Starbucks is the most popular and widespread chain of coffee stores globally, and you can find a Starbucks on almost every continent. But the drinks and snacks available from Starbucks can be quite pricey, especially when they’re customized. Still, what are the most expensive Starbucks drinks?
The most expensive Starbucks drink of all time is the 240-ounce Super Venti Flat White, ordered by William E. Lewis Jr. in 2018. This drink cost $148.99 and was almost entirely made of 170 espresso shots. It was served in a massive coffee cup and contained about 11,000 milligrams of caffeine.
If you enjoy sipping on a sweet Starbucks frappuccino or you tend to start your day with a hot Starbucks americano, you’ll appreciate this list of the priciest and most extreme Starbucks drinks of all time.
Here are the top 10 most expensive Starbucks drinks of all time:
10. Andrew’s Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappuccino – $54.75
Andrew Chifari was one of the first loyal Starbucks customers to try and game the system by using his Starbucks Rewards stars to order an insanely large and decadent free beverage. In May 2014, Chifari ordered a 128-ounce vanilla bean frappuccino that would have cost $54.75.
Because Starbucks doesn’t offer drink cups of that size, Chifari had to bring his own glass for the transaction. This drink contained 60 espresso shots, was topped with whipped cream and a chocolate-and-caramel syrup drizzle, and likely took a solid week to finish.
At the time of its creation, the self-dubbed “Sexagintuple Vanilla Bean Mocha Frappuccino” was the priciest custom drink ever ordered at Starbucks.
Why It’s Expensive
Although Chifari didn’t have to pay for this drink, it remains distinctly expensive due to its size (almost four liters) and type. Starbucks frappuccinos tend to be the most expensive menu items, and they’re even costlier when you add other elements like espresso shots, whipped cream, or syrup drizzles.
Because this gigantic drink features all the above, it’s an inherently pricey beverage. Still, Chifari wasn’t the only person to use Starbucks Rewards to order an excessive amount of coffee.
9. Raziuddin’s Custom Frappuccino – $57.75
Floridians tend to take things to the extreme, whether by partying while high-speed hurricanes are blowing through the state or capturing wild alligators for fun. But Florida student Sameera Raziuddin was one of the most daring coffee drinkers ever to grace the Sunshine State.
In July 2014, Raziuddin ordered a customized Caramel Crunch Frappuccino weighing about 192 ounces. She ordered this drink from the Starbucks in Pembroke Pines, Florida, which soon came under fire from corporate headquarters due to the massive size of the drink.
This drink contained:
- 60 espresso shots
- Matcha powder
- Caramel syrup
- Hazelnut, mocha, and vanilla drizzle
And that’s only a taste of all the ingredients included in this beverage! The final price for this gallon-sized coffee drink was an astounding $57.75.
But because Raziuddin used her Starbucks Rewards, it didn’t cost her a thing.
Why It’s Expensive
This drink was unusually pricey because of its size and added ingredients.
After all, the largest size Starbucks offers is Venti Cold, which is 24 fluid ounces. This particular drink was about eight times larger than this, and the price reflected that fact.
Besides, Raziuddin added a laundry list of additional ingredients, from drizzles to matcha powder, and those add-ons quickly add up in terms of price. It’s also worth noting that the base drink was a frappuccino, and Starbucks frappuccinos tend to be the most expensive items on the beverage menu.
8. Jarrod’s Venti Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino – $71.35
The story of Jarrod Johnson’s Venti Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino is slightly controversial. While other diehard Starbucks customers have used massive cups or gallon-sized jugs to order their huge drinks, West Virginia resident Jarrod Johnson used a plastic drink cooler for his order.
This drink consisted of five gallons of iced coffee (five frappucinos), 77 espresso shots, and a laundry list of syrup drizzles. If this drink hadn’t been free (thanks to Starbucks Rewards and their birthday offer), it would have cost Johnson $71.35.
Interestingly, this drink was also created in July 2014, just like Raziuddin’s Custom Frappuccino.
You could afford to buy a pound of the world’s most expensive tea for the price of just two of these drinks!
Why It’s Expensive
Like many other high-priced Starbucks drinks, this cooler-sized frappuccino was costly because of its size and add-ons.
