Frappuccino Happy Hour is here! May 1st through the 10th, you’ll be able to buy half-price Frappuccinos at Starbucks from 3 PM to 5 PM. If you are a member of MyStarbucksRewards, you get an extra hour of Frappuccino Happy Hour from 5 PM to 6 PM – just be sure to pay with registered Starbucks card. It doesn’t matter whether you’re at the Welcome, Green, or Gold level. MyStarbucksRewards members get an extra hour of Frappuccino Happy Hour!
I got a message from a regular reader asking about ideas for lower calorie Frappuccinos:
“Hi Melody, with Frappacino week coming up could you or a partner do a quick overview of the lower calorie versions? I remember that there are some SF syrups, but not lower calorie mixes…or is it the other way around? I love to participate, but need to watch the carb content. I don’t like getting to the front of the line and needing to ask lots of questions to very busy partners. Thanks!“
What a great idea to take a look at some lower calorie Frappuccino ideas!
First off, the sugar free syrups at Starbucks include the following:
- Sugar free Vanilla
- Sugar free Caramel
- Sugar free Hazelnut
- Sugar free Cinnamon Dolce
You can get a “lite” coffee-based Frappuccino. It’s a Frappuccino base that uses Stevia and a small amount of sugars as the sweetener. (The US version has the Stevia. In Canada, Frappuccino “Lite” includes sugar and sucralose.)
Let’s talk about milk choices; The default milk in a Frappuccino is whole milk. You can order it with non-fat milk, or for a small upcharge, you can order it with soy milk or coconut milk.
There’s one skinny sauce: A sauce is a little thicker than a syrup. You can get bittersweet skinny mocha sauce in your Frappuccino.
I recommend, if you’re trying to save calories, always ask to skip the whipped cream and ask for the “tall” size, which is 12 ounces. Ask for non-fat milk (or coconut milk) to save calories.
Customer low calories favorites are the Mocha Light Frappuccino and the Caramel Light Frappuccino. Both are coffee-based Frappuccinos using the light Frappuccino base, non fat milk, and skip the whipped cream. I was going to do a review of a number of low-calorie Frappuccinos but one lesson I learned out of this is that I’m personally not a fan of the lite coffee-base. Although when I talked to baristas about the topic of low calorie Frappuccinos, I consistently heard that lots of customers really like these two favorites: the Mocha Light Frappuccino and the Caramel Light Frappuccino.
Don’t forget that you can order the new S’mores Frappuccino at Starbucks as part of the Happy Hour! Add on a cookie straw for only 95 cents. There are now sugar cookies shaped like a Frappuccino! And there’s a S’mores caramel tart too. Here’s the new S’mores Frappuccino with the new cookies:
Hope you enjoy your Frappuccino Happy Hour!
(Photo credits: The two light blended Frappuccino photos came from the Starbucks nutrition site. The Frappuccino Happy Hour photo with the 3 cookies is courtesy of Jocelyn at Starbucks Bainbridge Island – Follow her on Instagram. And you can find me on Instagram here.)
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I saw today that they added an extra hour for rewards members and yet I wish in some ways they would have extended it to 7 pm. I saw the new cookie in the case. Melody have you tried it?
The light frappuccino base uses a combination of sugar and sugar substitute unless there’s been a change I’m not aware of. If you order a light frappuccino, they are supposed to automatically make it with nonfat milk without you having to request it. I saw on the website that there is a mocha toffee light frappuccino.
I love the Light options at Starbucks! It allows me to indulge once in a blue moon. They had a Tiramisu Frappuccino last promo which was really delicious. Pro tip: If a Frappuccino cannot be ordered light, ask for the Tall size, Nonfat or Coconut Milk, and No Whip. I did that with the S’Mores Frappuccino and it came out to 200 calories instead of 400. I wish they had brought back Mocha Cookie Crumble though. 🙁
May the force be with all who get to work Frappuccino Happy Hour! I’m an opener, so I rarely work a Happy Hour shift. I am in awe of those who do. Y’all ROCK! I must say though, the morning rush… it’s kind of like Happy Hour every day, just not Frappuccinos 🙂
I went to Happy Hour today. I ordered the new S’mores Frappuccino, one for my friend that had whole milk & caffeinated & one for me decaf & coconut milk. There was a definite taste difference between mine & my friend’s drinks even though we both got the same thing. She did not like hers. Mine was ok but kind of tasteless. Tomorrow I will try a new kind. I, too, miss the mocha cookie crumble.
I too tried to new S’mores Frappuccino over the weekend. It was waaayyyy too sweet for my taste. And I like sweet stuff, so I was really surprised. I even had them add some coffee to my drink and it was still too sweet. I think it was the type of sweet, it was sort of like a syrupy sweet.
Sadly I had to ask them to dump it and give me an iced coffee instead. So I don’t think I will be ordering it again.
@mahoro it is really sweet indeed! 🙁 I could barely finish a Tall. The Venti has a whopping 100 grams of sugar!
Stopped at Starbucks on my way to work to get my half priced frappuccino, only to be told that I could only get it half priced if I was gold level! They said if your card is registered and you were still at green level, you don’t get the extended time!
@Sarah I’m sorry this happened to you. That’s definitely not right – you only had to be an MSR member, not at any particular level. Would you email me please?
I have a question regarding Happy Hour. Do we still earn stars during this time? I bought a Frappuccino and my friend bought an iced coffee on Thursday. Her star was added to her account, but my star never showed up.
@Stephanie Yes, you should be earning stars with ANY purchase during Frappuccino Happy Hour. The thing that I have noticed is that stars seem to take more than the usual (24 hour) time frame to appear. Just today I got my stars from purchases I made on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Customer Service said the system has been delaying stars. However, if you still don’t see stars appear any time soon. My suggestion would be to call or email CS, they tend to be very helpful with assisting MSR members and other inquiries.