This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew is cold brew sweetened with vanilla syrup and topped with a chocolate cold foam that tastes like the last few sips of a chocolate malt. The malted milk powder is doing that, not the cocoa, and it is the one ingredient that separates a real copycat from sweetened cream with cocoa stirred in.
I have been making this version since Starbucks added the drink back in 2022, and the question that shows up in my comments more than any other is why the foam sinks straight down into the coffee instead of sitting on top. The fix is one line long and it is in the tips below. If you already make my vanilla sweet cream cold foam, this is the same four minutes with two extra pantry ingredients.
Quick Look at Starbucks Chocolate cold Foam Cold Brew
- ☕ What it is: Cold brew sweetened with vanilla syrup, topped with malted chocolate cream cold foam.
- ⭐ Why it works: Malted milk powder, not chocolate syrup, is what gives the foam its malt shop flavor.
- 💛 Why you’ll love it: No espresso machine, no blender, no cafe line. One glass and four minutes.
- ⚠️ What to watch for: Foam that sinks. Your heavy cream needs to be 30 percent fat or higher.
- 🎯 How close to the original: Same build Starbucks uses, with cocoa and malt in place of their pre-mixed base.
- ❄️ Make ahead: Cold brew keeps a month in the fridge. Froth the foam right before you pour.
- ⏱️ Ready in: 4 minutes with store-bought cold brew. 12 hours if you brew your own.
Why This Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew Works
Most homemade chocolate cold foam recipes online reach for chocolate syrup or chocolate sauce. That gets you sweet, and it gets you brown, but it does not get you the drink you ordered. Starbucks built this one around malt, and their own beverage team described the flavor as a chocolate malted milkshake or the last bit of melted chocolate ice cream. Malted milk powder is how you get there.
The second thing it does is structural. Malted milk powder thickens the cream slightly as you froth, which is part of why this foam holds its shape on top of the coffee instead of dissolving into it within thirty seconds. Cocoa powder alone will not do that.
This has been one of the most made recipes in my Starbucks copycat recipes collection since the day the drink launched, and after a few years of reader questions I know exactly where it goes wrong and how to fix it.
Table of Contents
- Quick Look at Starbucks Chocolate cold Foam Cold Brew
- Why This Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew Works
- Key Ingredients
- Substitutions and Additions
- How to Make Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew
- Expert Tips
- Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew FAQs
- More Cold Foam and Cold Brew Recipe Favorites
- Chocolate Cold Foam Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat) Recipe
Key Ingredients
- Cold brew coffee. Store-bought is fine. To make your own, steep 4 ounces of coarsely ground coffee in 4 cups of cold water for 12 to 24 hours, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve. It keeps in the fridge for up to a month. If you are starting from a bottle of concentrate instead, here is how to use cold brew concentrate so you are not guessing at the dilution.
- Vanilla syrup. Store-bought Torani or Starbucks syrup both work, and so does plain simple syrup if that is what is open. I keep a bottle of something on the counter at all times, and my coffee syrup recipes are all made the same way if you would rather not buy it.
- Heavy cream and 2 percent milk. This combination is what Starbucks uses, and the ratio matters more than the brand. Check the label on your cream before you buy it.
- Cocoa powder. Use a good one. There are only five ingredients here so it shows.
- Malted milk powder. The whole point. Carnation is the easy one to find, usually near the hot chocolate or the powdered drink mixes.
Substitutions and Additions
- No malted milk powder. Ovaltine works. It already has cocoa and malt in it, so it replaces both, but it is sweetened, so start with less and cut the vanilla syrup back. A reader in Canada asked about this and then came back to say it worked.
- Dairy free. Swap the milk for oat, almond or soy, and the heavy cream for full-fat coconut cream. For the malt note, a small pinch of maca powder gets you surprisingly close. It will not froth as high, so expect a thinner cap.
- Higher protein. Use my protein cold foam base and stir the cocoa and malt into that instead. It froths better than you would think.
- White chocolate version. Skip the cocoa and use a spoonful of white chocolate mocha sauce in the cream instead.
- Less sweet. Pull the vanilla syrup in the glass and leave it only in the foam. The foam is where you taste it anyway.
How to Make Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew
- Combine the heavy cream, milk, vanilla syrup, cocoa powder and malted milk powder in a tall narrow cup.
- Froth with a handheld milk frother until it doubles in volume and holds a soft peak when you lift the frother out. That soft peak is your finish line, not the timer.
- Fill a tall glass with ice, add the cold brew and a little vanilla syrup to taste, and stop about an inch from the rim. I use nugget ice because it chills faster.
- Spoon the foam over the cold brew. Take your picture, then stir it in and drink it. If you have made my brown sugar cold foam before, this pours the same way.
