8 Starbucks Secret Menu Drinks That Are Festive For Fall

When the 'ber months roll in, so do crunchy leaves, apple cider donuts, warm fires, and, of course, pumpkin spice. It's awfully hard to think of a tastier drink season than Starbucks' PSL era, and the fall menu has some delicious ingredients to whip up absolutely scrumptious off-menu delights.

To help you make the most of Starbucks' seasonal fall drinks, I put together an assortment of options that take the best of the season and make it that much more delicious. These secret menu drinks are based on Starbucks' own creations, the unique offerings from limited locations, and even my own concoctions of ingredients. As a former Starbucks barista, using new ingredients to make exceptional drinks is something of a fun pastime for me. Here, I tried to offer a little something for everyone with this selection. You'll find a lot of variety, including a lot of fruitiness, spiciness, and sweetness. No matter the drink, the aim is to call to mind that cozy fall comfort.

When it comes to coziness, there's perhaps no better season than fall. To celebrate all those vibes, I've created a drink I like to call the Cozy Latte. This sweet drink starts with the ultimate comfy drink: Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Of course, you won't be able to walk up to a Starbucks counter and ask for this fall delight. Instead, order it over the app ahead of time. Once you pull up a Pumpkin Spice Latte on your app, replace half of the pumpkin spice sauce pumps with white chocolate mocha. Then, swap out milk with vanilla sweet cream, and swap the signature espresso with blonde roast espresso. No matter the size you choose, you'll be able to make these changes. If you want it a little spicier, replace fewer of the pumpkin spice sauce pumps with white chocolate mocha.

When I went to pick up this drink from the counter, I realized the barista had made an iced version instead of a warm one. They offered the drink to me, which I tried while they had it remade. I'll admit that I typically go for iced coffee, but this cozy latte works especially well warm. Truly, it's the perfect pairing for a warm blanket and a cozy hobby.

If you're new to the world of secret menu drinks, trying a drink that's made with fewer changes may be the most comfortable choice. For those Starbucks customers, I recommend an option that has only one swap — a drink I like to call Pumpkin Patch. Order an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai but swap the default milk for vanilla sweet cream. One sip of this mix, and it'll feel like a crisp fall air is wafting through the pumpkin patch while you're selecting the perfect future jack-o'-lantern.

Though the pumpkin-guzzling customer base doesn't realize this, some Starbucks customers are new to the world of pumpkin spice. For them, the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai is a great place to begin because it takes a basic Iced Chai Latte and adds pumpkin cream cold foam (which tastes a whole lot more like ice cream). This milky addition is only accentuated with the addition of vanilla sweet cream. This swap makes the drink even easier to enjoy since it smooths out that potent pumpkin spice flavor for those customers who may not be used to it. After you order your first custom or secret menu drink, you'll find that the process is quite simple.

In 2016, Starbucks introduced a sangria drink, and ever since it disappeared from the menu, becoming a forgotten Starbucks Shaken Berry Sangria Herbal Tea, I've longed for its grand return. Originally, the sangria drink at Starbucks had passion tea, sangria syrup, apple juice, and fruits. While that exact mixture isn't available with the ingredients now available at Starbucks, with some clever choices, we can get recreate something similar. For a fun, festive spin, we'll call this drink a Thanksgiving Sangria. It's fruity and rich, just like the big pitchers of sangria I love at family gatherings and Friendsgivings.

Unfortunately, Starbucks has dropped apple juice from the menu entirely, including Steamed Apple Juice and even our favorite caffeine-free Starbucks drink. So, while I was planning on preparing this drink with apple juice, I swapped that out for peach. To order, ask for an iced Passion Tango Tea but replace water with peach juice, and opt for the shaken version with whatever fruit inclusions are available. This peach addition adds a little sweetness and edge to the drink, just like you would expect to get with a typical sangria. So, while I miss the apple juice, I begrudgingly admit that this juice works even better.

I love a great themed beverage, and Starbucks always delivers, especially with its limited-time offerings. In 2022, during the Halloween season, Starbucks offered a Frappula Frappuccino to its Peruvian customers. The drink had mocha, vanilla, and strawberry, and while there is currently no specific Frappula Frappuccino at Starbucks, with some specific orders, you can make it happen.

While many secret menu selections can be ordered over the app, this one will require a bit of bravery during this spooky season. That's right: You'll need to order (gasp) in person. Begin by asking for a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. Ask your barista to add some mocha sauce to the drink and a little strawberry puree under whipped cream. The reason you'll need to order this in person has everything to do with the strawberry puree addition. While it is true you can add this to a Frappuccino, there's no option to call for a layered effect.

