Ever since the birth of Starbucks in 1971, the coffee company’s popularity has skyrocketed.

In 2023 alone, Starbucks amassed a net revenue of $29.46 billion dollars.

Growing along with the company, Iced coffee popularity has significantly increased over the last few years.

The United States iced coffee market alone is valued at a whopping $47.4 Billion.

From Mochas to Frappuccino’s, some of Starbuck’s most popular drinks have made their way into our favorite supermarkets.

These ready to go cold espresso drinks are fantastic if you’re in a rush, but like everything else, they have a limit on how long they stay good for.

Today we’re going to talk about some of the best cold drinks to try from Starbucks and how long you can hang onto them before they go bad.

Are you in a rush? Here’s a quick summary of the important details to save you some time:

Average shelf life of Starbucks bottled coffees: 9 months

Time to drink after opening less than 3 days (if refrigerated)

Made To Order Drinks: 24 Hours

When in doubt: make sure the drink passes a smell, look & taste test before drinking

How Long Is Starbucks Iced Coffee Good For?

It’s crazy to think that Starbucks has been around for almost 50 years now.

Since the 70’s the company has put out some iconic beverages (hello pink drink) and their cold drink line has proved to be a crowd favorite.

TikTok videos and other social media posts have also played a major part in the growth of iced drinks over the years.

Cold foam, a popular fluffy topping that is added to many iced drinks, has become Starbuck’s number one customization.

If you’ve always been a hot coffee drinker like me, you may not know where to start when it comes to trying one of the hundreds iced coffees out there.

Thankfully two great websites, Parade and Tasting Table, have put together a list of their favorite Starbucks drinks, both bottled and freshly made.

Top 5 Bottled Coffees:

  1. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew

  2. Caramel Frappuccino

  3. Espresso and Cream

  4. White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino

  5. Mocha Frappuccino

Top 5 Store-Made Iced Coffees:

  1. Iced Vanilla Latte

  2. Nitro Cold Brew

  3. Caramel Frappuccino

  4. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew

  5. Iced White Chocolate Mocha

Common Ingredients In Starbuck's Iced Coffees

Ever since the birth of Starbucks in 1971, the coffee company’s popularity has skyrocketed.

In 2023 alone, Starbucks amassed a net revenue of $29.46 billion dollars.

Growing along with the company, Iced coffee popularity has significantly increased over the last few years.

The United States iced coffee market alone is valued at a whopping $47.4 Billion.

From Mochas to Frappuccino’s, some of Starbuck’s most popular drinks have made their way into our favorite supermarkets.

These ready to go cold espresso drinks are fantastic if you’re in a rush, but like everything else, they have a limit on how long they stay good for.

Today we’re going to talk about some of the best cold drinks to try from Starbucks and how long you can hang onto them before they go bad.

Are you in a rush? Here’s a quick summary of the important details to save you some time:

How Long Is Starbucks Iced Coffee Good For?

It’s crazy to think that Starbucks has been around for almost 50 years now.

Since the 70’s the company has put out some iconic beverages (hello pink drink) and their cold drink line has proved to be a crowd favorite.

TikTok videos and other social media posts have also played a major part in the growth of iced drinks over the years.

Cold foam, a popular fluffy topping that is added to many iced drinks, has become Starbuck’s number one customization.

If you’ve always been a hot coffee drinker like me, you may not know where to start when it comes to trying one of the hundreds iced coffees out there.

Thankfully two great websites, Parade and Tasting Table, have put together a list of their favorite Starbucks drinks, both bottled and freshly made.

Top 5 Bottled Coffees:

  1. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew

  2. Caramel Frappuccino

  3. Espresso and Cream

  4. White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino

  5. Mocha Frappuccino

Top 5 Store-Made Iced Coffees:

  1. Iced Vanilla Latte

  2. Nitro Cold Brew

  3. Caramel Frappuccino

  4. Vanilla Sweet Cream Nitro Cold Brew

  5. Iced White Chocolate Mocha

Common Ingredients In Starbuck's Iced Coffees

When it comes to buying an iced coffee at Starbucks, the ingredient list is pretty straight forward!

If you’re ordering an iced latte or similar drink, you will have a coffee or espresso base (made of coffee and water), milk, and any classic syrup used in the drink.

If you’re ordering a more traditional iced coffee like an iced americano, your drink will just consist of the espresso or coffee base and ice!

Surprisingly, the bottled drink ingredients were very similar to a freshly made iced coffee.