Expert Tips
- Check the fat percentage on your heavy cream. Under 30 percent and the foam will sink no matter how long you froth. This is the single most common reason this recipe fails.
- Everything should be cold. Cream straight from the fridge froths faster and holds longer than cream that has been sitting out.
- Froth to a soft peak, not to a timer. Cream thickness varies by brand.
- Serve it right away. Cold foam is at its best in the first couple of minutes.
Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew FAQs
It is cold heavy cream and milk, flavored and frothed until thick enough to float on an iced drink. Unlike whipped cream it is aerated cold and stays pourable, so it sits on the coffee and then slowly folds into it as you drink.
They use a small high-speed blender behind the counter, closer to a compact Vitamix than a frother, and their base is heavy cream, 2 percent milk and vanilla syrup with chocolate malt powder mixed in. A handheld frother gets you the same texture at home, it just takes about forty seconds longer.
Two ways, and if you want to know how to make chocolate cold foam at home with zero special equipment, either one gets you there. Put everything in a small mason jar, seal it and shake hard for about a minute until it thickens. Or use a French press, which is what most of the no-frother recipes online call for. Pour the mixture in, keep it under halfway up the beaker so the cream has room to expand, and plunge about forty times. The French press gives you smoother foam. It also gives you more dishes, which is why the frother is still my default.
Yes. The Chocolate Cream Cold Brew has been on the permanent menu since May 2022, and chocolate cream cold foam shows up on seasonal drinks too. Worth knowing: Starbucks does not sell a mocha cold brew, which is what a lot of people are actually looking for when they search. If that is you, my cold brew mocha recipe shakes the chocolate into the coffee instead of floating it on top.
You can, but I would not. It holds in an airtight container in the fridge for two or three days and you will need to re-froth it before pouring. Since it takes four minutes, make it fresh. The cold brew is the part worth batching.
More Cold Foam and Cold Brew Recipe Favorites
If you make this Starbucks chocolate cream cold brew, come back and leave a star 🌟rating and a comment. I read every single one, and the fixes in this post came straight out of that comment section. Tag me on Instagram at chahinez_tbt so I can see your glass.
Chocolate Cold Foam Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Cold brew
- 1/2-1 tbsp vanilla syrup to taste, add more if you like it sweet, add less if you don't.
Chocolate cream
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tbsp 2% milk
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp malted milk powder
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla syrup
Instructions
- Combine the heavy cream, milk, vanilla syrup, cocoa powder, and malted milk powder in a cup.2 tbsp heavy cream, 2 tbsp 2% milk, 1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp malted milk powder, 1/2 tbsp vanilla syrup
- Froth using a hand help frother until it doubles in volume.
- Pour your ice in a serving glass, I used nugget ice.
- Top with cold brew and a little vanilla syrup to taste, leaving about 1 inch off the top or enough room to top the old brew with the chocolate cream foam.3/4 cup Cold brew , 1/2-1 tbsp vanilla syrup
- Add in the chocolate cream on top of the cold brew, take a picture of Instagram and enjoy!!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was spot on! Thank you. Do you have a copy cat recipe for the pumpkin cream cold foam cold brew at Starbucks?
You’re welcome and I do have a recipe for that! Just search on my blog “THE BEST STARBUCKS PUMPKIN CREAM COLD BREW” and that’s it! Hope you enjoy it 😊
Can I make this ahead of time in a larger quantity?
Yes!
Would regular milk powder work? I can’t have the malt.
It, unfortunately, wouldn’t give the chocolate cream the same flavor as the Starbucks drink. But you can just omit it in general.
Okay, thanks!
So delicious. Tastes just like Starbucks…the malted milk isdefinitely the key! Thank you for sharing this!!
You’re welcome!
This is a delicious recipe. However, I think that it tastes more like the Starbucks’ recipe by adding more cocoa and less malt. I actually trade the amounts of the two and it tastes much more like the original and is definitely tastier to me.
Oh my yum! I had no idea what malted milk powder was, but it made this cold foam SO GOOD. TYSM for this recipe, can’t wait to share it!
YAY! Glad to hear you loved it!
This sounds pretty good. I know Sbux also uses egg white in their cold foam to keep the foam…foam. i don’t really like that idea so I’m happy to have found your recipe!
Thank you!
Delicious! I’ll be making it again and again.
That’s what I like to hear!
It is exactly like the original! I couldn’t find the regular malt mix, only the chocolate. So I omitted the cocoa and it was perfect! Thank you for the recipe!
You’re so welcome Nicky!
I loved getting this from Starbucks but this recipe is even better! Kind of almost nostalgic with the malted milk!
This is such a great comment! Thank you Savannah!