This Thursday, 21 April the first Starbucks in South Africa will be opening its doors. The first store is located on the corner of Tyrwhitt and Cradock Avenues in Rosebank, with a second to be opened in the Mall of Africa, 25km north of downtown Johannesburg at the end April.
While the menu may not be as extensive as what you can find if you walk into Starbucks overseas (yet), it features the most popular and loved Starbucks beverages.
We’ve made the process of selecting your beverages a little easier by studying their menu and putting together your healthiest option at Starbucks. We also discovered a few ways to make your choice healthier for those times when you want something deliciously decadent, but want to cut the bad stuff.
The Healthiest Options at Starbucks
The table below ranks Starbucks drinks available at Starbucks South Africa from healthiest to unhealthiest based on calorie content. We’ve also included the sugar and fat contents of each drink for those of you watching your intake. Not surprisingly, the drinks with the highest calorie count also happen to contain the most sugar, carbs and fat.
So what should you choose?
A classic brewed coffee, espresso, americano or any one of their teas won’t hurt your calorie count as long as you don’t add sugar. (Or too much of it). There are also options which come under 100 calories and aren’t laden with sugar.
What should you stay away from?
The biggest no no on the menu has to be the Java Chip Frapuccino Blended Beverage. Despite not being the highest calorie count on the menu (short of only 20 calories). At a whopping 340 calories, it is shockingly higher than the calorie consumed in a healthy meal. (These lentil butternut burgers come in at only 212 calories sans toppings!) With 51 grams of carbs and 47 grams of sugar, this drink will do damage your daily RDA’s.
How to choose what you want the healthier way
The easiest way to cut down on calories is to ask for a skim or low-fat milk, remove whipped cream from Frappuccino’s or order the smallest size.
*Nutritional values are based on whole milk and a Tall sized cup. Nutritional information courtesy of Starbucks
main image: Starbucks
