skinny egg nog latte at Starbucks, please explain?

walleymama
walleymama Posts: 174 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I went to Starbucks this evening with a friend and didn't even bother to consult the nutritional information pamphlet I carry around with me when I decided to order, for the first time ever, a skinny latte. It was an eggnog latte, and I swore I tasted an artificial sweetener in there. It had no whip and, I assume, non-fat milk.

According to the Starbucks website, a "skinny flavoured latte" is about 120 calories. So can someone please explain to me why I'm finding counts of 450 for a grande on this site? Starbucks will only give me a "non fat milk" option on their website, and not a sugar-free syrup option.

Please tell me I did not just drink 450 calories and it was called "skinny"???

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I didn't think the egg nog came in a skinny version. Just non-fat milk, but I don't think they have the sugar free syrup for egg nog...
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    2 cups nonfat milk = 180 calories. A Grande is 16 oz so it can't be less calories than that unless Starbucks is watering down their milk.
    1 oz eggnog flavored syrup = 70 calories.

    The 450 calorie entry was for real egg nog, maybe?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Finally got their website to work: Egg Nog Latte: http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/eggnog-latte?foodZone=9999

    Grande w/nonfat milk = 440 calories.
  • ohthatzhott
    ohthatzhott Posts: 19 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much about it. Starbucks is my weakness to and I love the Soy Chai Latte's which do not come in any sort of "skinny" variety whatsoever! I say go by your count and next time get a tall, it satisfies your taste and you automatically cut down calories. Just an idea.
  • walleymama
    walleymama Posts: 174 Member
    Now that you mention it, I have not been able to find a reference online to a sugar-free eggnog latte. I guess what I got was nonfat and no whip but not sugar free. Damn.

    Geez, thinking you are drinking under 200 calories and finding out it's more than double is a real bummer.

    Curse you, Starbucks with your evil 500-calorie cookies and drinks!
  • bellevie86
    bellevie86 Posts: 301 Member
    My gf said she never realized how much sugar was in there until she got a job there. She then learned that a pumpkin spiced latte has 9 PUMPS OF SYRUP!!!!! Sooooo yeah...maybe the case with that item as well. I totally think there's options of both ends of the spectrum at starbucks and there's healthier options, but do your research cause it can be tricky!
  • bellabananas
    bellabananas Posts: 20 Member
    I have worked for Starbucks so I'm pretty sure I can give you an accurate answer. Egg nog lattes are unlike the rest of Starbucks drinks in the sense that they're made with actual egg nog mixed with milk. Usual lattes are made with milk and syrup. Skinny is misused by many customers, which began with the skinny vanilla latte which contains sugar free syrup and nonfat milk. Skinny does not mean low calorie by any means.
  • jdedzant
    jdedzant Posts: 34
    I've asked Starbucks employees before and since the eggnog flavor isn't from a syrup, there is no "skinny" or sugar free syrup version. Wish there was a way to cut back the calories from 450 (for my "pumpkin spice latte" I do a grande americano with 2 pumps SF vanilla and 2 pumps pumpkin spice and it tastes awesome!) but there isn't :(
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    I always ask for 1/2 pumps. meaning say if they do 8 pumps normally I am only getting 4. Still not ideal, but I rarely get Starbucks anymore. :( sorry they fooled you into thinking it was LESS. Also I am not sure what your Starbucks is like, but mine in MAINE actually put the calories beside the drink with whip cream counted in it.
  • lucyloutoo
    lucyloutoo Posts: 522 Member
    I have a soya gingerbread latte from costa coffee very occasionally....pleasantly surprised to find according to mfp it comes in at less than 150 calories!!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I think the calories on the site probably include it with whipped cream, as their seasonal drinks generally come with whip. I had a gingerbread skinny latte in Costa, and had to ask the barista to take the cream off. The calories came up higher than I'd have expected so I figured they included the cream.
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    So I went to Starbucks this evening with a friend and didn't even bother to consult the nutritional information pamphlet I carry around with me when I decided to order, for the first time ever, a skinny latte. It was an eggnog latte, and I swore I tasted an artificial sweetener in there. It had no whip and, I assume, non-fat milk.

    According to the Starbucks website, a "skinny flavoured latte" is about 120 calories. So can someone please explain to me why I'm finding counts of 450 for a grande on this site? Starbucks will only give me a "non fat milk" option on their website, and not a sugar-free syrup option.

    Please tell me I did not just drink 450 calories and it was called "skinny"???

