Starbucks Iced Caramel Macchiato

4.82 from 22 votes

A Starbucks copycat recipe to make this refreshing and caffeinated iced drink at home.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Servings: serving (16 ounces)

Author: Jee Choe

Put vanilla syrup, milk, then ice into a cup. Top with espresso shots.
Add ingredients into the cup in that order. Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or 2 espresso shots from an espresso machine.
3 tablespoons vanilla syrup, 1 cup 2% milk, 1 cup ice, 2 capsules Nespresso espresso
Add caramel drizzle to the top of the drink.
To add caramel just like Starbucks, drizzle in a crosshatch pattern, layering the caramel drizzle 7 times vertically across the surface of the drink, 7 times horizontally, then 2 circles around the edge of the cup.
1 tablespoon caramel sauce

The drink must be made in a certain order for the drink to be an Iced Caramel Macchiato. Milk and vanilla syrup must be put into the cup first so that they're at the bottom of the cup and then the espresso so that it sits on top. The caramel drizzle is added last, sitting on top of the drink, not stirred in.
To make a 16 ounce (grande) Starbucks drink, you’ll need 2 Nespresso espresso or ristretto capsules. You can also use 1 Vertuo double espresso.
With the Vertuo machine capsules, only use espresso capsules and not the coffee capsules that make 7.77 ounces.
Starbucks uses 2% milk for most of their drinks but you can use any kind you like.
The drink is to be sipped without mixing or stirring. The first few sips will be espresso sweetened with caramel then as the espresso makes its way down the cup, it'll taste like a vanilla latte.
If you don’t have an espresso machine or a Nespresso, you can use instant coffee. Combine 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and ¼ cup hot water to replace the 2 shots of espresso in the recipe.