Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espresso

Espresso, brown sugar syrup and a pinch of cinnamon shaken hard with ice until the coffee foams, then poured into a glass and topped with oat milk. Shaking chills the shot fast and whips air into it, so the drink is lighter and frothier than an iced latte, with the coffee more to the front.

Origin & Story

Where it comes from

This is a home version of the Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso that Starbucks launched in the United States on 2 March 2021. It arrived on the same spring menu that made oat milk a permanent option across its US stores, and the chain had announced in December 2020 that a shaken iced espresso was coming because cold drinks were driving its sales. Starbucks builds it on its Blonde espresso, a lighter roast, with brown sugar syrup, cinnamon, oat milk and ice. It became one of the chain's most talked-about drinks, and "brown sugar shaken espresso" is now searched as a drink in its own right.

The idea underneath is older. Shaking espresso with ice and sugar is how an Italian caffè shakerato is made, and the shaken espresso is that technique with milk added. See our caffè shakerato page for the original.

Why it is shaken

Shaking does two things at once. It chills hot espresso in seconds, which keeps more of its aroma than letting it cool slowly, and it whips air into the coffee so the top of the glass is a light, tan foam. Sugar matters to that foam: it thickens the liquid slightly and helps the bubbles hold, which is why an unsweetened shaken espresso goes flat faster.

Why brown sugar and oat milk

Brown sugar is white sugar with molasses, which brings caramel and a faint bitterness that sits naturally with coffee. Oat milk is the other half of the drink's character. It is lighter than whole milk but has a cereal sweetness of its own, and a "barista" oat milk, made to foam, gives the creamiest result. The cinnamon is a small amount, enough to read as warmth rather than as spice.

The roast

Starbucks uses a lighter roast, and at home a medium or light-medium espresso works best: the shake and the milk flatten the coffee less than you might think, and a very dark roast tastes ashy when chilled this quickly. A double shot in a 12 oz glass is the home equivalent of the café drink, which uses three shots in its grande size.

Making it at home

Make the syrup first: equal weights of dark brown sugar and hot water, stirred until clear, with a pinch of cinnamon. It keeps for two weeks in the fridge. Then pull the espresso straight into a shaker with the syrup and ice, shake hard for 10-15 seconds, pour it into a glass of fresh ice and top with oat milk. Leave it unstirred; it settles into layers and you stir as you drink.

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