What Kind of Oat Milk Does Starbucks Use?

One thing you know when you walk through the doors of a Starbucks is that you’ll have plenty of options on the menu to customize your order however your heart desires, and that includes types of milk. If you’re vegan, dairy-free, or just prefer an alternative to cow’s milk, oat milk is one of the four plant-based milks that Starbucks currently offers.

But if you’re an oat milk fan, you might be wondering what kind of oat milk Starbucks steams, foams, and splashes into their many specialty coffee drinks. At most stores across the US, you’ll find Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk behind the counter.

We’re diving into everything we know about this specific brand of oat milk so you can decide if you want to opt for this creamy milk alternative in your next cup of Starbucks coffee, whether it’s a gingerbread latte or a toasted vanilla oat espresso.

What is oat milk?

Before we get to anything else…what exactly is oat milk, and how is it made? Oat milk is a popular non-dairy, plant-based milk which is essentially the creamy pulp that’s extracted when you blend whole rolled oats in water and strain the liquid. Oat milk is naturally a bit sweet in flavor, and it’s more similar in consistency to typical dairy milk than most other plant-based options.

Oat milk tends to be higher in carbohydrates and calories than other milks like soy, coconut, or almond milk, but it’s also a good source of fiber and it’s a heart healthy choice. Oat milk is naturally rich in certain nutrients, but especially so if it’s fortified with vitamins and minerals like calcium and B vitamins (which most store-bought products are).

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Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk, which is the specific brand and product that Starbucks carries, is crafted for use in coffee drinks. It foams well, and makes an excellent addition to coffee drinks thanks to its creamy texture.

Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk: ingredients and nutrition

Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk is certified vegan and gluten free, non-GMO, glyphosate-free, and kosher-pareve. It’s also dairy, nut, and soy free. This is a premium product crafted by Oatly that’s intended to foam well and resist separating so that it performs well for coffee-drink-crafters. It’s made with the following ingredients:

• Oat Base (Water, Oats)
• Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil
• Dipotassium Phosphate
• Calcium Carbonate
• Tricalcium Phosphate
• Sea Salt
• Dicalcium Phosphate
• Riboflavin
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin D2
• Vitamin B12

While the base is simply oats and water, Oatly does include a few other ingredients, like rapeseed oil and an additive called dipotassium phosphate, which prevents the milk from separating when heated, steamed, or foamed and added to hot drinks. This product is also enriched with several vitamins and minerals like calcium and vitamins A, B, and D to enhance its overall nutritional value.

Speaking of nutrition – what exactly are you consuming in a serving of Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk? Here’s the nutritional breakdown in an 8-ounce cup of the milk:

• Calories: 140
• Fat: 7g
• Carbs: 16g
• Sugars: 7g
• Protein: 1g

Oat milk is the highest in calories out of the plant-based milk options at Starbucks, and comparable to soy milk as far as carbohydrates. Of the 7 grams of fat, .5 grams are saturated, and it also contains soluble fiber. Because Oatly fortifies this product, one serving provides a handful of substantial nutrients: 20% or more of the daily value of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and D, and a whopping 50% of the daily value of Vitamin B12.

Is Starbucks oat milk sweetened or unsweetened?

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This is a tricky question, because the answer is yes and no. You may notice that a serving of Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk contains 7 grams of sugar, yet there are no sugars or sweeteners listed in the ingredients. That’s because this sugar is a byproduct of the production process – it’s produced when the enzymes used to liquefy the oats break down some of the starches into simple sugars.

So while the sugars in the oat milk technically qualify as added sugar, you can think of them as more similar to the natural sugars found in cow’s milk. At the end of the day, you can consider this an unsweetened milk, but know that you will be still be consuming sugar (and per the FDA, added sugar) in each serving.

Starbucks drinks that use oat milk

You can substitute oat milk in pretty much any drink you dream up at Starbucks, but this is actually already a popular ingredient in many of their specially crafted items – whether seasonal drinks with limited availability or more regular stars on the menu.

If you’re craving an oat milk crafted coffee drink at Starbucks, here are some of your options on the current menu:

• Oleato Caffé Latte with Oatmilk
• Oleato Iced Shaken Espresso with Oatmilk and Toffeenut
• Iced Toasted Vanilla Oatmilk Shaken Espresso
• Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso
• Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso [Seasonal / Limited Availability]
• Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato [Hot or Iced] [Seasonal / Limited Availability]
• Apple Crisp Oatmilk Frappuccino [Seasonal / Limited Availability]
• Apple Crisp Oatmilk Crème Frappuccino [Seasonal / Limited Availability]
• Honey Oatmilk Latte [Seasonal / Limited Availability]

Recap: Starbucks oat milk

We’ve summed everything up below in a handy chart so you can have a bird’s eye view of everything there is to know about Oatly Barista Edition Oatmilk.

Starbucks Almond Milk BrandBrand ClaimsIngredients ListNutritional FactsSweetened?

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