Starbucks shaken espresso drink with brown sugar and oat milk is easy to make at home. I’ve taken the exact recipe and recreated it!

Recipe Highlights
- Starbucks Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso is a popular drink that’s easy to recreate at home using a Nespresso or espresso machine.
- Blonde espresso is shaken with brown sugar syrup (homemade or store-bought), ground cinnamon, and ice. It’s all topped off with some oat milk.
- This copycat beverage closely follows the exact recipe Starbucks uses to make this drink.
- Blonde espresso is a lightly roasted coffee that’s smoother and less intense than the signature dark roast espresso. Blonde espresso contains more caffeine.
RELATED: Starbucks Iced Shaken Espresso Copycat
Ingredient Notes

- Blonde espresso
Make blonde espresso using light roast coffee.
Nespresso Original: Starbucks Blonde Espresso
Nespresso Vertuo: Starbucks Blonde Espresso
Ground coffee: Starbucks Blonde Roast
Instant coffee: Starbucks Via Instant Coffee Blonde Roast - Brown sugar syrup
Use store-bought or homemade brown sugar syrup. - Oat milk
Starbucks uses Oatly oat milk and that’s what I used in the drink. I find Oatly to be creamier and tastier than other oat milks. - Ground cinnamon
A little cinnamon is added to the drink to give it a little mild spice flavor. - Ice
If possible, make ice using filtered water for a better tasting ice.
Step-by-Step Instructions

For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.
- Put brown sugar syrup, blonde espresso, cinnamon, and ice into a cocktail shaker. Shake.
Use 3 Nespresso blonde espresso pods or pull 3 shots from an espresso machine. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, use a jar with a tight lid. - Pour drink into a cup.
- Add oat milk.
Top off with more ice if needed.
Using a Nespresso
Espresso is easy to make at home using a Nespresso machine.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
There are 3 shots of blonde espresso in this grande size drink, so you’ll need 3 Nespresso Starbucks blonde espresso capsules.
Starbucks and Nespresso partnered on the Starbucks capsules so you won’t void the warranty by using them, unlike other 3rd party capsules.
You can also use any Nespresso light roast espresso capsules.
Photo Credit: amazon.com
Expert Tips
- If you don’t have a way to make espresso, you can use blonde roast instant coffee. Combine 1 ½ tablespoons of instant coffee and ⅓ cup hot water to replace the 3 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- To customize, substitute the brown sugar syrup with another syrup like cinnamon syrup (take out the ground cinnamon in the recipe) or vanilla syrup (take out the vanilla extract in the recipe).
- For an extra hint of spice, add a pinch of nutmeg.
- Starbucks makes theirs with a splash of oat milk (about ¼ cup) but feel free to add a little more to your liking.
- Instead of oat milk, top off your drink with cold foam! It’s super easy to make at home.
Questions You May Have
If you don’t have blonde espresso, use your regular espresso roast. The Starbucks Iced Shaken Espresso drink is made with their signature espresso, not blonde espresso. (Blonde espresso has more caffeine.)
It’s made with 4 pumps of brown sugar syrup.
Any airtight container will work to shake the drink ingredients together. A jar with a tight lid or a wide-mouth water bottle.

Related
- Simple Homemade Syrups for Coffee and Tea
- How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
- How to Make Cold Foam
- 47 Best Starbucks Drinks
- Every Starbucks Drink Ranked by Caffeine Content
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Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso
INGREDIENTS
- 3 shots of blonde espresso (3 Nespresso blonde espresso capsules)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup ice + more if needed
- ¼ cup oat milk + more to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put brown sugar syrup, blonde espresso, cinnamon, and ice into a cocktail shaker. Shake 10 times.Use 3 Nespresso blonde espresso pods or pull 3 shots from an espresso machine. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, use a jar with a tight lid.
- Pour drink, including ice, into a cup.
- Add oat milk.Top off with more ice if needed.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- If you don’t have a way to make blonde espresso, you can use blonde roast instant coffee. Combine 1 ½ tablespoons of instant coffee and ⅓ cup hot water to replace the 3 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- To customize, substitute the brown sugar syrup with another syrup like cinnamon syrup (take out the ground cinnamon in the recipe) or vanilla syrup (take out the vanilla extract in the recipe).
- For an extra hint of spice, add a pinch of nutmeg.
- Starbucks makes theirs with a splash of oat milk (about ¼ cup) but feel free to add a little more to your liking.
- Instead of oat milk, top off your drink with cold foam! It’s super easy to make at home.
Using A Nespresso Machine
- 1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
- To make a 16 ounce (grande) Starbucks drink, you’ll need 3 Nespresso espresso or ristretto capsules.
- With the Vertuo machine capsules, only use espresso capsules and not the coffee capsules that make 7.77 ounces.
- Recommended Nespresso capsules to make Starbucks drinks at home:
Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast
Nespresso Vertuo capsules
Nespresso Original capsules