While I struggled a lot to find an ingredient list for these bottled drinks, I finally came across a mocha Frappuccino on the Walmart online store.

The ingredients for the Mocha Frapp as are follows:

  1. Brewed Starbucks coffee (coffee & water)

  2. Reduced fat milk

  3. Sugar

  4. Cocoa

  5. Pectin (helps flavor release, mouthfeel & viscosity)

  6. Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C, used as an antioxidant)

This short ingredient list is great for a few reasons. Firstly, the drink is not absolutely loaded with preservatives.

 Second, we can see that it’s actually made with real milk, not milk powder, which gives the drink a better taste in my opinion.

Nutrition Tip! Some of these bottled coffees have a higher sugar count than you might expect. A bottled Mocha Frapp contains more sugar than a can of coke! (around 43 grams of sugar) 

Bottled Coffee Shelf Life: The Main Factors That Affects The Shelf Life of Starbucks Coffee

There are a few main factors that will affect the shelf life of pretty much anything, including bottled coffees.

Factor #1: Oxygen exposure

If you’ve ever left a food out unwrapped and it goes stale, you know how oxygen can affect the things we eat and drink.

The color, flavor, nutritional value and overall quality of the item can decline when exposed to oxygen. 

This is why antioxidant ingredients (like ascorbic acid) are added to foods and drinks to help extend their lifetime.

Factor #2: Processing Techniques

How the item is processed plays probably the biggest role in the shelf life as the processing technique is what kills all the harmful bacteria and microbes that may be in the food or drink.

One of the more popular forms of processing that you’ve probably heard of is pasteurization, which so many things we love undergo.

Milk, eggs, juice and alcohol are all drinks that may undergo the pasteurization process.

For those not familiar with the processing technique, pasteurization is a process when the item is heated at extremely high temperatures for a very short period of time.

This intense but short period of heat kills of bad bacteria while keeping the quality of the product the same.

There are two different types of pasteurization that apply to coffee: high heat and ultra-high heat (UHT)

Ultra-high heat (UHT) processing is when “the product is heated between 280° to 300° F for only 2 – 6 seconds to sterilize the liquid.” 

Depending on what type of brewing process was used (brewing with hot vs. cold water), it will need to undergo one or the other.

Coffee that goes through a hot brew process (a.k.a hot water is used) has a low PH and therefor has to go through higher heat or ultra-high heat pasteurization.

Cold brew coffee has a different PH, so while it still needs to go through pasteurization, it doesn’t have to be at super high temperatures.

After this process is completed, you are left with a delicious coffee drink that doesn’t have to be refrigerated until opening and has a much longer shelf life.

Factor #3: Packaging

Packaging is important for one main reason, sun & UV exposure.

Sunlight and UV rays can increase how fast an item degrades, hence why many companies recommend their product is stored in a cool or dry place.

If you purchase an item that comes in clear cups or see-through packaging, it may degrade quicker than one in a darker or opaque packaging.

How Long Will My Starbucks Iced Coffee Last Before Going Bad?

Bottled & Canned Starbucks Coffee:

Now to the important information! As we just discussed, drinks that undergo UHT & pasteurization don’t need to be refrigerated and tend to last a long time.

Certain products, like long life milk. can have an almost indefinite shelf life.

The majority of Starbucks bottled drinks that undergo pasteurization allow them a shelf life of around 9 months in unopened.

If you have your doubts on if the drink is still good, check the printed expiration date on the bottle!

If the drink is past expired, it may be unsafe to drink, and potentially has lost some of its delicious flavor.

Note: This lifespan of around 9 months is drastically cut down once you open the drink.

You immediately introduce bacterial growth as well as oxygen to the drink. Once opened, you have around 3 days to enjoy your drink (if you keep it refrigerated)

Fresh or Made to Order Drinks:

Like any other product that made to order, the lifespan isn’t that long.

Unlike bottled coffees, the drink is immediately exposed to oxygen and heat. This instantly allows more bacteria to start forming in your coffee.

Your best bet for keeping the drink safe from unhealthy amounts of bacteria, is to refrigerate it until you’re ready to enjoy it again.

Overall, the lifetime of these drinks is much more play it by ear.

Depending on the weather and how long you’ve had it at room temperature for, the lifespan of your coffee can change. I personally wouldn’t leave it in the fridge longer than a day.

With fresh drinks, there are a few things to consider as the flavor might change the longer you keep it.

1. Melting Ice

Unfortunately, the ice in your drink is bound to melt eventually.

