If you are wondering if a cascara latte vegan or not this article will give you the absolute correct and definitive answer.
If you are in a rush, here is the quick answer: a cascara latte is not certified as vegan by Starbucks or any independent agency but contains no animal ingredients or anything at all from an animal.
Let’s get to the details!
Cascara Latte Vegan
Table Of Contents
A cascara latte is a very curious drink and has many coffee lovers wondering if a cascara latte is vegan or not.
The beverage at Starbucks is made with a Starbucks blonde espresso, steamed coconut milk and a cascara syrup and has a cascara sugar topping.
No animal products are used at all in this drink. Still the drink is not certified as vegan due to the risk of cross contamination during its elaboration as the same equipment is used to make non-vegan beverages.
There might be trace amounts of dairy, for example.
Personally, I would happily assume the drink is vegan and not be too strict about the trace amount that might be there. I’ll happily assume that there is no trace amount and lean on the positive side!
If coconut milk is not to your liking, you can try ordering it with their other non-dairy milk like oat milk, soy milk or almond milk.
Read: Cascara coconut milk latte
What Is Cascara Latte?
A cascara latte is a latte that is flavored with cascara syrup and has a neat brown sugar topping, except that brown sugar is a cascara sugar.
The coffee used is a blonde espresso and the milk is steamed coconut milk. The cascara sugar topping is designed in a straight line to make your beverage resemble the interior of a coffee cherry.
Cascara, in case you are curious, is the outer shell, the skin, the husk of a coffee cherry.
More often it’s a byproduct, a waste product of the coffee process. There are not a lot of uses for this part as the demand is low for cascara syrup and cascara tea.
Eco-friendly coffee farmers reuse the cascara to make compost that gets used on their compost pile.
Cascara Latte Vegan Recipe
Let’s get straight to making a healthy cascara latte vegan recipe.
At Latte Love Brew, we encourage you to use the best possible ingredients, techniques and equipment to get the best possible results.
Let’s get to this recipe and what ingredients you will need!
Cascara Latte Vegan Ingredients
Very few ingredients are required to make a vegan cascara latte. Due to the difficulty in sourcing cascara syrup, it is best that you make your own.
Plus,
even if you can’t find the syrup, you can make it free from artificial ingredients and preservatives and control the amount of sugar used.
Here are the ingredients that you will need:
- Starbucks blonde espresso roast whole bean coffee.
- Barista coconut milk.
- Cascara sugar.
- Cascara.
- Water, bottled or filtered.
You will need some equipment for brewing the perfect coffee, which are:
- Digital coffee scale.
- Ceramic flat burr coffee.
- Home Espresso Machine.
Let’s start with making your cascara syrup.
Read: Cascara latte calories
Making Your Cascara Syrup
Making cascara syrup is every bit as easy as making any other flavored coffee syrup.
Ingredients needed are:
- 1 cup of water.
- 1 cup of cascara sugar.
- 1 tablespoon of cascara.
Add your ingredients to a saucepan and stir well until all your ingredients until your sugar has completely dissolved.
Heat your syrup slowly at a low heat while being very careful not to overheat and burn and caramelize the sugars.
Let your solution simmer for 5 minutes and stir well. Never stop stirring!
After 5 minutes of simmering, let your syrup cool naturally while covered with the lid. Taste test your syrup with a teaspoon; if the flavor is perfect proceed to using a cheesecloth to filter your cascara syrup.
If the flavor is not quite there yet, simply leave it as it is to extract for a few more hours.
Now, let’s get making the perfect espresso for your flavored latte.
Making Your Espresso
Making your perfect espresso is easy. The better your espresso, the better this beverage will be.
Start by weighing your coffee beans when they are whole. Weighing them whole gives you a freshness factor due to the delay of the grinding.
When you grind your beans, you are increasing the total surface area which accelerates the oxidization process due to an increased exposure to air caused by the increased total surface area.
The mass of coffee beans are the same be their whole or ground, 15 grams of whole beans = 15 grams of ground coffee, regardless of the grind size.
