Is There Sugar In Flavored Coffee – The Definitive Answer!

Flavored coffee is great, and if you are on a diet you are probably asking yourself, is there sugar in flavored coffee to keep yourself on track with your weight loss goals.

While I am not too much of a fan of the liquid cakes sold by Starbucks, I love experimenting with my coffee. While flavored coffee is great, there are better and healthier ways than adding a huge dollop or squirt of flavored syrup to regular coffee.

At the end of this article I’ll tell you an easy way to make any number of coffee flavors in a completely healthy and sugar-free way!

Read to the end to get to that great juicy part, meanwhile, let’s answer your main question.

Is There Sugar In Flavored Coffee?

Let’s start at the very beginning, the very basics. Black coffee, the good old-fashioned Caffe Americano, only has 3 calories.

Add a dash of sugar, a single teaspoon and your calorie counter bounces way up to 35 calories. If you add honey to coffee or sugar, stick to just one teaspoon to limit your calories.

If you are like me and have a few cups of coffee every day, lavishly sweetened those calories do add up. A tablespoon of sugar, on average, has 48 calories while a tablespoon of sugar has 60 calories.

Head for your local gourmet coffee shop sugar dealer and a 16 ounce Starbucks flavored latte, and you have a whopping 17 grams of sugar for the syrup!

That is 4 teaspoons of sugar – 140 calories.

Then add in the sugar that you add, and you are starting to skyrocket your sugar level and calories. The coffee shots at Starbucks have the option of sugar-free flavorings that are both sugar-free and calorie free.

If you want to skip over the artificial flavoring be aware they have 20 calories per pump.

The main problem here with a gourmet coffee shop – sugar hidden in the flavorings.

Do Flavored Coffee Beans Have Carbs?

Let’s be very clear on this: coffee on its own has zero grams of carbohydrates. Also, flavored coffee beans have no carbs and thus a zero carb intake as a result of drinking coffee made with flavored beans.

To be clear, flavored coffee has no carbs, flavored coffee beans have zero carbs and coffee on its own does have any carbohydrates.

However,

there are carbs in what you add to your coffee, such as sugar, syrups, honey, chocolate powder, corn syrup, chocolate sauce and other such ingredients like, one I am guilty of – Swiss almond chocolate.

How many carbs, and, of course, sugar, will depend on each ingredient, type of milk, and the flavoring compounds in the syrups used when you are at your local coffee shop.

Stay tuned as I’ll tell you in a moment how you can ditch artificial flavor compounds and real food extracts and use real food and get all the fabulous inherent taste characteristics and no carbs!

Read: How many calories in flavored coffee?

Does Flavored Coffee Beans Have Calories?

No,

Livestrong and their MyPlate smartphone app tell us that there are no additional calories in flavored coffee beans. The app registered 3 calories for a 12 ounce (360 ml) cup of French Vanilla Coffee with no added sugar or milk.

The same result appeared for hazelnut coffee.

Again, as a warning to reinforce the point, high calorie hazelnut syrup did not produce anywhere near the same result – 20 calories per pump.

Does Flavored Coffee Have Less Caffeine?

There is no difference in the caffeine content of your coffee whether it is flavored naturally, which I am about to show you how in the next section.

If you have highly caffeinated coffee, it will still be highly caffeinated, like wise if you order a cup of decaf coffee. If you add flavored syrup or use flavored decaffeinated coffee beans, it will still be decaffeinated.

The flavoring has no effect at all on the caffeine content. The amount of caffeine in coffee will remain as it was and is.

How To Flavor Your Coffee Beans Naturally

This is how you make flavored coffee in a healthy and calorie-free option. Flavor the beans! This method will not increase the number of calories in coffee and will have you waving bye bye to the calorie laden coffee drinks that are loaded with syrup.

…liquid cakes as I call them.

This method is the preferred technique of coffee connoisseurs that like flavored coffee on occasions.

First of all, you need freshly roasted coffee beans. At Latte Love Brew, we encourage you to get in on the home roasting revolution and roast your own coffee beans.

Your next step is to decide what flavor of coffee you want. Cinnamon, Chocolate, Hazelnut, Vanilla, Coconut or whatever it may be. As long as it is a natural spice, you can do it easily and naturally without altering the nutritional content of your coffee.

