Okay, so someone looked at a cup of cold brew and thought, “You know what this needs? Strawberry shortcake.”
And honestly? I respect that kind of commitment to dessert.
This is the Strawberry Shortcake Cold Brew, and before you head to Starbucks and say those exact words, there is one tiny-but-important thing you need to know: it is not an official menu drink. It is a custom order. That means you have to order the ingredients, not the adorable little secret-menu name we have all decided to give it.
The good news is that I found a version you can actually build with options that appeared together in the Starbucks ordering menu. No asking your barista to perform strawberry-foam wizardry. No twelve-step speech while the entire drive-thru line slowly learns to hate you.
Here is exactly how to order it
- Start with a Grande Cold Brew with Nondairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam.
- Tap Customize.
- Under Flavors, add 2 pumps of White Chocolate Mocha Sauce.
- Under Cold Foams, add Strawberry Cream Cold Foam.
- Remove the original Nondairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam.
That last step matters. Otherwise, you are ordering two different cold foams, which is less “strawberry shortcake” and more “I have lost control of this beverage.”
So, does it actually taste like strawberry shortcake?
That is the entire plan.
The cold brew keeps it tasting like coffee. The White Chocolate Mocha Sauce brings the creamy, frosting-adjacent sweetness, and the Strawberry Cream Cold Foam gives it the strawberries-and-cream finish.
Is it a slice of cake in a cup? No. Starbucks has not yet found a way to put those little crumbly shortcake bits through a cold-foam blender, and perhaps that is for the best.
But if you like sweet coffee and strawberry anything, this is absolutely the sort of drink that makes sense in your brain before you even take the first sip.
Why this order is a little different from the old viral version
The older version of this drink asked a barista to blend strawberry puree into vanilla sweet cream cold foam. That may sound delicious, but it is not a dependable option in the app—and asking for an off-menu preparation can put your barista in an awkward spot.
This version uses the named Strawberry Cream Cold Foam instead. Starbucks says it is one of its five most popular cold-foam flavors, and I found it right there in the app with the rest of this order. Same strawberry-and-cream idea. Much less chaos.
A couple of things before you order
Choose your Starbucks location in the app before you get emotionally attached. These options appeared together in one store’s app menu, but menus, prices, and customization options can vary by location. Starbucks shops inside grocery stores or hotels can be their own little universe, too.
This exact order is also not dairy-free. Both the White Chocolate Mocha Sauce and Strawberry Cream Cold Foam contain dairy ingredients. Starbucks cannot guarantee that unpackaged drinks are allergen-free because shared equipment is used, so check the current ingredient information directly if you are managing an allergy.
And remember: do not ask for a “Strawberry Shortcake Cold Brew” by name and hope the barista has secretly been reading our minds. Give them the actual customizations—or, even better, order it in the app where you can double-check the whole beautiful situation before you pay.
Still deciding? Browse our Starbucks secret menu recipes and ordering guide for your next drink.