The combination of vanilla, mocha, and strawberry puree is something between Vanilla Bean Frappuccino and Strawberry Crème Frappuccino. The mocha adds a bit of intrigue, but it certainly doesn't make it overly chocolate-flavored. The best part is that this is a drink you could order anytime of year; it doesn't necessarily require any specific fall menu options.

Starbucks' Hot Chocolate is pretty different from your typical milk chocolate offering. Instead of having a rich, milky flavor, Starbucks uses mocha syrup and mocha drizzle. For this reason, when I recommend hot chocolate to most customers, I typically advise that they order a mixture of mocha and white chocolate mocha to create something of a tuxedo hot chocolate. For a different take on this two-toned hot chocolate, I heartily recommend Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate.

To order a Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate, I don't recommend that you replace half of your mocha with pumpkin spice sauce. Instead, replace roughly a quarter to a third of those mocha pumps with pumpkin. The swap might seem minimal, but it's just enough to add a little bit of zest and fall spice to your drink. I love this as a late-night fall drink when you don't want a heavily caffeinated option. During the pumpkin spice season, this is a perfect kid-friendly option for younger Starbucks customers who also want to enjoy the season. If ordering for a child, ask for it to be warmed rather than steamed hot. This is a change you can make right in the Starbucks app.

For a secret menu Starbucks drink to enjoy on a full moon, check out the Wolf Man. Like the Frappula Frappuccino, this is a secret menu offering you will not be able to order through the Starbucks app. After all, it includes a topping of strawberry puree, and though you could just add it into the drink, the way it seeps down from the top makes for quite the effect, and it really drives home the Wolf Man feel.

To order this drink that tastes remarkably like a chocolate-covered strawberry, ask for a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. Add one espresso shot to the mix and ask your barista to add strawberry puree underneath the whipped cream, on top of the actual liquid base of the drink. It should have the typical dressings: cookie crumble, whipped cream, and a drizzle on top. This is a tweaked version of a secret menu option spotted at Disney Springs in the past, but I feel it fully captures the flavor profile. Plus, with the espresso shot, there's a little added caffeine to fuel trick-or-treating with little ones.

I must admit, I was surprised by just how much I loved this drink, and I can imagine ordering one year-round. Besides being ideal for fall, I think it would also play especially well during the Valentine's Day season.

With Starbucks regularly coming out with new menus coinciding with the changing of seasons, I have found it peculiar that there is no fall adaptation of the shaken espresso line of drinks. Of course, that hasn't stopped Starbucks secret menu creators from arriving at their own rendition of this heavily caffeinated favorite by adding Starbucks' pumpkin cold foam.

To order a Pumpkin Pie Shaken Espresso, simply order a typical Iced Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso, but ask that it be made with pumpkin cream cold foam on top. Since the drink normally has oat milk in it and no dairy, your barista may double-check to make sure you want regular pumpkin cream cold foam. I found the combination of oat milk and cold foam to be quite enjoyable, but if your dietary needs dictate otherwise, you could ask for the dairy to be replaced with oat milk or another plant milk in the cold foam.

Out of all secret menu items I tried, this was certainly the heaviest in coffee flavor, and although I certainly enjoyed it, I can imagine some customers wanting it to be a little sweeter. For that reason, I also recommend adding a few pumps of white mocha to this mixture; this will make it go down even smoother.

One of my favorite fall desserts is a pecan pie, and with the use of Starbucks' ingredients, you can replicate this tasty fall dessert right from the app. Begin with a venti Iced Starbucks Blonde Vanilla Latte but be ready to replace the included vanilla syrup with other syrups and sauces. Add two pumps each of Starbucks' pecan syrup, cinnamon dolce, and white chocolate mocha. I like to order this one with oat milk as I think it adds a nice, hearty, pie-like taste and feel.

I found the drink was slightly nutty and sweet with just the right amount of spice from the cinnamon dolce. If you'd prefer it warm, you'll find this option also works well in this version. The difference is really between a warm piece of pie fresh from the oven and a piece of room-temperature pecan pie served with ice cream.

To create the perfect list of Starbucks secret menu drinks to celebrate fall, I considered all aspects of this fabulously cozy season, including the holidays, vibes, and popular flavors. Secret menu offerings typically come from Starbucks regulars (like myself) who love creating unique drink creations through an abundance of customization. Several of these are tried-and-true secret menu offerings, while others are my own creations. Most of the drinks require specific ingredients that only emerge during fall, while others use ingredients that are available year-round.