Now that you have decided on your flavored coffee beans, it is time to make them. Let’s assume it is vanilla.

Take some vanilla beans and chop them, organic is best. Simply place them in an airtight coffee canister with a one way valve with your freshly roasted coffee.

Wait 24 to 48 hours, maybe as long as 72 hours. Test every 24 hours for taste by taking some beans, grinding them and making a coffee.

The longer your beans remain in contact with the vanilla or which ever spice or flavoring you have chosen, the stronger it will be.

When you have the desired taste profile, remove the vanilla beans or which ever spice you have chosen. When you flavor your coffee beans this way, you will end up with delicious smelling flavored coffee and amazing tasting coffee.

This method works based on the fact that coffee is an excellent absorber of both odors and tastes.

Are Flavored Coffee Beans Unhealthy?

The answer to this question is both yes and no.

If you are flavoring your coffee beans by yourself using the method above, then yes, flavored coffee beans and completely healthy.

However,

flavored beans that you have bought from a store may have been flavored with coffee flavoring oil, which can contain propylene glycol depending on the brand. Eggnog coffee flavored beans is one such example.

Many of the synthetic flavor oils have non-natural chemical flavoring which are added during the roasting process to produce flavored coffee beans.

The flavored coffee beans made in this manner I would suggest have some health dangers and are perhaps not healthy for you.

Make your own: it is easy enough by using natural cocoa beans, vanilla beans, cinnamon or any nuts or spices that you want to. There is really no need to buy or to flavor your beans using oils or syrups.

Frequently Asked Questions About Is There Sugar In Flavored Coffee

Does Flavored Coffee Have Sugar Or Carbs?

According to a study by the International Coffee Organization, an artificially flavored cup of coffee has no additional carbs, sugars or calories. The artificial flavoring is just a drop or a few drops of flavored oil added to the beans.

Flavored coffee that you get at coffee shops like Starbucks, Costa, Dunkin’ Donuts will have extra sugar, calories and carbs as they flavor their coffee using a sugar based flavored syrup.

Naturally flavored coffee beans will not have any added calories, sugar or carbs.

Is Flavored Coffee Unhealthy?

Flavored coffee that is flavored using a chemical solvent propylene glycol as a carrier in their oil I’d consider as unhealthy as up to 85% of the oil can be propylene glycol. Chemicals in flavored coffee is not something that I am a fan of. 

Excessive consumption of Starbucks flavored coffee can be unhealthy due to their coffee being flavored with sugar based syrups. We all know that excessive sugar is not good for your health.

Note: There are sugar-free syrups available from a variety of brands, including Torani, Davinic Gourmet and more. Starbucks also has limited sugar-free options for their syrups. 

I don’t consider naturally flavored coffee beans to be unhealthy as no extra sugar, fat, oil or other chemicals or substances are added to the beans. 

Does Flavored Coffee Make You Gain Weight?

Artificially and naturally flavored coffee beans will not cause you to gain weight due to adding no extra sugar, fat or calories.

Coffee that is flavored with sugar syrups certainly has the potential to add extra unwanted calories and may cause weight gain.

What Is The Healthiest Way To Flavor Coffee?

The healthiest and by far the best way to flavor coffee is to make your flavored coffee beans by chopping a natural food item and placing it in your coffee canister and leaving it there with your bean to take on the flavor of the food item.

Other great healthy methods are to use flavored milks, adding spices line cinnamon, honey etc to your coffee. If you must use a flavored syrup use sugar-free ones.

What Does It Mean When Coffee Is Artificially Flavored?

Coffee that is artificially flavored is flavored using chemical compounds, typically an oil that contains the chemical propylene glycol and artificial flavoring agents to add the flavor to the coffee beans.

How Much Sugar Is In A Pump Of Flavored Syrup?

Each pump of syrup has an average of 5 grams of sugar and 10 calories. Keep this in mind when you visit Starbucks.

Frappé-Ing It All Up – Is There Sugar In Flavored Coffee?

To answer the question, is there sugar in flavored coffee? If you have scanned down this far, the answer is yes and no.

There is no added sugar or carbs in flavored beans if you are using those or making your own, but there is absolutely, definitely sugar in flavored coffee if you are using syrup to flavor your Cuppa Joe.

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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