7. Grande Latte Rewards Drink – $83.75
In October 2014, Floridian William E. Lewis Jr. decided to outdo his Pembroke Pines counterpart, Sameera Raziuddin, by ordering a Starbucks latte that contained 101 espresso shots. In fact, Lewis Jr. was compelled to order this drink because of the fame Raziuddin received after ordering her custom drink!
But Lewis Jr. took things to the next level, bringing a massive 160-ounce coffee cup that was almost filled to the brim. He also outdid Raziuddin in terms of expense, as the latte he ordered would have cost $83.75 (if Lewis Jr. hadn’t used his Starbucks Rewards).
Still, this isn’t the only time Lewis Jr. would set a new record for the most expensive Starbucks drink. But we’ll touch on that a little later.
Why It’s Expensive
This drink (just shy of costing $84) was a pricey concoction because of its size and percentage of espresso. If the drink didn’t have 99 added espresso shots, it wouldn’t have been nearly so large or expensive.
6. Renee’s Caramel Frappuccino – $86.55
New York City is a city that never sleeps. But a woman named Renee took things to a bit of an NYC extreme in March 2015 when she ordered an $86.55 Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks.
This massive frothy frappuccino was served in a massive shake-style glass and topped with a pile of whipped cream and caramel drizzle. And if you guessed that Renee was able to enjoy this beverage for free due to the Starbucks Rewards program and its special birthday offer, you’d be right!
But unlike other custom Starbucks drink orders, this one didn’t include a staggering number of add-ons. Instead, it only had 100 added espresso shots and a dash of vanilla syrup and soy milk.
Why It’s Expensive
Adding 100 espresso shots to any drink is sure to make it a pricey beverage. But the fact that Renee also chose one of the most expensive base menu items (a Caramel Frappuccino) also helped to make this customized Starbucks coffee a pricey treat.
5. Rewards Drink Quad Espresso – $92.55
Sharing a coffee with a good friend or romantic partner is a fantastic way to enjoy time together while getting your caffeine fix. But in 2015, Shaine Choen and Kiersten Vorv enjoyed one of the largest, most sumptuous, and priciest Starbucks drinks together.
The duo named their creation the Rewards Drink Quad Espresso, a behemoth of a beverage consisting of 120 espresso shots. Like other enormous custom Starbucks drinks, this one cost the two women nothing, as they used their Starbucks Reward birthday offer to score it for free.
But the duo would have had to spend $92.55 on the caffeine-rich beverage if it wasn’t free.
Why It’s Expensive
If you guessed that quantity is the main reason behind this drink’s incredible price, you guessed correctly! After all, a single espresso shot is just under one ounce. So this drink was likely about 120 ounces of pure caffeine.
4. Justin’s White Mocha Frappuccino – $101.50
A $101.50 White Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks sounds like a decadent treat. But considering how this one was served, you might want to rethink ordering one.
After all, the amount of frappuccino you can get for $100 is truly astounding, and it won’t fit into a Venti-sized Starbucks cup. In fact, when a young man named Justin ordered his $101.50 White Mocha Frappucino in March 2016, he had it served to him in a bright blue construction bucket.
Still, considering the fact that this drink contained 112 added espresso shots, maybe Justin didn’t mind the unusual container (especially after taking a few sips)!
Why It’s Expensive
This custom drink contained more than 100 espresso shots, 70 pumps of white mocha, and 20 servings of protein powder. It also featured five bananas! Those additional ingredients don’t come cheap, especially in that quantity.
But despite its $100+ price tag, this White Mocha Frappuccino wasn’t the priciest ever ordered from Starbucks!
3. Thomas’ White Mocha Frappuccino – $102.04
In January 2016, a man named Thomas stepped inside his local Starbucks storefront with a keg-like metal bucket and a dream. He was sipping on the most expensive Starbucks White Mocha Frappuccino when he walked out.
This free drink (comped as part of the company’s birthday and rewards programs) would have cost Thomas $102.04, and this incredible price stems from the fact that the chosen drink featured an incredible number of additional ingredients, including:
- 20 servings of additional frappuccino chips
- 20 servings of protein powder
- 54 pumps of roast coffee
- 70 pumps of white mocha
It’s also worth noting that this particular Starbucks drink contained five bananas, making it slightly healthier than other customers’ espresso-rich custom drinks.
