Iced Caramel Macchiato: Easy Recipe You Should Try in 2025

Have you ever heard of the iced caramel macchiato? It is a sip-worthy blend of creamy and caffeinated. This drink is a favorite on the Starbucks menu. In fact, it’s one of their most popular drinks.

The popularity of this drink has been growing over the last few years, and some people can’t imagine starting their day without having a cup of this coffee.

Iced caramel macchiato is one of those delicious drinks to order, especially during the summer when the weather is getting hot. However, you don’t have to go out to a coffee shop to enjoy this drink because you can make it at home.

What is an iced caramel macchiato?

An iced caramel macchiato is a coffee drink that combines sweet vanilla syrup, milk, strong espresso coffee, homemade caramel sauce, and cooled with a good amount of ice cubes for a delicious cold threat.

This coffee will blow your mind if you like a sweet — yet perfectly balanced coffee drink that you can enjoy throughout the day.

Down below, I’ll go over the ingredients used and how they taste together. After that, I’ve listed the recipe card so you can follow along.

Below the recipe, I’ve listed recipes for homemade caramel sauce and a sweet vanilla-flavored syrup that you can make in just five minutes! Let’s get into it:

Is an iced caramel macchiato sweet?

An iced caramel tastes quite sweet because of the added vanilla syrup and sweet caramel sauce. Compared to the amount of coffee used, the amount of milk made for a sweeter and lighter-tasting coffee drink.

I’m not a fan of super-sweet coffees, but I really enjoy drinking this coffee. Because it’s so well-balanced, it makes for an amazing drinking experience, perfect for the hot summer days ahead.

Does an iced caramel macchiato taste like coffee?

An iced caramel macchiato has a strong coffee taste and has many sweet notes to it. You can definitely still taste enough coffee to make a well-balanced iced coffee recipe.

This is all achieved while using two shots of espresso coffee. I’ve also tested this recipe with a single shot of espresso, but the coffee flavor disappeared completely while doing so.

I highly recommend following the recipe, with two shots of espresso, for the best overall flavor. But, if you want your coffee on the sweeter side, you can leave one shot of espresso out.

By using a single shot of espresso, you’ll emphasize the sweeter flavors that this coffee recipe has to offer, like the vanilla syrup and homemade caramel sauce.

What coffee is best used for an iced caramel macchiato?

The best iced caramel macchiato is made with strong espresso coffee. Usually, espresso coffee is made with an espresso machine. However, at home, you can use a Moka pot or AeroPress to make your espressos.

For this recipe, you’ll need two shots of espresso. I recommend brewing them with a dark roasted coffee bean that packs a ton of flavor.

Because this coffee recipe is quite sweet of the vanilla-flavored syrup and caramel sauce, you want to balance the flavors with those strong espresso coffees.

If you haven’t made espresso coffee at home before, you can check out my guide to Moka pot brewing and AeroPress brewing by clicking on the names. I’ll guide you through every step.

You can also use your Nespresso or Keurig machine to brew two espresso coffees. Simply pop in two espresso pods into your machine and let it cool down completely, exactly like the recipe. The options are endless, which makes this recipe so fantastic.

How many calories are in an iced caramel macchiato?

An iced caramel macchiato has a total of 173 calories. These calories are mainly from the added sweeteners but also the whole milk used.

If you’re interested, you can check below where the calories are made up from:

• Whole milk contains 110 calories.
• The vanilla syrup makes up for 19 calories.
• The homemade caramel sauce adds 44 calories to this coffee recipe.

If you feel like switching out the milk for a different kind, like a milk alternative, or you want to sweeten your iced caramel macchiato a bit more, you can now easily calculate the number of calories.

How to make an easy caramel sauce

Caramel sauce is such a nice addition to many iced coffees, but this coffee recipe is one of my favorites. To make a nice batch of caramel sauce at home, you’ll need:

• 7 oz (200 grams) of white granulated sugar
• 4 oz (120 grams) of heavy cream
• A tiny bit of water

This caramel sauce recipe will make for a nice batch of sauce that will be enough to make up to eight iced caramel macchiatos. Keep in mind that you can keep it in the fridge for a few days, so you’ll have a ton of time to finish the caramel sauce.

If you want, you can make more caramel sauce at once, or less if you’re not going to use it so much.

To get started, follow the steps below:

1. In a saucepan of choice, add the white granulated sugar and the touch of water.
2. You want to add just a bit of water so that the sugar is slightly wetted.
3. Place the pan on the stove, on medium heat.
4. Swirl the sugar and water together. This is easier when a saucepan with a handle is used.
5. The sugar mixture will start to bubble slightly. This is good.
6. Keep the mixture bubbling until the sugar has fully dissolved and you are left with shiny sugar syrup.
7. The sugar will now go into the browning stage, leave it for another 2 minutes until the sugar turns a brown color.
8. Remove from the heat, and grab a whisk.
9. Now, slowly whisk in the heavy cream. Make sure to stir variously for the best result.
10. You’ve now made caramel sauce. Leave to cool completely, and from then on, you can use it to make this amazing coffee recipe!

It’s best to store the caramel sauce in a resealable container or mason jar for easy access. You can store it in the refrigerator for a few days. Make a bigger batch if you expect people are coming over.

For more information on making this caramel sauce at home, check out my other article here!

How to make vanilla syrup at home

Making vanilla syrup at home is super easy to do, and you can make it in less than five minutes. For this recipe, you’re going to need the following ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (0.12 l) of cold water
• 120 grams of white granulated sugar
• One vanilla bean split and deseeded

This vanilla syrup recipe will be enough to make six to eight servings of the iced caramel macchiato, depending on the amount you’re going to add. Follow the next steps to make it:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the cold water, white granulated sugar, and vanilla bean. Deseed the vanilla beans and add the split vanilla bean to the pan as well. This will give off an even stronger vanilla flavor.
2. Place the saucepan on the stove, on medium heat.
3. Stir through the mixture until the sugar starts to dissolve. I found that this takes about 2 to 3 minutes at most.
4. After the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool.
5. Let the vanilla syrup cool completely. Once cooled, remove the vanilla bean from the syrup and throw it out.
6. Pour into a resealable container of choice and keep cool in the refrigerator until you’re going to use it.

You can keep the vanilla syrup in the fridge for a few days. I highly suggest making enough in advance if you’re going to make a lot of caramel macchiatos.

For more information on making this vanilla syrup at home, check out my other article here!

Conclusion

The iced caramel macchiato is one of the most delicious and easy to assemble coffee drinks to make at home. Once you’ve made the caramel sauce and vanilla syrup, you can make a coffee in just a few minutes.

This iced coffee will definitely be one of those coffee drinks that I’ll keep coming back to time and again, especially on those hot summer days. It’s the perfect caffeinated refreshment.

If you have some leftover caramel sauce and want to put it to good use, you can try a new coffee recipe. I’ve listed a few recipes below that are very interesting, and I think you’ll love them!

Are you a fan of iced coffees? Let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any other questions regarding coffee, you can also contact me directly by pressing the “Contact Me” button at the top!

More coffee recipes

• Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew Coffee Recipe: Easy to Make
• Iced Vanilla Latte With Homemade Vanilla Syrup: Easy Recipe
• Caramel Iced Coffee Recipe: Best Iced Coffee Recipe