    Only their smallest size could possibly be only 120 cals and that seems really low
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    So I went to Starbucks this evening with a friend and didn't even bother to consult the nutritional information pamphlet I carry around with me when I decided to order, for the first time ever, a skinny latte. It was an eggnog latte, and I swore I tasted an artificial sweetener in there. It had no whip and, I assume, non-fat milk.

    According to the Starbucks website, a "skinny flavoured latte" is about 120 calories. So can someone please explain to me why I'm finding counts of 450 for a grande on this site? Starbucks will only give me a "non fat milk" option on their website, and not a sugar-free syrup option.

    Please tell me I did not just drink 450 calories and it was called "skinny"???

    Only their smallest size could possibly be only 120 cals and that seems really low

    Skim milk doesn't have that many calories in it, and neither does sugar free syrup.
  • walleymama
    walleymama Posts: 174 Member
    Thank you, bellabananas, that response make sense and is consistent with the information I have found on the 'net.

    What frustrates me is just when I think I've got their system figured out I find something else I didn't know about. Why they can't just tell you flat out how many calories is in a particular drink at the time is beyond me (definitely not what they do here, maybe I should move to Maine, lol), but I guess not many people count their calories the way we MFP-ers do.
  • Sarahnade42x
    Sarahnade42x Posts: 308 Member
    I always make sure to ask them what syrup they're using even if I order the skinny; I noticed that sometimes that means nonfat/no whip and sometimes it means nonfat/no whip/sugar free syrup. If they only have the regular syrup for a flavor you want, you can ask them to only put in one pump (instead of the usual four) and you get almost exactly the same calorie count as if they had used four pumps of the sugar free. Still tastes pretty good too!
  • skyekeeper
    skyekeeper Posts: 286 Member
    Starbucks has told me as well the egg nog latte doesn't come in a "skinny" version.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    sounds awful! all of it. the drink, the calorie conundrum, egg nog in the hands of starbucks employees, gah, make it stop!!
  • Thedreamer1985
    Thedreamer1985 Posts: 18 Member
    From what I understand Starbucks explained they cant make it "Skinny" however, I do brew reg coffee and put in a little bit of soy egg nog, it is like 30 or 40 calories per serving I don't use the full serving and it is pretty tasty! the Skinny is usually made with Non fat milk AND sugar free syrup but they use the Egg nog there isn't a syrup for that
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
    Egg nog syrup doesn't come in a sugar-free variety (dang it!), so they made you a latte with skim milk and a bunch of regular syrup and whipped cream.

    I hate it when you think you're making an okay choice and it totally shocks you and blows your day when you find out how many calories you actually ate. It happened to me once with a bran muffin from Panera.
  • PJ_73
    PJ_73 Posts: 331 Member
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    Might avoid those!
  • lilbearzmom
    lilbearzmom Posts: 600 Member
    I didn't think the egg nog came in a skinny version. Just non-fat milk, but I don't think they have the sugar free syrup for egg nog...

    This. As a Starbucks addict (right this minute I'm sipping a venti skinny caramel macchiato), I don't think the egg nog latte comes in "skinny", i.e., sugar free. If it did, I would be ALL OVER THAT. The only skinny holiday flavor they have is peppermint mocha, and I'm not a big fan.
  • rjdunn87
    rjdunn87 Posts: 385 Member
    It doesn't come in skinny because they use real, Hood brand eggnog. The only way to make it lower in calories would be to ask the barista to use more milk and less nog: usually it's 2/3rds nog. Ask for it half and half or 1/3rd nog and 2/3rds milk: you still get the taste of the nog but less of it.

    Also, there is no drink in which 9 pumps of pumpkin spice would be the recipe standard, to whoever made that comments. An iced venti is the largest size and those get 6 pumps of syrup.

    Yes, I worked at Starbucks for five years.
  • laceyfowler
    laceyfowler Posts: 127 Member
    When I really want one of the holiday special drinks at Starbucks (The PSL has a special place in my heart... I can't help it - it just makes me so happy!) I order the drink with non-fat milk and with 1-2 pumps of the special flavor and then a few pumps of sugar free vanilla syrup. For the PSL, if a Grande I get it with 2 pumps PS and 1 pump SF vanilla because with two and two pumps, it is just wayyy too sweet. From what I understand, the listed calories for the syrups are per pump... so I'm sacrificing 140 calories (70x2) for those two pumps of PS, but it's a lot better than going full-fat and full-sugar!

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