Starbucks Black Tea Drinks: Everything You Need to Know

Starbucks Black Tea: Quick Facts

• All Starbucks black tea drinks (hot and iced) contain caffeine. (There is no decaf black tea available at Starbucks.)
• The Starbucks menu has 3 types of black Teavana tea bags available for brewed hot tea.
• Starbucks also has 3 black tea lattes on the menu (2 made from tea bags and 1 made from chai concentrate).
• Starbucks hot and iced chai tea lattes are made from pre-mixed, pre-sweetened chai black tea concentrate.
• It’s not possible to get a sugar-free Starbucks chai latte.
• All Starbucks iced black tea is brewed fresh daily using extra large tea bags.
• Starbucks iced black tea is a blend of black teas.
• All Starbucks hot and iced black tea drinks come unsweetened except for chai tea lattes.
• If you like Sweet Tea, ask for liquid cane sugar to be added to an iced black tea (there is no add-on charge).
• Starbucks does not have fresh lemon wedges. If you like lemon in your iced tea, ask for a splash of lemonade or order an iced black tea lemonade drink.
• For on-the-go, Starbucks sells several flavors of Teavana bottled teas including Mango Black Tea.

Starbucks Black Tea Drinks on the Menu

• Iced Black Tea
• Iced Black Tea Lemonade
• Iced Guava Black Tea
• Iced Guava Black Tea Lemonade
• Iced Chai Tea Latte
• Iced London Fog Tea Latte
• Iced Royal English Breakfast Tea Latte
• Organic Chai Tea (hot)
• Earl Grey Tea (hot)
• Royal English Breakfast Tea (hot)
• Chai Tea Latte (hot)
• London Fog Tea Latte (hot)
• Royal English Breakfast Tea Latte (hot)
• Teavana Mango Black Tea (bottled)

Iced Black Tea at Starbucks

{Starbucks iced tea drinks are offered in four sizes: tall, grande, venti and trenta.}

Every day, Starbucks baristas brew three flavors of iced tea base: black, green and Passion Tango (herbal).

The baristas make large batches of iced tea concentrate by steeping industrial-size tea bags in hot, filtered water. If you’re wondering specifically which Teavana black tea blend Starbucks uses for iced black tea, the label simply says, “blend of black teas.”

Then, to make a cup of iced black tea, the barista shakes together black tea concentrate, cold water and ice.

Additionally, customers can order a black iced tea lemonade or combine the black tea with juice. I’ve got to say, Iced Guava Black Tea is one of my favorite Starbucks summer drinks.

On a side note, I’ve often seen people say that Starbucks “waters down” their iced tea drinks, as if they’re being ripped off. In fact, Starbucks does add water to the iced tea, but it’s because the ice tea is concentrated.

For tips on how to customize Starbucks iced tea drinks, be sure and visit, Best Iced Tea at Starbucks: A Barista’s Guide.

Hot Brewed Black Tea

{Starbucks hot tea is available in four sizes: short, tall, grande and venti.}

All hot teas at Starbucks are made with Teavana tea bags. You can select from seven flavors of tea bags, three of which are black tea blends.

1. Organic Chai
2. Earl Grey
3. Royal English Breakfast

Keep in mind, short and tall size hot teas come with one tea bag, and grande and venti come with two.

Also, when the barista hands you your hot tea, the tea bags are still in it. This means, it’s up to you to remove them when the tea has steeped long enough (about 3-5 minutes).

If you love hot tea, be sure and check out my other guides:

• A Barista’s Guide to Starbucks Hot Tea Menu
• 10 Starbucks Hot Tea Secrets You Should Know

Starbucks Black Tea Lattes

{Starbucks hot tea lattes are available in four sizes: short, tall, grande and venti. Iced tea lattes come in three sizes: tall, grande and venti.}

Starbucks has three flavors of black tea lattes on the menu. Each latte is available hot or iced.

1. Chai Tea Latte (Chai black tea concentrate + milk)
2. London Fog Tea Latte (Earl Grey tea bags + vanilla syrup + milk)
3. Royal English Breakfast Tea Latte (Royal English Breakfast tea bags + liquid cane sugar + milk)

As you can see from this list, all Starbucks tea lattes are a delicious combination of concentrated tea, milk and syrup. Of course, hot lattes get steamed milk and a touch of foam, while iced lattes are mixed with cold milk and ice.

As a matter of fact, one of Starbucks most popular teas is the Iced Chai Tea Latte. And Starbucks customers love the hot Chai Tea Latte almost as much.

Just so you know, however, Starbucks chai concentrate is pre-packaged and contains sugar. This means, it’s not possible to get an unsweetened chai latte at Starbucks.

Although, if you want to order a reduced sugar chai latte, ask the barista to make it with Organic Chai tea bags and not from chai concentrate.

Chai lovers may want to check out this Starbucks Chai Drink Guide for more tips, tricks and information.

Teavana Bottled Black Tea

{Teavana bottled teas contain14.5 fl oz.}

Starbucks sells several bottled Teavana teas in their stores, located in the grab-n-go refrigerator next to bottled water.

Most Starbucks locations sell three flavors and one of them is black tea-based: Teavana Mango Black Tea.

Each bottle of Teavana Mango Black is100 calories and contains black tea, cane sugar, natural flavors and citric acid.

Caffeine in Starbucks Black Tea

Starbucks does not have decaf black tea, so all their black tea drinks are caffeinated.

If you’re wondering exactly how much caffeine is in black tea, it depends on the size drink you order.

Additionally, since small and tall size hot teas come with one tea bag and grande and venti come with two, the amount of caffeine is the same in a small and tall, and grande and venti.

Here’s a look at how much caffeine is in Starbucks grande (16 oz) black teas.

More Starbucks Caffeine & Nutrition Guides

• Every Starbucks Drink Without Caffeine
• Quick Guide to Starbucks Caffeine-free Tea Drinks
• 21 Sugar-Free Starbucks Drinks

Questions You May Have