This iced mocha latte is a Starbucks copycat and takes only five minutes and five ingredients to make at home. You can use store-bought chocolate sauce or the easy homemade recipe in this post. You can make the latte traditionally with dairy milk or plant-based milk for a vegan version, and it’s also naturally gluten-free.
Whether you’re starting your day with a refreshing sip or seeking a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, this indulgent beverage is sure to satisfy your coffee cravings and sweet tooth alike.
Ingredients
All you need to make this iced mocha is two shots of espresso, ice, some good chocolate sauce, milk of choice, and if you’re feeling indulgent, some whipped cream with a chocolate drizzle to top it off.
How to make it
It really couldn’t be any easier. 🙂
Chocolate sauce options
I find that this drink tastes the most similar to Starbucks when using Torani Dark Chocolate Sauce.
Torani is Non-GMO Project Verified and labeled as gluten-free.
The ingredients are:
Sugar, water, invert sugar, breakfast cocoa (processed with alkali), cocoa (processed with alkali), less than 1% of chocolate liquor, citric acid, natural flavor, salt.
Pretty decent for a processed food, I think! I only found 4-packs on Amazon, so if that’s too much for you, I came up with a recipe that’s something of a Torani copycat. And you can’t tell any difference between the Torani and homemade versions in this latte.
It’s WAY cheaper, and you can control the amount you make, so you won’t end up with loads of chocolate sauce if you don’t want loads of chocolate sauce.
It yields 370 grams or 1 cup + 3 tablespoons. This will vary a bit depending on how thick you make it. Mine was pretty thick.
All you do is combine everything in a small pot and simmer for a few minutes until it’s almost thick enough for your liking. I say almost because it thickens more once chilled.
It’s so easy that you can just make a half or even a fourth of the batch if you don’t think you’ll use it up within a few weeks.
Or make the whole batch and freeze it in a little silicone freezer tray (like for baby food) or a silicone ice cube tray for smaller portions.
The result is pretty dark chocolaty. If you don’t want it very dark, you can reduce the cocoa powder by a bit.
Unfortunately, I haven’t experimented with natural sweeteners yet. Once I do, I’ll update this post.
If you can’t find Torani or don’t want to make your own sauce, I recommend using Ghirardelli Chocolate Sauce.
Unfortunately, using a classic chocolate sauce (like Hershey’s) won’t have the same robust cocoa flavor.
No espresso machine?
If you have a Nespresso or an espresso machine, I recommend using Starbucks Classic Espresso Roast, which is available in most grocery stores. If you don’t, you can use very, very strong black coffee.
And should you not have a machine, read this post on How to Make Espresso without a Machine. The post lists several things you can use instead of a proper espresso machine.
Gluten-free and vegan
Torani Dark Chocolate Sauce is labeled as gluten-free, but it’s not vegan.
I found a 2014 Tweet from Torani saying, “All of our regular (not sugar-free) syrups are made w/ pure cane sugar. The sugar is filtered through bone char.” Someone asked if that was still current in 2021, and they said, “The vegan syrups we offer are the sugar free syrups except those containing dairy allergens or those with Kosher Dairy status.”
Ghirardelli Chocolate Sauce isn’t labeled as gluten-free, and I couldn’t find any info about it being vegan or not.
If you’re a strict vegan and not cool with bone char, I recommend just making the chocolate sauce recipe listed in the recipe box below. Certified USDA organic sugar isn’t allowed to be filtered through bone char, so then the sauce is sure to be vegan (unless you do something silly like using .
More iced espresso drinks
That’s it! I hope you’ll enjoy this iced mocha latte. If you make it, please let me know in the comments. Thanks. 🙂
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- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 1
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (77 grams) cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup (177 ml) water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons chocolate sauce, plus more to drizzle (use the homemade recipe above for vegan)
- 2 shots (1/4 cup / 60 ml) espresso, warm or room temp
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) ice
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) whipped cream for garnish
If you want homemade chocolate syrup:
For the latte:
Directions
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder.
- Add the remaining ingredients, turn the heat to medium, and bring to a simmer while stirring constantly.
- Turn the heat to the lowest setting to keep it at a simmer (for me, that was 1 out of 9), and simmer for 2-7 minutes or, while stirring frequently, until it’s almost thickened enough for your liking, keeping in mind that it’ll thicken more as it cools and even more once it’s chilled.
- Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
- Add 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup and espresso to a tall glass and stir to combine. Taste and add more chocolate syrup, if desired.
- Next, add the ice and top with milk.
- Give it a quick stir, and then top with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle. Enjoy immediately.
If making homemade syrup:
For the latte:
Notes
- I used Dutch-process cocoa powder and highly recommend that to get the most chocolaty chocolate syrup.
- If you’re gluten-free, make sure your chocolate sauce is gluten-free. Torani is labeled as gluten-free, but Ghirardelli is not. There aren’t any gluten-containing ingredients in it; it just hasn’t been officially tested, which is required to be able to label a product as gluten-free. Those are the two brands I recommend for this latte. If you can’t find or have them, I really recommend the homemade recipe.
- If making the homemade sauce, it yields 370 grams or 1 cup + 3 tablespoons. This will vary a bit depending on how thick you make it (mine was pretty thick). It takes about 10 minutes to put together and cook.
