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A cold brew mocha is chocolate and coffee with nothing hot anywhere in it, (I’m talking about you hot brewed coffee!) Now chocolate syrup will not dissolve into cold liquid by stirring. You end up with a dark ribbon sitting on the bottom of the glass and a drink that tastes like watery coffee until the very last mouthful.
The fix is that you shake it. Cold brew and syrup go into a mason jar with the lid on, ten seconds of shaking, and the chocolate is fully dissolved before a single ice cube goes near it. This is also a coffee-forward drink, more coffee than milk, which is what separates it from my espresso-based iced mocha latte.
Quick Look at This Cold Brew Mocha
- ☕ What it is: Cold brew, chocolate syrup, and a splash of milk, shaken and poured over ice.
- ⭐ Why it works: Shaking dissolves the syrup into cold coffee. Stirring doesn’t do it as well!
- 💛 Why you’ll love it: No espresso machine, no frother, no heating anything. One jar and ten seconds.
- ⚠️ What to watch for: Weak cold brew is the number one problem. If it tastes thin, the coffee was thin.
- ❄️ Make ahead: Shake the coffee and chocolate ahead and keep it in the fridge for 2 days. Add milk and ice to serve.
Why This Recipe Works
Cold brew is brewed slowly in cold water, so it comes out smoother and less acidic than hot coffee. That is what makes it worth using here. There is no bitterness fighting the chocolate, so a cold brew mocha lets you taste both.
The tradeoff is temperature. In a mocha latte you have hot espresso doing the work of melting the chocolate for you. Here you have nothing warm at all, which is why the shake step is not optional. Ten seconds in a sealed jar does what two minutes of stirring cannot. If you do not have cold brew going, here is how to make an iced mocha at home without espresso using strongly brewed coffee you have chilled.
The ratio is the other thing worth knowing. This is half a cup of cold brew to a third of a cup of milk, which is deliberately coffee-heavy. A mocha cold brew should taste like coffee with chocolate in it, not like chocolate milk with a splash of coffee.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
A cold brew mocha needs four things. Scroll to the recipe card for exact measurements.
- Cold brew. I use ready to drink cold brew, not concentrate. If you do use concentrated cold brew, make sure you dilute it before using.
- Chocolate syrup. Two to three tablespoons. Store-bought works, and so does my homemade Starbucks mocha sauce if you want something richer.
- Milk. A third of a cup. Whole milk or half and half.
- Ice. Enough to fill the glass. Whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle on top are optional.
Substitutions and Add-Ins
The cold brew mocha is flexible everywhere except the shake step.
- Cold brew concentrate. You can absolutely use it, just dilute it to drinking strength first according to your bottle, then measure out your half cup. Concentrates vary a lot brand to brand, so follow the bottle rather than a number from me. My full guide on how to use cold brew concentrate walks through the ratios if you are new to it.
- Milk choices. Whole milk and half and half are what I reach for. A reader made this with almond milk and told me it came out thin, and I agree with her. Almond does not have the fat to stand up to this much coffee. Oat or soy milk is the dairy free one that actually works.
- White chocolate. Swap the chocolate syrup for homemade white chocolate mocha sauce.
- Decaf. Works exactly the same. Buy decaf cold brew or brew your own.
- Other flavors. Any of my homemade coffee syrup recipes can go in alongside the chocolate. If you want the cold foam treatment instead, try my salted caramel cold foam cold brew or vanilla sweet cream cold brew.
- Sweetness. Two tablespoons of syrup is on the restrained side. Go to three if you want it closer to a coffee shop drink.
- Shaking the chocolate into the coffee is one approach. If you would rather have it float on top the way the cafe does it, make the Starbucks chocolate cream cold brew with chocolate cold foam instead.
How to Make This Cold Brew Mocha
- Add the cold brew and the chocolate syrup to a mason jar or cocktail shaker. Seal the lid and shake for about ten seconds, until there is no syrup left sitting at the bottom. A handheld milk frother works too if you would rather not shake.
- Fill a glass with ice, pour the chocolate coffee over it, then add the milk. Finish with whipped cream and an extra drizzle if you are in that kind of mood.
Expert Tips
A few things I have learned making this cold brew mocha over and over.
- Shake before the ice goes in, never after. Ice takes up the room the liquid needs to move.
- Use the strongest cold brew you can get. Almost every complaint about a watery drink traces back to weak coffee, not to the recipe.
- Freeze leftover cold brew into ice cubes and use those instead of regular ice. Nothing waters down.
Cold Brew Mocha FAQs
No. A mocha latte is built on espresso and is mostly milk. A cold brew mocha is built on cold brewed coffee and is mostly coffee, with just a splash of milk. Same flavor family, very different drinks, and the cold brew mocha is the stronger of the two.
Yes, but dilute it first. Concentrate is several times stronger than what I use here, and pouring it straight in gives you a drink that is far too intense. Follow the dilution ratio on your bottle, then measure your half cup from that.
Not quite, and the names trip people up. Starbucks does not sell a mocha cold brew at all. Their version is the Chocolate Cream Cold Brew with chocolate cold foam. Chick-fil-A does sell one, and their Mocha Cream Cold Brew Chick Fil A copycat is creamier and sweeter than mine. I have both if that is the one you are chasing.
Roughly 75 to 100mg per serving with regular caffeinated cold brew, which is about the same as a standard cup of coffee.
Yes. Use a dairy free chocolate syrup and swap the milk for oat milk. Oat and soy milk both have enough body to hold up where almond and coconut go thin.
More Coffee Recipe Favorites
If you make this cold brew mocha, come back and leave a star rating 🌟 . It helps other people find it, and I read every one.
Easy Cold Brew Mocha
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold brew
- 2-3 tbsp chocolate syrup homemade or store-bought
- 1/3 cup milk
- ice
- whipped cream optional
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker or mason jar combine the cold brew coffee and the chocolate syrup. Close the lid tightly and shake to combine.1/2 cup cold brew, 2-3 tbsp chocolate syrup
- Pour in a glass full of ice, top it off with the milk, some whipped cream if you'd like and enjoy!1/3 cup milk, ice, whipped cream
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Pretty solid! I doubled it and made the recipe using your mocha sauce recipe. Only advice I have is make sure you are using a strong cold brew! Next time I make this, I plan on using a stronger brew & perhaps omitting the almond milk and replacing it with a splash of cream.
Thank you so much for giving it a try! Yes milk or half and half are best. The almond milk isn’t creamy enough in my opinion and if you can have dairy then it is definitely worth it!