
by Nigel Ong
The Mocha Frappuccino may be one of the most popular drinks in Starbucks today. It is ice cold, slushy, and full of chocolatey-coffee goodness. Add some cream on top… oh yeah.
It sold so well that Starbucks introduced a Ready-To-Drink (RTD) version of the drink. This way, you can enjoy your Mocha Frappuccino anytime you like. Just pick one from your grocery aisles.
However, do these RTD versions taste the same as the Mocha Frappuccino your barista makes at Starbucks? To answer this, I got onto a bit of an experiment myself. I compare the RTD Mocha Frappuccino and the hand-made drink version in this post.
What’s Inside Starbucks’ Mocha Frappuccino?
Getting The Hand-Made Mocha Frappuccino
For the experiment, I will need a baseline, a base drink to compare against. I will need some hand-made Mocha Frappuccino.
As a result, I went to my local Starbucks and ordered a Tall (medium) Mocha Frappuccino. I specifically requested my drink without whipped cream, which I cannot replicate at home.
While waiting for my order, I quietly looked at the barista at work. This is what I can see she did when making the drink:
- Add three pumps of dark brown liquid, likely chocolate syrup.
- Add three pumps of dark brown liquid again, likely coffee syrup / or some kind of coffee liquid.
- Some fresh milk, probably a cup.
- A scoop of ice.
- Blender time. The whole thing was blended for about 30 seconds.
- Pour and serve.
I was surprised that she did not pour in any fresh espresso shots. However, I am convinced I can replicate the recipe close enough at home since all I need to do is make ice slush and add the RTD.
I look forward to tasting the drink when I get home. On my way back, I picked up a bag of ice to add to my RTD bottle.
Making the RTD Mocha Frappuccino
Once I got home, I quickly got to work before the ice slush in the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino melted away. I pulled out my trusty blender and added a scoop of ice.
Careful to replicate the recipe, I shook the bottle to mix things up. Then, I poured the RTD in and mixed it well with the ice before I turned on the blender. I also let the blender run for about 30 seconds, similar to what I calculated at the Starbucks coffee shop.

I poured the contents into a glass cup and placed both drinks side by side. Color-wise, they look the same. Both looked like chocolatey, milky goodness with the bitter taste of coffee.
I took a sip of water to cleanse my palate and stirred the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino to mix everything up first. Then I put in my straws and started the taste test.
Bottled vs. Hand-Made Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino
Hand-Made Mocha Frappuccino | RTD Mocha Frappuccino + Ice Slush |
Stronger chocolate tasteSweeterLess creamy and milkyCoffee taste become stronger after a few sipsA more satisfying experience | Less sweetLess chocolate tasteStrong milky taste, similar to powdered milkFaint coffee taste Requires additional espresso and chocolate syrup to taste closer to hand made Mocha Frappuccino.A less satisfying experience |
I started off with the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino. It tasted sweet, with a strong chocolatey taste. The coffee taste was initially not very intense, with only some coffee bitterness.
However, as I took a few more sips, I noticed the coffee taste started coming. The whole thing tasted intense, with a good balance of sweetness, bitterness, and creaminess from the milk.
This is the flavor I think about when I have Mocha Frappuccino. It’s cold, sweet, yet thirst-quenching. I am satisfied.
I cleanse my palate with water and start trying the RTD Mocha Frappuccino.
My first sip was created with a very strong milky taste, without much coffee or chocolate. I was slightly surprised, but I gave the RTD drink a vigorous stir before taking another sip.
This time, I instead tasted a similar milky-like taste. I also developed an impression that the milky taste resembles those you get from milk powder. There’s some chocolatey sweetness, but it is weak and overpowered by the milky taste.
I barely tasted any coffee. The more I drink the RTD slush, the more I get the impression that it is chocolate-flavored milk with a bit of coffee inside.
Compared with the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino, the distance is vast. They may have similarities here and there, but the hand-made version is much better. The whole experience of sipping hand-made Mocha Frappuccino is much more satisfying than the RTD version.
Why Does The RTD Mocha Frappuccino Taste So Different?
I was frankly disappointed with how the RTD Mocha Frappuccino tasted. It was a far cry from how the hand-made ones tasted. Coupled with the fact that the RTD bottle comes with Starbucks branding on it made it worse.
I looked at the ingredients to see why the RTD Mocha Frappuccino tasted so different. It was here, and I discovered some aspects that could explain why.
Manufacturers usually list food ingredients by weight. This means the more ingredients there are in the food, the earlier they are listed.
When I look at the ingredients list in the RTD Mocha Frappuccino, more milk is used in the drink. The milk type is full-cream and skimmed milk powder, which explains the milk-powder-like taste.
On top of that, the coffee used in the RTD drink is instant coffee, which may explain why the drink is weak on the coffee taste. The chocolate is similar in powdered form.
Starbucks likely must compromise and use these ingredients since they need to produce and sell the RTD in bottles. These bottles must stay on grocery shelves for a long time, and using fresh coffee and chocolate syrup may not be a good idea.
Improving The Taste Of RTD Mocha Frappuccino
After discovering that the RTD Mocha Frappuccino tasted far from the hand-made version, I explored ways to improve it.
My first experiment is to add more chocolate and coffee taste to the drink. I added half a shot of Hershey’s chocolate syrup into the drink. I gave the drink a sip, which instantly tasted sweeter and more chocolatey. A step towards the right direction.
Next, I added half a Pike Place Blend espresso to the drink. After a sip, I think more coffee would bring the drink closer to the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino. I poured a whole shot in instead.
The drink now tasted much more intense and closer to the hand-made Mocha Frappuccino.
With the milk-powder taste, I first thought I could drown it away by adding fresh milk. I scooped up some of the drink and added in fresh milk. The additional milk threw the drink’s flavor off balance and did not work.
In the end, I decided to just have the drink with the milk-powder taste. There is nothing much I can do with it anyway.

Wrapping Up: Hand-Made Mocha Frappuccino Wins
In the end, I reached the conclusion that even with additional ingredients, the RTD version of the Mocha Frappuccino simply cannot compete with the hand-made version.
It does not have the intensity, sweetness, or depth of flavor. Even with additional ingredients to strengthen the taste, the milk-powder taste just does not go away.
If you are reading this post hoping to make your own Mocha Frappuccino at home, you may be disappointed. The closest you can get is something tasting similar but not the same. It’s like buying an off-brand product.
However, suppose you see the need to save a few bucks. You also do not mind the slightly off-taste and the additional work of making ice slush and adding ingredients. In this case, You will enjoy the RTD Mocha Frappuccino.