13 Decadent and Nutty Starbucks Secret Menu Drinks to Explore

One of the best parts about Starbucks’ secret menu is finding ways to use the chain’s ingredients in ways you would have never imagined. With all the creative Starbucks secret menu creators out there, I am always discovering new ways to use flavors I have long enjoyed. Take, for instance, nutty flavors like almond, pistachio, and hazelnut. Though toffee nut is no longer part of the syrup lineup, there’s coconut milk, almond milk, hazelnut syrup, and seasonal offerings that include pistachio or macadamia sauce.

With different ingredients paired together, you can achieve some interesting and tasty ways to enjoy these nutty flavors. Some of the secret menu drinks I have compiled are celebrations of these flavors while others have hints of a nutty taste within the drink. This way, you can choose your own adventure and relative nuttiness of your sip. Maybe you will even stumble onto a new favorite.

It may not be the nuttiest flavor of them all, but if you are looking for a way to incorporate coconut milk rather uniquely, consider one of the several Refreshers drinks that offer coconut milk concoctions. To make this a secret menu offering, I like adding chocolate cream cold foam to the top of the Pink Drink. It’ll change the flavor and look of the drink, but it won’t impact the fact that there is coconut milk in the drink itself.

That said, the cold foam will change the overall dairy makeup of the drink. Since the Pink Drink is otherwise dairy free, with its use of coconut milk instead of dairy milk, the cold foam on top adds dairy to the mix. It definitely won’t be an ideal secret menu item for those who need to avoid dairy-based milk. For those customers, ordering a pink drink with dairy-free chocolate cold foam would be a solid option. The consistency won’t be quite as fluffy and cloud-like, but it has the added benefit of not causing a stomach ache. Unfortunately, at least at the time of writing, you couldn’t order a dairy-free chocolate cold foam from the app, but your barista should be able to make this change for you in the cafe when you order at the counter. Please note that if dairy free is your goal, you will definitely want to specify that mocha syrup be added to your cold foam rather than the white chocolate mocha sauce because while mocha is dairy-free, white chocolate mocha is not.

When I worked at Starbucks, my favorite drink to make was a caramel macchiato because I loved how everything looked as it settled in the cup. The way the espresso falls through the milk to mix in with the rest of the drink is deeply satisfying. However, I also know that I was never one to enjoy the taste of a typical caramel macchiato and the separation of flavors, so I’m always on the lookout for secret menu macchiato flavors that result in a tasty and beautiful drink. The Caramel Hazelnut Mocha Macchiato has the special benefit of also having nutty flavors at play. This is the ideal drink for those who enjoy an ultra sweet drink from Starbucks and are always a little displeased with the way the caramel macchiato typically delivers on that promise.

To understand how a macchiato works, you’ll want to know a little bit about the way it is constructed. When you typically order a caramel macchiato, your barista will put vanilla syrup at the bottom of your drink and follow it up with milk and then espresso, marking the top with caramel sauce. The vanilla syrup sort of sits at the bottom of your drink, not really doing much unless you choose to mix it up. For a nutty spin on a caramel macchiato beverage, replace the otherwise boring vanilla syrup with hazelnut and add mocha sauce as one of the drizzled tops to the drink. You could also include mocha sauce in the bottom of the cup with the hazelnut for a Nutella-like macchiato.

You likely know that Starbucks is widely known for its coffee drinks, and the holiday season provides a special opportunity for the chain to really shine. Secret menu drinks don’t stop during seasonal menus, but the best part about this secret menu holiday drink is that it can be enjoyed any time of year because the ingredients are always available. Ferrero Rocher will forever feel like a stocking candy in my house, but nowhere in the rules does it say you can’t treat yourself with an off season Ferrero Rocher, especially in drink form. Plus, this Frappuccino can be made with the coffee or cream base, so even those who might not want a dose of caffeine can enjoy a perfectly sweet and nutty secret menu creation.

You begin by ordering a java chip Frappuccino (for those who want some coffee) or a double chocolate chip Frappuccino (for those who want the cream rendition). Add hazelnut syrup, and you have your mix. You can add as much hazelnut syrup as you wish, but I recommend one or two pumps for a grande, and three for a venti. If you tend to like super nutty drinks, I would recommend going for more pumps. Since hazelnut isn’t a sauce, it won’t impact the texture of your drink, it will only up the sweetness and flavoring aspects.