Weigh 15 grams of whole coffee beans per shot that you want to brew. Grind them using a ceramic flat burr grinder as this type of grinder gives you a better quality of grind due to the greater consistency in grind size.
Grind to a fine sand-like grind size of 200 microns. Consult with your grinder for a grind setting for espresso.
Grind using the burst technique of grinding for 5 seconds and pausing for 3 seconds and repeating until all your beans have been ground.
Add your coffee grounds to your portafilter and tamp with an even pressure of 30 kg.
Get ready to pull your shot by placing your digital scale on your drip tray and tare your coffee cup.
Pull your shot and time it. Your shot should weigh 30 grams while the brew time should be 25 seconds or as close to 25 seconds as you can get.
If your coffee takes longer than 30 seconds to brew a 30 gram shot of espresso, your grind size is probably too small and inhibiting the flow of water.
Adjust your grind size and pull a better shot.
If your shot is brewed in less than 20 seconds, your grind size is too large and allowing the hot water to flow too quickly.
Adjust your grind size and make it slightly smaller and pull a better quality espresso.
When you have a perfect shot that takes 20 to 30 seconds to brew, ideally nearer to 25 seconds, start to steam your coconut milk.
Add a tablespoon of cascara syrup to your espresso shot.
Steam your coconut milk and pour twice as much milk as there is espresso. Decorate with a line of cascara sugar along the middle of the cup to make it look like the inside of a coffee cherry.
Read: Cascara latte
Cascara Latte Vegan Calories
A vegan cascara latte has from 100 to 240 calories depending on the size of the beverage as follows:
- Short 8 Oz (240 ml): 100 calories.
- Tall 12 Oz (360 ml): 150 calories.
- Grande 16 Oz (480 ml): 200 calories.
- Venti 20 Oz (600 ml): 240 calories.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cascara Latte Vegan
Is A Latte Vegan?
A latte can be vegan if you want it to be but simply ordering a regular latte or classic latte you will get a coffee that is made with dairy milk and thus will not be vegan.
If you specifically order your latte to be made with a plant-based or nut-based milk, it will be vegan. You can have your latte made with coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, rice milk, pea milk for example.
Is Starbucks Oat Latte vegan?
Yes, an oat milk latte is 100% vegan and was Starbucks first ever vegan friendly beverage alongside the oat milk shaken espresso and the iced chocolate almond milk shake.
Is A Vanilla Bean Latte Vegan?
Yes, while the vanilla bean syrup is not listed as vegan by Starbucks. There is no ingredient that is used that is derived from an animal.
Which Coffee Is Not Vegan?
All coffee is vegan as it comes from a plant. It is what you add to your brewed coffee that determines if it is vegan or not, particularly the type of milk used.
The only exception to this rule is Kopi Luwak, which is coffee that has been eaten and pooped out by a weasel. Although no animal product is used, you may want to avoid as it is technically processed by an animal.
What Coffee Is Vegan?
All coffee is vegan as it comes from a plant that is cultivated and grown. The addition of dairy milk and cream is what will make your coffee vegan or not.
Is A Pistachio Latte Vegan?
No, a pistachio latte is not vegan as the milk used is a dairy milk. If you request that your pistachio latte is made with a non-dairy plant or nut based milk, it will be vegan.
Is There A Dairy Free Latte?
Yes, there are many dairy-free lattes that you can order as all you need to do is request that it is made with a nut based milk or a plant based milk.
Are McDonald’s Coffees Vegan?
Yes, if you order your hot coffee or iced coffee without milk or cream you will effectively have a coffee that is vegan.
Final Thoughts – Cascara Latte Vegan
Now that you have the full details on the question is cascara latte vegan and why it is not certified as vegan it is up to you to make your decision to try it or not based on the knowledge that you now have.
While I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, I see no harm in ordering the drink since it “might” contain a “trace” amount of animal product. This is wording used to cover their backside just in the event that someone “might” sue them and is nothing to worry about.
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Derek Marshall
Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location
