Your friendly neighborhood barista, coffee suggestions

Hello MFP world! You know what the internet is good for? Shouting unsolicited advice into the void! So here I am, your friendly, neighborhood spiderman barista, with a complied list of lower kcal alternatives you can order next time you're craving caffeine!

Drinking too many calories has also been a struggle for me, and as someone who loves sweets AND coffee, I can far too easily end up ingesting an entire meals worth of kcals into one frothy, delicious, decadent, cup of amazingness that I will regret far longer than I enjoyed it.

The shortest and easiest answer would of course be - drink black coffee. It has little to no calories and you're all set. But I think that when talking to a breve white mocha drinker, that advice is more or less useless, because it's such a far cry from what they enjoy. I'm here to advocate middle ground!

(For consistency sake I'm going to base kcals off of a grande, Starbucks drinks as they are fairly universally accessible and common, local shops, like where I work, will have slight variations, different sizes, ect. but this will hopefully give you some rough ideas. Also, these will be based of WHOLE MILK use, unless otherwise specified)

If you like to drink: Mochas! (330 kcal)

Consider Instead:
1) Ask your barista what flavor syrups they have at the bar, it's not uncommon for places to carry chocolate flavored syrup. If they do, order a chocolate latte, it should ring in around 250 kcal! If you order it with skim milk, BAM!, you're hovering right around the 200 kcal mark!
2) If an iced mocha is your style, opt for iced coffee with a pump (or two) of Chocolate or Mocha sauce. At 25 kcal a pump this is a great alternative! add a small splash of cream and an iced coffee w/ two pumps of chocolate and two tablespoons of half & half will land you around 95 kcal!

If you like to drink: Lattes! (190 kcal)

Consider instead:
1) I'm a big fan of Americanos! Never had one? Try it! Where a latte is espresso mixed with steamed milk, an americano replaces the milk with hot water. Which may sound lame or gross, but if the cafe you're at has good espresso, this drink is bomb! Replace you're entire cup of milk with a tablespoon or two of half & half and you're sitting at 55 kcal! It will be creamy and rich and taste soooo good.
2) The Cafe Au Lait! A drink that is half coffee, half steam milk, all delicious. 130 kcal when made with whole milk.
3) Iced latte fan? Neato! An americano works just as well iced!
4) The cop out option is iced coffee. But this is a great option of you're a fan of flavored lattes. A pump or two of vanilla in iced coffee goes a long way and a small splash of cream or milk smooth out the whole thing. Unsweetened iced coffee is a whopping 5 kcal, flavored syrup will cost you 15 kcal a pump, half & half 40 kcal for 2 table spoons, you've got a delicious drink for 60 calories!

If you like to drink: Chai Lattes! (240 kcal)

Consider Instead:
1) Ask your barista if they have a loose leaf or a tea bag chai, many places do! Then ask for that, topped with steamed milk. This will run you about 150 kcal if they make it half steeped tea, half steamed milk + 15 kcal for ever sugar packet you add.
2) Ever had a London Fog? Similar to the suggestion above, but made with Earl Gray tea and vanilla, absolutely to die for and my personal favorite rainy day drink! At 180 kcal (2% milk) it's worth a try!
3) Order a latte with cinnamon steamed into the milk, delicious! 190 kcal!


Alrighty! That's what I've got for all you wonderful people! Let me know if I missed your favorite drinks!