12 Ways To Customize Your Starbucks Frappuccino
Frappuccinos are a somewhat polarizing drink. Certain customers adore these icy mixtures, while those coffee drinkers who prefer their morning brew hot and black seem to find Frappuccinos as something of an abomination. I'll admit that before I worked at Starbucks as a barista, I, too, raised an eyebrow at the milkshake-like drinks, but they're fabulously delicious. More dessert than coffee drink? Maybe. But there is plenty to explore in this category of drink, and while the Frappuccino base menu is robust, there are even more ways to customize it.
Many of these customizations can be made right from the Starbucks ordering app, making it easy for you and your barista. Hopefully, with these changes, you can turn an already delicious drink into something extra special and unique. Be advised that a Frappuccino is one Starbucks drink order that takes the longest to make, and the additions will only add time to that wait. Even still, I think it's worth it. In instances when I mention price, you may find that your Starbucks location charges differently, so prices may vary.
Swap out whipped cream for cold foam
A majority of Starbucks Frappuccinos have whipped cream, which can go on top of coffee-based mixtures and cream-based ones. While the whipped cream is a fun topper for the drink and certainly looks great in pictures, its actual utility and flavoring ability for the drink itself is minimal. That's why I like to substitute whipped cream with a cold foam topper instead. Even Starbucks began doing this with four new Frappuccinos in its summer 2025 menu. While cold foam is becoming a more common swap, it isn't an option to add cold foam to a Frappuccino in the app, so this is one you'll need to request in person.
Starbucks has many cold foams it regularly includes in drinks, but you can also request flavors that might not be on the menu. For instance, while salted caramel cold foam is one of the commonly made cold foams, a basic caramel cold foam is not. Of course, the cold foam you choose for a given Frappuccino should complement the flavors already in the drink. This might mean choosing a chocolatey cold foam for a strawberry and cream Frappuccino, and a more floral cold foam to add new life to a vanilla bean Frappuccino. Coffee-based Frappuccinos, like the Caramel Ribbon Crunch, are just begging for these salted caramel cold foams to be added to them. If you're unsure which flavors might work well together, ask your barista for their expertise.
Sweeten things up with syrups
You might notice that a Frappuccino looks remarkably like a milkshake. For many customers, the drinks are overly sweet and too much like dessert to be considered a reasonable coffee order. However, some of the Frappuccinos are less sugary than you might imagine. And in these instances, adding additional syrups will sweeten the drink enough.
There are a few ways you can play with syrups in your Frappuccino. You may ask for additional pumps to be included of a syrup that might already be in the drink. Or, you could ask for a complementary type of flavor to be added to enhance its flavor. For instance, if you are ordering a mocha Frappuccino, you might consider adding caramel syrup to give it some of that candy bar-like flavor. Alternatively, you could swap out the syrup in your Frappuccino for a different flavor. You might do this to make a whole new blended drink, or you might simply choose this option if you have a different flavor preference. If all you're hoping to do is add sweetness without an additional flavor, you can add pumps of the classic Starbucks syrup flavor, which is a liquid sweetener.
Adding syrups to your order will cost around 80 cents. The cost remains the same whether you add three or six pumps. In the app, the amount of recommended syrups will automatically populate for the number of pumps recommended for a given size. This will be two pumps for a tall, three for a grande, and four in a venti.
Make it rich with sauces
Sauces can offer the same sort of flavor addition as incorporating a syrup. The biggest difference between syrup and a sauce is the thickness. While a syrup is on the thin side, a sauce is much thicker. Therefore, adding additional pumps of sauce, or even introducing a new flavor altogether, will inevitably make the Frappuccino taste and feel richer in both flavor and texture. Though sauce is substantially thicker than syrup, the price remains the same. Just like the syrup, Starbucks recommends two, three, or four pumps for a tall, grande, or venti, respectively.
A really fun way to use sauces in Frappuccinos is to take a pumpkin spice flavored Frappuccino and add white mocha sauce to it. In fact, this is a Frappuccino spin on a popular secret menu item called a Cinderella latte. In this case, it's something more of a Cinderella Frappuccino. If adding a caramel syrup to the mocha to create more of a chocolate candy bar doesn't feel rich enough, consider adding a caramel sauce instead. This will create a richer experience.
A quick word of caution when adding sauces to your drinks: They will make your drink very thick. So, if you are concerned about using too much, but you are looking to add additional flavors of sauces, I recommend eliminating one of the sauces already in your Frappuccino. Instead, replace it with a new sauce, rather than just adding a sauce on top of what's already there. This will help mitigate some of those texture concerns.
Add fruity flair with strawberry purée
One of my favorite things to do as a barista was to take different ingredients and use them in unexpected ways. Strawberry purée is one of those items that can be added to many different drinks to achieve an interesting effect. As of writing, the strawberry purée is really only used in blended beverages, and because of its thickness, this is where it belongs — but you can go beyond a simple strawberries and cream Frappuccino and use this purée in other flavors too. Even though it's blended in plenty of drinks, this is another customization to make in person rather than over the app, so you'll have the ability to provide specific instructions.
If you love chocolate-covered strawberries, for instance, consider adding strawberry purée to your mocha Frappuccino. You might ask the barista to pour some purée into a cup before adding your mocha Frappuccino liquid, or you might want that purée blended right in the drink. In either instance, it'll change the effect of the purée on the drink itself. The question is whether you want to be drinking the purée along with the mocha in every sip or every few sips. Of course, there are other unexpected Frappuccinos that strawberries would taste great in, so this is a great place to play and customize your drink.
Lighten up with a Refresher base
Only a couple of the Frappuccinos are actually fruity drinks. As a result, using a Starbucks Refreshers base as part of the Frappuccino mixture probably only works for drinks that lean more toward the fruity side anyway, but think of the Refreshers bases as a whole other liquid you can include in your Frappuccino.