Why It’s Expensive
Starbucks Frappuccinos are already comparatively expensive. But when you serve them with tons of add-ons, they can get extremely pricey, just like this birthday beverage.
2. Elton’s Grande Americano – $102.15
If you were active on the Vine platform before its dissolution in 2016, you might be familiar with Elton Castee. And if you’ve been a long-time fan of Dude Perfect, a comedy group with a successful YouTube channel, you’d probably recognize this creator!
But even the most dedicated Castee fans might not realize that one of their favorite content creators holds the second-place record for ordering the most expensive Starbucks drink.
In 2017, Castee ordered a grande americano that cost $102.15, setting a then-record for the costliest Starbucks beverage in the world. This drink was served in a plastic wastepaper bin that Castee and his fellow content creators purchased from a nearby store.
You can watch the entire drink-ordering process and the team’s attempt to drink it, but be warned; there are moments when everyone involved gets sick to their stomach thanks to the unbelievable amount of caffeine they’ve consumed.
Why It’s Expensive
Even though the staff refused to add whipped cream to the coffee, they did add an almost $5 drizzle of caramel sauce. Still, the sheer size of this coffee was why it ended up costing more than $100.
1. Super Venti Flat White – $148.99
The most expensive Starbucks drink is the Super Venti Flat White, ordered by Floridian William E. Lewis Jr. in 2018. Even though this drink didn’t contain the most expensive coffee, it cost an astounding $148.99!
Consisting of 170 espresso shots (about 11,000 milligrams of caffeine) and a splash of coconut milk, this coffee might remain the costliest Starbucks drink of all time. After all, Starbucks altered its drink-ordering policies in 2019, potentially in response to the high-volume drinks some customers have ordered.
If you’re wondering how the Starbucks baristas managed to serve this drink, you only need to take a peek at Lewis Jr.’s celebratory picture. Sitting on the table before him is a massive, almost comically oversized coffee cup, filled to the top with a slurry of slightly foamy espresso.
Why It’s Expensive
This drink wasn’t free, unlike the Grande Latte Rewards Drink, which Lewis Jr. also ordered. And considering its caffeine content, it’s challenging to understand why anyone would be willing to order and pay for such a massive beverage.
After all, the average daily caffeine limit for adults is about 400 milligrams. This drink contains more than 27 times that amount!
But the amount of espresso is the primary reason this drink was so costly. A single espresso shot from Starbucks costs slightly less than $2. This customized beverage contains 170 of them!
All things considered, it’s surprising that this drink wasn’t far pricier. But Lewis Jr. is a dedicated Starbucks customer, so he may have applied a discount to his order to score the unusually low final price of $148.99.
What’s the Most Expensive On-Menu Starbucks Drink?
Many of the priciest Starbucks drinks are custom orders you won’t find on a standard menu. This begs the question, what’s the most expensive on-menu drink you can order?
Well, many Starbucks products are seasonal. As such, the priciest drink you can order from the menu varies depending on the time of year. That said, some of the costliest on-menu drinks available to customers throughout North America include the following:
- Espresso Frappuccino
- Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino
- Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
- Double Chcolaty Chip Crème Frappuccino
- Iced Caramel Macchiato
Drink prices vary by location, but the frappuccino menu is the priciest. Frappuccino drinks that contain espresso shots are often the most expensive of the bunch.
Some of these drinks cost more than the most expensive bottles of water! That said, most cost between $5 and $7.
What’s the Most Expensive Starbucks Drink of All Time?
The most expensive Starbucks drink of all time is the Super Venti Flat White, ordered by William E. Lewis Jr. in 2018. This massive 240-ounce beverage contained 170 espresso shots and coconut milk. It was served in a giant coffee cup and cost $148.99.
Notably, Lewis Jr. holds two records for the priciest Starbucks drinks, as he also ordered the record-setting Grande Latte Rewards Drink (which would have cost $83.75) in 2014.
Check out these related articles to learn more about the world’s most expensive food and drink items!