When this happens, your coffee will become watered down and potentially lose that delicious, iced coffee flavor we all love.

An easy fix for this is making coffee ice cubes at home or holding off on the extra ice.

You can swap out the normal ice for these and instead of being left with a watery coffee, you’ll get an extra coffee burst when they melt.

2. Fridge Storage

Another factor to consider is what you have in your fridge.

If you decide to store your drink in the fridge overnight, it may absorb some of the flavors from other foods nearby.

This may not have a huge impact on the flavor, but trust me, you don’t want to have even a slightly onion flavored coffee.

A great way to avoid any unfortunate flavor transfers is to put the drink into an airtight container for storage. That way you keep can keep the coffee flavors in and onion flavors out!

3. The Brewing Process

When a coffee is made using hot water, or made using an espresso base, you’ll want to enjoy it sooner than later as the flavor may change the more it cools.

When a coffee is cold brewed or made with cold water over a long period of time (12-24 hours) it creates a smoother flavor that is less likely to change over time.

How To Tell If Your Coffee (or drink!) Has Gone Bad

Please don’t make the mistake of drinking an expired coffee… it’s not pleasant and can be dangerous!

Three things to look for if you worried your drink may have gone bad:

  1. The Color and/or Look 

    Your drink should never change color unless you add something to it!

    Especially with drinks containing milk, it may have gone off if the texture, consistency, or color has changed.

    A drink color will typically change if bacteria or mold has been growing, which can lead to food poisoning and other unpleasant symptoms.

    This is easy to see if the drink is a lighter color, but with a black or dark colored coffee, a color change into a darker black color may be a warning sign.

    Lastly, if a coffee, iced or hot, has been sitting for a while, the coffee oils may rise to the surface.

    If you’ve ever seen an almost translucent rainbow color on top of your drink before, this is coffee oils!

  2. The Smell 

    When bacteria and other nasties are growing, the smell of a drink can change.

    A sour smell is almost always an indication that the item is no longer good to drink.

  3. The Taste 

    If the drink passes the color and smell test, you might want to give it a small taste if you’re still skeptical.

    While the taste may change when the ice melts in your drink, it shouldn’t taste sour or too different.

Alternative Uses for Stale or Gone-off Iced Coffee

If you’re hesitant to toss your drink out entirely, there are a few things you can reuse it for!

1. Water your plants

Coffee contains so many nutrients, like Nitrogen, that can be great for plant growth,

Coffee is a pretty acidic drink, and while there are some acid-loving plants out there like Hydrangeas, not all plants will love the highly acidic drink.

It is recommended to dilute the old coffee with a bit of water to ensure you don’t harm your beautiful plants!

2. Add it to your compost!

Again, coffee contains a lot of great nutrients and can help speed up the decomposition process! Adding your leftover coffee to your compost pile is a perfect way to give back to the environment.

Summary: How Long is My Starbucks Iced Coffee Good For?

There are so many factors that can influence how long a drink is good for.

Thankfully, Starbucks has kept it simple with only a few ingredients going into both their store made and bottled cold coffees:

Thanks to using high temperature and ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurization, the bottled coffees are expected to have a shelf life of around 9 months.

Keep in mind, once you decide to open the bottled, the life span drops to around 3 days if you refrigerate it correctly.

Freshly made drinks have a much shorter lifespan, around 24 hours, which is expected as they’re exposed to the elements straight away!

The biggest concerns with freshly made drinks is how the flavor may change if you decide to refrigerate them.

Beyond the ice melting, your drink may absorb some of the other flavors in the fridge if it’s not stored in an airtight container.

You may be left with a nasty onion-y taste in your coffee if they’re close to each other!

Lastly, if you’ve left your drink in the fridge a  bit longer than you wanted, there are three things to look for to see if it’s gone bad are:

1. Any color or Texture Changes

When bacteria and mold grow, it can cause color and texture changes in the drink itself.

If the drink becomes curdled or turned a darker or strange color, it’s probably time to toss it

2. Smell

If the drink in question smells different than normal, such as sour or just “off” its probably a sign that it has spoiled.

Drinks that have been exposed to air naturally lose some of their good smell over time, but a total change in smell is definitely a sign of it going bad.

3. Taste

when in doubt, you can always give it a tiny taste. Use your best judgement here and if you have doubts throw it away!

If you dont want to waste your drink, adding the stale coffee to your composter is a great way to reuse the leftover iced coffee! 🙂