With the strawberries and cream Frappuccino, for instance, ask the barista to replace part of your cream base of the Frappuccino with a Refresher base. This way, it has the same amount of liquid in the drink and won't mess up those proportions. However, by adding something like a strawberry açai Refresher, you'll bring in even more strawberry flavor and caffeine. Since you're replacing some of that milk base with juice-like liquid, it'll also feel like a lighter Frappuccino.
Blend in some powder
When flavoring drinks, it's easy to forget about powders. Most of the time, when we think of added elements to drinks, we think of syrups or sauces, but Starbucks uses powders to help flavor its drinks as well. Admittedly, the options here are more limited than the syrups, but I have noticed that Starbucks is starting to introduce more powders. As you watch the seasonal menus come through, be sure to take note of what powders are being added. Since powders can be very difficult to mix into drinks, they work especially well in Frappuccinos, where everything gets blended together anyway. You'll pay approximately 50 cents for the powder add-on.
One of my favorite powders to add to drinks is vanilla bean powder, which adds such a nice, comforting flavor. It doesn't add any caffeine or an overwhelmingly different flavor profile, but it brings just enough soothing vanilla to be perfect. Another really enjoyable and unexpected way to add flavor is with Starbucks matcha powder. By adding matcha to your vanilla bean Frappuccino, for instance, you're adding a little tea flavor to an already sweet drink, which might help you get more comfortable with the matcha flavor over time.
Freshen up with fruit inclusions
Fruit inclusions are basically freeze-dried fruit, and they taste great in many drinks. However, the important thing to remember about blenders is that they pulverize anything that goes in. So, while I recommend putting some fruit inclusions in your Frappuccinos, you'll want to keep in mind that those fruit inclusions will become obliterated fruit bits. As a result, it won't add a whole lot of texture but more flavor.
You could also ask for inclusions to be included on top of the whipped cream for a finishing touch. This won't get you any of the flavor throughout the drink, but it offers something of an accent. If you want your Frappuccino to be more of a fruit-on-the-bottom sort of situation, you could also ask your barista to put in your desired number of scoops into the cup before pouring the Frappuccino liquid on top. Like the strawberry purée, you'll need to make this request in person.
Dress it up with drizzle
In a world where social media has such a powerful pull, sometimes customers simply want a gorgeous drink. In those instances, caramel and mocha drizzle come through to add that swirl on top of whipped cream. However, my favorite way to use drizzle is by lining the cup with a particular flavor.
Of course, this is easy enough to request in person, but there's also a way to do it in the app. When you get to a section on the menu that talks about lining the cup, this is where you'll be able to request caramel or mocha drizzle to go all around the inside of the cup before your barista pours in the drink. I'll admit that this was always a fun thing to do with cups, and the playfulness of how that drizzle looks around the cup is always unique. This drizzle will set you back 60 cents (but again, this may vary based on your particular store), and while it won't add a ton of flavor, it sure does dress up your drink.
Go smooth with different milk
One way you can significantly customize your Frappuccino is by swapping out the milk, which changes one of the primary factors of the whole drink. This can be as simple as replacing dairy milk with a non-dairy option, but even dairy lovers have a fun swap that can change a drink.
One of my absolute favorite swaps is replacing milk in my drink with vanilla sweet cream. While many milk swaps are free, adding vanilla sweet cream will add $1.25 to your order. I think it's worth it because it brings a rich creaminess and added sweetness to the drink. If I am looking forward to an especially decadent offering and I just want to make it that much richer, this is one of the first additions I make. You could do this to any Starbucks drink with milk in it, but I think it plays especially well in an already dessert-like Frappuccino.
Amplify caffeine content with espresso
A criticism I saw all the time for Frappuccinos was that they simply weren't strong enough in terms of caffeine. If you want something that's like a caffeinated milkshake, the best thing to do is add more espresso shots — which you can do with cream or coffee-based Frappuccinos. Depending on what you choose, it will either add to the caffeine already in the base (made with a unique powdered Starbucks coffee) or layer on caffeine to a milky drink.
When you change a recipe at Starbucks, you may find that the texture gets impacted. And I've noticed that espresso changes the texture much more than you might expect. In general, the drinks tend to feel a little bit looser, and if you are adding more liquid in the form of espresso shots, you'll also want to order your drink to go in the next size cup so you aren't missing out on any of that precious liquid.
Get spicy with chai concentrate
Chai concentrate is another great way to add caffeine to your beverages. Unlike espresso, which can have quite the bitter bite, chai concentrate has a more spicy, warming feel. It certainly doesn't go in all Frappuccinos, but I like it in coffee-based ones where I just want a little extra flavor. A cinnamon dolce Frappuccino with chai concentrate, for instance, is especially enjoyable.
If you are looking to get into chai for the first time or are new to this type of flavor, I recommend starting with one pump. If you find that you enjoy the chai, in subsequent drinks, you can always request two or three pumps of chai. But each additional pump will significantly flavor the drink as a whole. From a pricing standpoint, you'll pay the same 80 cents regardless of how many pumps you choose.
Texturize with popping raspberry pearls
In 2025, Starbucks released raspberry pearls for drinks. While it's not unheard of for Starbucks to release new drinks for the summertime, these are special because of the fruit-flavored pearls. You can add them to other drinks for an additional $1.25. Try adding raspberry pearls to your Frappuccino.
Instead of blending the raspberry pearls into the drink, your barista will likely already know that they should go at the bottom of your cup before they add in the liquid. The goal here is not to smash these pearls in the blender, but rather to have them floating in the bottom half of your drink for when you go to take sips. Be sure you are given a straw large enough to accommodate the pearls with this addition.