On the last day of 2021, we lost a national treasure in Betty White. This beloved actress is widely known for her sweet, if rather naive, character from “The Golden Girls,” Rose Nylund. I have such fun memories of watching Betty White alongside her co-stars on the beloved T.V. show. This secret menu drink is all the more special because I tried it for the first time at the Starbucks inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where the Golden Girls’ house was once part of the now-retired Studio Backlot Tour ride.

For the ultimate Golden Girl treat, begin by ordering a white chocolate mocha Frappuccino. Add to that a pump each of hazelnut and vanilla. I recommend going for a grande size to get the right composition, but if you simply must have more drink, you would just add one pump more of each for a venti. The balance might be slightly sweeter, but no true Golden Girl will oppose such a recommendation. To finish it off, I like a crunch topping to suggest a cheesecake crust, and a caramel sauce swirl plays really nicely here as well.

Ready for something super different and a delightfully nutty drink? Order a venti iced black tea, but ask the barista to replace water with coconut milk. Ask them to also add white chocolate mocha and hazelnut syrup and shake it all together to combine. You may want to mention the shaken tea aspect, just so your barista knows that it’s important to you. If you’re feeling extra spicy, a shake of cinnamon right on top is delightful on this one, too.

One of my favorite parts about stumbling upon Starbucks secret menu creations is discovering something I would have never thought to combine, like with Thai iced tea. Normally, I don’t recommend mixing the thick syrups like mocha, white chocolate, and pumpkin with drinks that do not have something hot to melt the sauce, but it works with the Thai iced tea because of the shaken preparation. When everything gets shaken together, it can thoroughly combine into one drink with a smooth sip.

It might be tempting to believe that a Nutella Frappuccino is going to be the same as a Ferrero Rocher Frappuccino. After all, the chocolate hazelnut type filling is essentially the same as Nutella. However, this Frappuccino focuses exclusively on that gooey, nutty, and delicious spread, not so much the chocolatey exterior like the Ferrero Rocher Frappuccino. You’re going to get a much smoother experience with the Nutella Frappuccino, so this is one secret menu drink you won’t want to miss. The best part is that this order is very easy to request and you can do it right from the app, making it even simpler.

To experience a Nutella Frappuccino, start by ordering a mocha Frappuccino in your chosen size. Then, replace ⅓ of the mocha sauce pumps with hazelnut. For instance, if your drink has three total pumps of mocha, remove one of those pumps, and replace it with a hazelnut one. Of course, it’s your drink, so if you would prefer the balance to be more heavily hazelnut, you could go one extra pump to increase the overall flavor, but I have found that the ⅓ amount really gets closest to the actual Nutella flavor. If you choose to keep the whip cream on it, the drink will have a creamier feel, so to keep the chocolate going all the way through, you might wish to request some mocha drizzle so it doesn’t become too creamy with just regular whipped cream.

The TikTok famous Dubai Chocolate Bar has flavors of tahini, pistachio, and khanafeh. In an attempt to replicate it, the Dubai Chocolate Bar matcha latte from Starbucks is a matcha and chocolate spin on the dessert, and with flavors of pistachio, it’s perfectly nutty.

This now viral Starbucks secret menu order has become so popular, there’s a few tweaks you’ll need to make, but with as many people as have been ordering it, your barista may already know about it. It’s best not to count on that, so you still want to know exactly the ingredients to include. First, order an iced grande matcha latte. Request that your barista add two pumps each of pistachio and white chocolate mocha with a topping of chocolate cream cold foam. Although there’s quite a few changes with this one, all options will be available to you on the app, so it’s simple to place your order.

If you are a Starbucks regular, no doubt you’re also a Starbucks Rewards member. The best part about being a rewards member is that you rack up stars for future free drinks. The only trouble is that those handcrafted drinks only come in at 200 stars, which can take some time to earn. However, at 100 stars, you can also earn free drinks, but it’s restricted. One of those free drinks you can cash in at 100 stars is an iced coffee, and with some tweaks, you can make that iced coffee into a toasted, tasty, nutty drink.

