Starbucks Apple Cider (Caramel Apple Spice Copycat)

The Starbucks apple cider that everyone asks for by the wrong name is officially the Caramel Apple Spice: hot apple juice, a few pumps of cinnamon dolce syrup, a cap of whipped cream and a zigzag of caramel. It has no coffee in it, it takes a barista about a minute, and it costs more than a whole carton of juice. Made at home it takes fifteen minutes the first time, because you cook a small jar of cinnamon syrup, and about five minutes every time after that.

The drink has been quietly vanishing from menus over the last year, which is exactly why this recipe exists. The syrup is two sugars, water, cinnamon sticks and vanilla simmered for a few minutes. Once that is in the fridge, a mug of Starbucks apple cider is a matter of heating juice, stirring, and reaching for the whipped cream. The recipe below makes two big mugs and enough syrup for at least eight more.

Pictured: the drink as written in the recipe card, made with 100 percent apple juice, homemade cinnamon dolce syrup, whipped cream and caramel sauce piped from a bag.

What Is the Starbucks Apple Cider, Exactly?

Order a hot apple cider at Starbucks and you get the Caramel Apple Spice, because that is the only warm apple drink on the menu. It is steamed apple juice, not pressed cider, sweetened with cinnamon dolce syrup, then topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce. A grande runs somewhere around 380 calories, most of it from the four pumps of syrup and the caramel, and none of it from coffee. That last part matters to a lot of people, because it is the one hot drink on the board that a six-year-old and a grandmother can both order at four in the afternoon.

Cinnamon dolce syrup is the whole secret. It is a brown sugar syrup with a strong cinnamon note and a little vanilla, and it is what turns plain hot apple juice into something that tastes like a bakery. You can buy a bottle of the branded version or a Torani brown sugar cinnamon syrup, but the homemade jar in this recipe costs about fifty cents and tastes closer to the real thing than either.

The FDA notes that nearly all juice sold in US grocery stores is pasteurized, and that unpasteurized cider from a farm stand carries a warning label. Either works here, since the drink is heated anyway, but shelf-stable apple juice is what the cafe uses and what gives the most faithful copy.

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Ingredient Notes

Two short lists: the syrup, and the drink itself. Nothing here needs a specialty store.

• Brown sugar. A quarter cup, light or dark, packed. Dark gives a deeper, more molasses-leaning syrup that tastes closest to the cafe version.
• Granulated sugar. A quarter cup. Using half white sugar keeps the syrup from tasting like straight molasses and lets the cinnamon come through.
• Water. Half a cup. That ratio makes a syrup thick enough to cling to the juice but thin enough to pour from a jar straight out of the fridge.
• Cinnamon sticks. Two, simmered whole. Ground cinnamon works in a pinch, but it turns the syrup cloudy and settles into sludge at the bottom of the mug, so strain it through a coffee filter if you go that way.
• Vanilla extract. One teaspoon, stirred in off the heat so it does not cook away. Real vanilla is worth it in a syrup this simple.
• Apple juice. Two cups of 100 percent juice with no added sugar. Cloudy juice tastes a little more like fresh apples; clear juice looks exactly like the cafe drink. Both are good.
• Whipped cream. Sweetened, from a can or a piping bag. Homemade holds up longer on a hot drink if you whip it a little stiffer than usual.
• Caramel sauce. A thick, squeezable dessert caramel, not the thin ice cream topping. The cafe uses a buttery caramel sauce that sits in stripes on the cream rather than sinking through it.

Cinnamon Dolce Syrup: The Part That Makes It Taste Like Starbucks

Plain hot apple juice with caramel on top is fine, but it is not the Starbucks apple cider anyone remembers. The cinnamon dolce syrup is what carries the flavor: brown sugar for depth, cinnamon for warmth and vanilla to round it off. Four pumps go into a grande at the cafe, which is a little over an ounce, and this homemade version is sweet enough that two tablespoons per mug lands in the same place.

The syrup is also the reason the drink is worth making at home more than once. It takes ten minutes, it keeps in the fridge for six weeks, and a spoonful of it in coffee, oatmeal or a mug of steamed milk is the reason the jar never lasts that long. Make a double batch the second time.

How To Make Starbucks Apple Cider at Home

Start with the syrup, because it needs a few minutes to cool and steep before it goes into the juice. The drink itself takes about as long as it takes the juice to get hot.

Make the Cinnamon Dolce Syrup

First, put the brown sugar, the granulated sugar and the cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan. Next, pour in the water and set the pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugars dissolve, then let the syrup come to a gentle boil and bubble for three to five minutes. It should look glossy and coat the back of a spoon lightly; it thickens more as it cools, so do not chase a thick syrup on the stove or it will set like candy in the jar.

Then take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Leave the cinnamon sticks in while the syrup cools for fifteen minutes, so they keep giving up flavor, and pour it into a clean jar. It keeps in the fridge for up to six weeks.

