Chocolate Cream Cold Brew: An Easy Recipe to Make in 2026

Looking for a delicious and refreshing summer drink? If so, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, I’ll show you an at-home recipe for the chocolate cream cold brew that Starbucks recently introduced.

It’s perfect for a warm summer day. I love making this recipe because it tastes great and is fairly easy to make.

I’ll show you the easy steps to make this drink at home, including all the recipes for the homemade add-ins.

Let’s get started!

What is chocolate cream cold brew?

Starbucks has recently announced its new summer drink, which is here to stay. But what exactly is it, and how do you make it at home?

The chocolate cream cold brew is cold brew coffee topped with chocolate cream cold foam, sweetened with vanilla syrup, and served over ice for a refreshing touch.

You can quickly and easily make this drink at home by brewing a batch of cold brew and preparing the other components.

Below, you’ll find the ingredients required for this recipe. After that, I’ll go over all the steps to make this drink at home from scratch!

What ingredients are needed to make chocolate cream cold brew?

There are a few components used to make the chocolate cream cold brew at home, which include:

• Cold brew coffee
• Vanilla syrup
• Chocolate cream cold foam
• Ice cubes

You can substitute the ice cubes with coffee ice cubes for even more coffee flavor in your drink.

Coffee ice cubes are made with brewed coffee instead of water, resulting in a stronger coffee flavor as they melt.

You can check out this recipe to learn how to make them at home!

To make this drink at home in the best way possible, it’s important to use high-quality ingredients.

Below, I’ll cover how to make the chocolate cream cold foam, how to make cold brew, and a quick recipe for vanilla syrup at home.

With all of these at-home components, you’ll be enjoying a delicious chocolate cream cold brew multiple times in the coming days!

How do you make the chocolate cream cold foam?

The chocolate cream cold foam is made by combining low-fat milk, heavy cream, vanilla syrup, and cocoa powder. This is then aerated to create a fluffy cold foam.

Starbucks uses chocolate malt powder for its cold foam, but I found that cocoa powder is more readily available, and you may already have it sitting in your cabinet.

Unlike regular cold foam, which is made with low-fat milk, this version has extra sweeteners added to create a delicious layer of depth in your cold brew.

You can find the complete guide to making chocolate cream cold foam in this article.

How do you make cold brew at home?

There are several methods for making cold brew at home, but they all essentially involve steeping coffee grounds in cold water.

One method is to put coffee grounds in a jar or container with cold water and let them steep overnight.

You can strain the coffee and enjoy it over ice or use it in this recipe in the morning.

You can use any jar as a container, but using a mason jar seems to be the preferred choice for most.

Check out a step-by-step guide here, including the best way to filter the cold brew!

Another method is to put coffee grounds and cold water in a French press.

Place the French press in the fridge for 12 hours or more (I prefer 15 hours), then gently press down on the plunger to filter out the grounds before serving.

When making cold brew in a French press, you won’t have to filter it, as with the mason jar method, which saves time. You can find the recipe here.

Tip: You can also make decaf cold brew! Check out this recipe here.

Whichever method you choose, ensure that you use a coarse grind of coffee to prevent over-extraction. The grind size that I like to use looks like this:

You may wonder if you can use a different type of coffee for this recipe. I’ll cover the best alternatives below:

What are good cold brew alternatives?

If you don’t like the taste of cold brew coffee or are looking for a different flavor profile, you can try brewed coffee or espresso instead.

Brewed coffee is made by pouring hot water over grounds that sit in a coffee filter. The time the coffee spends in contact with the water will affect the final flavor profile of the drink.

Espresso is made by forcing pressurized hot water through finely-ground coffee beans, and it has a more intense flavor than brewed coffee.

For this recipe, you can use the same amount of brewed coffee as mentioned in the recipe card (listed a bit further down).

If you’d instead use espresso coffee, I suggest using a doppio espresso. This will give you almost the same strength as cold brew coffee, without having to wait for it to finish brewing.

Tip: Are you interested in learning about the difference between a doppio and a regular espresso? Check out this in-depth guide!

What are the best coffee beans for cold brew coffee?

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing coffee beans for cold brew coffee:

• First, choose a medium-dark roast. This will give the coffee a richer flavor and more body, which is important since cold brew is typically served unsweetened.
• Second, look for beans that are high-quality and well-sourced. This will ensure that your coffee has good flavors and no bitterness.
• Finally, ensure that you grind the beans coarsely so that they infuse properly and don’t over-extract. If you’re going to buy pre-ground coffee, make sure to ask for a “cold brew grind” so you know the coffee beans are well-ground.

With all of that in mind, you might already have the perfect coffee beans in mind.

If this is not the case, you can explore some of my favorite coffee beans for cold brewing in this article.

How to make the vanilla syrup

To make this into the best homemade drink possible, you can make a batch of vanilla syrup at home in just five minutes.

You’ll only need cold tap water, white granulated sugar, and a vanilla bean. You can find a step-by-step guide to homemade vanilla syrup here.

Alternatively, you can purchase a high-quality vanilla-flavored syrup, such as Torani Vanilla Syrup.

Now that you know how to make all the individual components, it’s time to assemble them into one amazing drink!

You can follow the steps listed below in the recipe card to get started:

And if you’re planning on visiting the Starbucks in person, then don't forget to use my Starbucks nutrition tool below, so you can see the full breakdown for your drink:

Conclusion

So, there you have it! An easy guide on how to make your own chocolate cold brew at home!

I hope you’ll give it a try. It’s a delicious and easy way to get your caffeine fix.

Plus, if you make a larger batch of the cold foam, you can add it to even more cold brew recipes (or iced coffee recipes!) in the coming days.

If you’re interested in checking out some more cold brew recipes, have a look below:

More cold brew recipes to try

• How to Make a Cold Brew Latte at Home: The Ultimate Recipe
• Nutella Cold Brew: What Is It and How to Make It at Home?
• Spanish Latte Cold Brew: Easy 3 Ingredient Recipe to Try

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