To get the most out of your 100 stars, order a trenta iced coffee. Add to that pistachio cream cold foam, eight pumps of pistachio sauce, a splash of vanilla sweet cream, and some salted brown butter topping for a bit of texture. Even though the cold foam alone adds over a dollar in value, the topping and sauce also pile it on. I love these additions for a delightfully nutty way to optimize your drink and make it feel like 200 stars.

Nearly nothing goes better with nutty flavors than chocolate, and this Chocolate Pistachio Latte has absolutely everything you could want. Begin by ordering a venti iced pistachio latte and cut the pumps of pistachio sauce with white chocolate mocha. That should be half pistachio and half white chocolate mocha. Add chocolate cold foam to top it all off.

While most lattes that use a sauce have whipping cream as a topper, Starbucks’ pistachio latte does not, so the cold foam is a brilliant addition here. If you happen to be a fan of oat milk, that’s a great substitution too, but it most certainly won’t keep the drink dairy-free since there will be dairy in the sauces and cold foam.

One of my favorite two ways to upgrade a caramel macchiato is to add cold foam and blonde roast espresso. The blonde roast adds some sweetness and is a little less bitter than regular espresso. It pairs well with pistachio, so the pistachio cold foam is a must here.

This secret menu creation has a few additions, but everything is very easy to add in the app. Begin with a caramel macchiato and swap out your espresso, add that cold foam, and if your local store has some of that brown butter crunchy topping, request some shakes of that on top too for great texture. For a drink that has an even better mixture of flavor, you could also order it upside down. In a typical Starbucks macchiato style drink, the espresso will be the last item added, but if you order it upside down, the espresso will be one of the first to go in. This way, as the items get poured on top, they mix with the espresso. Sure, you won’t get that layered look, but the flavor will be even better.

When I worked at Starbucks, if a group of teenagers walked in, more often than not, I expected a gaggle of Frappuccino orders. I was a barista in the days before secret menus were popular, so those Frappuccino orders were still pretty simple because they ordered off the menu with few customizations. The most popular teen Frappuccino I made was a caramel Frappuccino, and while I’ll admit that this drink is indeed tasty, we can make it into liquid Twix, and thereby, make it better.

Begin by ordering a venti caramel Frappuccino. This will come with a coffee base, caramel syrup, and whipped cream with drizzle. Request two pumps of hazelnut, java chips, and whipped cream all be blended in the drink. Add mocha drizzle to the whipped cream with the caramel. For some more crunch like a real candy bar, the brown butter topping on top of the whipped cream would be ideal. Be aware that this is a very sugary drink, so it will feel more like a dessert than many secret menu options. Looking to up that caffeine intake? I got you: Add blonde roast for a little more bite that will also boost some of that hazelnut flavor. If you’re looking for more hazelnut, add more pumps.

As a kid, I eagerly awaited midnight releases of the “Harry Potter” books and their accompanying movies. My sister and I would spend all afternoon on the couch reading after a book release, and wizard rock was a whole thing in our house. The only thing that could have made these days better? Butterbeer. I wish I knew then that with some adjustments to a Frappuccino, I would have gotten us close.

A Butterbeer Frappuccino is one of the more popular pop culture Starbucks secret menu favorites. To achieve this delicious potion, order a Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, sans the caramel sauce and topping, adding hazelnut and caramel syrup with two to four pumps of each in corresponding range from a tall to a venti. This secret menu creation used to include the toffee nut syrup, but since that syrup is no longer available, hazelnut will work just fine. With menu creations like this, I always like to line the cup with caramel in addition to the topping on top of the whip.

In December 2024, Tasting Table writers crafted some secret menu drinks. My contribution was a Chocolate Covered Hazelnut drink. I created this one chilly Florida evening walking around Disney Springs as a little way to stay warm. It uses everything I love about warm drinks, and while I created it with holiday tunes in the air, it’s available year round and would be just as tasty in December as in March. Fair warning: I made lots of customizations here, so you may want to order over the app to be sure it gets plugged in correctly.

Begin by ordering a white chocolate mocha, and remove half of the pumps of white chocolate mocha to replace them with hazelnut. For milk, choose that the drink be made with vanilla screen cream for extra milky, sweet goodness. Swap out the espresso with blonde roast to ensure that the espresso is sweet enough to play but doesn’t bitter any of the flavors. I kept the whipped cream on top, but if it’s feeling too milky for you, you could always have it removed.