Starbucks Copycat Cherry Mocha: Take-Two

A copycat version of Starbucks Cherry Mocha. Easy to whip up and delicious enough to satisfy your cherry mocha cravings, with fewer calories!

You guys. I don’t think Starbucks is going to offer their Cherry Mocha this year. I’ve been waiting and watching for it, and it still hasn’t popped up on my Starbucks app.

Yesterday, we went to Starbucks and I asked if I could order it and the barista said they “weren’t stocking the cherry syrup”. 😫

I Cheated on Starbucks

In the past few days, I’ve even strayed from Starbucks to other coffee shops to see if I could find something similar. I tried a special Valentine Nirvana at our local Dunn Brothers, which contained cherry syrup. It was good, but definitely not as good as my fave cherry mocha.

This past weekend we were out of town, and we visited a coffee shop near our hotel called Higher Grounds. They had a Valentine special called a Red Velvet Latte, which was advertised as containing cherry syrup and cream cheese. No dice. I couldn’t taste the cherry syrup and the cream cheese flavor in my coffee was just, well…weird.

Copycat: Take-Two

So, I’m back at it again. We came home last night and I whipped up another version of my Starbucks Copycat Cherry Mocha. I did the same thing last year, if you remember, when Starbucks did offer their Cherry Mocha, but only for one week. Why?!?! And then, when I went to buy one, my local Starbucks was sold out of cherry syrup on the first day! Clearly, other people besides me like it, for it to sell out that fast, right? Plus, my original version of the Copycat Cherry Mocha is one of the posts that gets the most traffic on my blog, so why Starbucks isn’t selling it this year is beyond me.

My original recipe for Starbucks Copycat Cherry Mocha contained Kodiak Cakes Mountain Berry syrup. I was experimenting and had this in my fridge already. I tried it, and it worked great, even though it’s not technically cherry-flavored.

I still like that version of the cherry mocha, but this time, I didn’t have any Kodiak syrup on hand. Plus, I wanted to create an option that might be easier for the rest of you to create also, because the Kodiak Mountain Berry syrup may be a bit hard to come by. I originally bought it at Costco, but haven’t seen it there for ages. It is on Amazon, but it’s pricey. You can get one 32-ounce bottle, or two 16-ounce bottles for about the same price. It’s good stuff, with many uses. But if you don’t have any, here’s another option for you.

My newest update to this recipe contains a much more economical ingredient and something you might already have on hand– maraschino cherry juice. And if you don’t already have it in your fridge, you can pick up a jar at just about any grocery store for a couple of bucks.

I thought the cherry flavor was just right after adding 2 tablespoons of juice, but you can adjust it to your liking.

Mix It Up

I still wish Starbucks would bring theirs back because I’d love to be able to grab one on the go once in a while as a special treat. But I’ll probably be making my version up more regularly, because it’s just as good, with a much lower calorie count.

This second version is a few more calories than the first because the cherry juice has more calories than the syrup, and I also added more milk to this one to make it a bit creamier. You can adjust these things to your liking, though, and that will impact the number of calories, too. However you make this, it’s still bound to be fewer calories than the Starbucks version, which comes in at 430 calories for a grande! Yikes.

Starbucks Copycat Cherry Mocha: Take-Two

Niky @ The House on Silverado

A second copycat version of Starbucks Cherry Mocha

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Drinks

Servings 1 person

Calories 136 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 K-Cup dark roast variety brewed
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp maraschino cherry juice (just pour from jar of cherries)
• 1 tsp mini chocolate chips for topping
• 1/2 cup milk of choice (I used vanilla almond milk) warmed
• 2 tbsp Reddi Whip for topping
• red sprinkles for garnish

Instructions

 

• Brew 8 ounces of dark roast, strong coffee. You want the coffee flavor to be able to stand up against the other ingredients.
• Add cocoa powder, cherry juice, and warmed milk. Stir well, until blended.
• Top with whipped cream, mini chocolate chips and red sprinkles.

Notes

This version has more calories than my original version, because I added more cherry juice and more milk (calories are calculated using unsweetened vanilla almond milk).  But, it still comes in with far fewer calories than the Starbucks version, which has a whopping 430 for a grande!  Your calorie count will change depending on the type of milk you use.  For a sweeter version, try regular vanilla almond milk, rather than the unsweetened version, or sub some sweetened vanilla coffee creamer for part of the milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 136kcal

Keyword Cherry Mocha, coffee

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Are You Gonna Try It?

If you do, drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts! Who are my cherry mocha peeps out there? I’d love to hear from you. 🍒

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