Build the Drink

After that, warm the apple juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is steaming and small bubbles gather at the edge, about four minutes. Do not let it boil; boiled juice tastes cooked and loses the fresh apple note. A microwave works too, in thirty-second bursts in the mug.

Finally, pour the hot juice into two mugs and stir one to two tablespoons of syrup into each, tasting as you go. Pile whipped cream on top and drizzle the caramel over the cream in a zigzag. Serve it right away, while the cream is still holding its shape and the caramel is still in stripes.

How To Tell When Starbucks Apple Cider Is Ready

There are two doneness checks in this recipe, and both are about temperature rather than time. The syrup is ready when it has boiled for three to five minutes and looks glossy and slightly thickened. Dip a spoon in, lift it out, and the syrup should coat it in a thin, even film rather than running off like water. If you have a thermometer, 215 to 220°F is the sweet spot. Past 225°F it starts heading toward candy and will be too stiff to pour once it is cold.

The juice is ready when it steams and shows a ring of tiny bubbles at the edge of the pan, which is around 160 to 170°F. That is hot enough to melt the caramel slightly and soften the whipped cream without collapsing it. A cafe steam wand takes milk and juice to roughly that temperature, which is why a Starbucks apple cider is drinkable straight away rather than scalding.

If the whipped cream melts into the drink the second it lands, the juice was too hot. Let the next mug sit for a minute before topping it.

Make It Ahead

The syrup is the make-ahead component, and it is the reason this drink works on a weeknight. Make a batch on the weekend and the whole thing becomes five minutes of heating juice. It also makes a genuinely good gift in a small jar with a cinnamon stick tucked inside and a label with the mixing ratio on it.

For a crowd, mix the juice and syrup in a slow cooker and keep it on the warm setting for up to three hours. Set out the whipped cream and caramel so people top their own mugs; cream piled on a large batch in advance melts into a sad layer in minutes. A stovetop pot on the lowest heat works the same way for an hour or two.

Storing Starbucks Apple Cider and the Syrup

The syrup keeps in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. It gets thicker when it is cold; if it will not pour, run the jar under warm water for a minute or microwave it for ten seconds. If it crystallizes, which can happen when the sugar boils too long, warm it gently with a tablespoon of water and stir until smooth.

The mixed drink, without toppings, keeps in the fridge for three days. Reheat it in a saucepan or the microwave and add fresh whipped cream and caramel. Do not store a topped mug; the cream weeps into the juice and the caramel sinks. Starbucks apple cider does not freeze well, since apple juice separates and turns grainy after thawing, but there is no reason to freeze it when the syrup keeps this long anyway.

Variations and Substitutions

Iced, Spiked and Dairy-Free Versions

Iced. Stir the syrup into cold apple juice, pour it over ice and top with cold foam or whipped cream. It is the same drink the cafe pours iced in September, and it is very good on a warm afternoon.

Spiked. An ounce of bourbon, spiced rum or apple brandy in each mug turns it into a hot toddy that tastes like a caramel apple. Add the spirit after the juice comes off the heat so it does not cook off, and go a little lighter on the syrup. The spiced cider cocktail on this site takes the same idea in a more grown-up direction.

Dairy-free. Coconut whipped cream or a plant-based topping from a can, plus a dairy-free caramel or a drizzle of maple syrup. The drink itself has no dairy at all.

Real cider. Fresh pressed cider instead of juice makes a cloudier, tarter, more apple-forward version. Cut the syrup back to one tablespoon per mug, because cider is usually sweet enough on its own.

Crockpot Batch for a Crowd

For eight to ten servings, pour a half gallon of apple juice into a slow cooker, add two thirds of a cup of syrup and two cinnamon sticks, and heat on high for an hour or low for two. Switch to warm and let people ladle their own mugs. This is the version for a fall party, a Halloween porch or a bake sale table next to a plate of Starbucks blueberry scones.

Less sweet. Use one tablespoon of syrup per mug and skip the caramel. It reads more like spiced apple juice and less like dessert.

Extra spice. Add a star anise or four cloves to the syrup while it simmers, or a strip of orange peel for a mulled-cider note. Take them out with the cinnamon sticks.

What to Serve with Starbucks Apple Cider

This is a bakery-case drink, so pair it with bakery-case food. A slice of Starbucks gingerbread loaf is the natural match, and the two together taste like a cafe order from October through January. A square of cinnamon roll coffee cake or a warm scone leans into the cinnamon in the syrup without competing with the caramel.

On the savory side, a mug of Starbucks apple cider is very good next to a grilled cheese or a sharp cheddar and apple sandwich, the same way cider and cheese always are. It also happens to be the drink to hand someone who has just come in from raking leaves.

Starbucks Apple Cider FAQ

More Questions About the Caramel Apple Spice

Keep a jar of the syrup in the fridge from the first cold week of fall, and a mug of Starbucks apple cider is never more than five minutes away. Pour one alongside a slice of gingerbread loaf and skip the drive-through line entirely.