Usually the work of flavored syrups, Starbucks has no shortage of sweet, caffeinated treats to choose from. If you are looking to keep added sugar to a minimum, however, Grasso suggested asking for fewer syrup pumps in your drink of choice. “For example, a standard Grande White Chocolate Mocha typically contains four pumps of syrup, totaling about 20 grams of sugar,” she told us. “By reducing this to two pumps, you could decrease the sugar content by approximately 10 grams, which is huge!” In addition to decreasing the amount of added sugar, if your nutritional goals include weight management, cutting the number of syrup pumps in half also lowers the number of calories in the drink, Grasso added.
What’s great is that customers can easily play around with this formula, depending on what kind of coffee drink they order, the type of milk added, or whether they want any toppings. While some may prefer to forgo the caramel and chocolate sauce altogether, Grasso shared that she’s a fan of whipped cream. To minimize the added sugar and saturated fat content of her White Chocolate Mocha, Grasso explained that she’ll order whipped cream, but will ask for only two pumps of flavored syrup and sub in non-fat milk instead.