, blonde flat white, and nonfat cappuccino.

How many calories are in a Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks?

The calories of the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha syrup are between 240 and 540.