I don't know if you're aware, but on March 2, Starbucks started serving oat milk as an option for its drinks nationwide, and it was a pretty big deal to people*.
And to celebrate the occasion, they unveiled a new line of non-dairy shaken espressos, one of which is the Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.
While that all seems very drool-worthy, it ain't cheap! When I tried ordering it on the Starbucks app, the price was $5.45.
I'm balling on a budget, so wasn't about to spend almost $6 on a latte (sorry). But then, I saw this TikTok from @moeoconnor, who claimed there's a dupe you can buy for less $$$ that's actually exactly the same.
Allegedly, if you make a mobile order on the app and get an Iced Shaken Espresso, sub the 2% milk for oat milk, add four pumps of brown sugar, ask for no Classic sweetener, and add cinnamon powder topping, it's the same exact thing for $2 less.
I'm always down to save a little bit of money. Plus, I was curious to know if we were indeed getting played, so I decided to order both drinks to see if they actually taste the same.
I ordered my drinks on the app and made sure my shaken espresso dupe matched the instructions in @moeoconnor's TikTok and also the ingredients in the real Oatmilk Latte.
And as promised, the dupe did cost less! With an extra $0.70 added for the oat milk substitute, it came to $3.95, while the official Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso cost $5.45.
When I picked up my order, I made sure that one label said Brown Sugar Oatmilk and the other said Iced Shaken Espresso with the modifications. A part of me was worried the baristas would pick up on my ruse and just give me two Brown Sugar Oatmilk Lattes. Once that was squared away, I got the heck outta there and sped home before the ice could melt.
Since I'd never tried the true oat milk latte before, I tasted it first to create a baseline. My first impressions were that it wasn't as sweet as I would've liked — I'm kind of a sugar fiend — but over time, it really grew on me! The brown sugar flavor started to really come through the more I drank it, and I loved how creamy the oat milk made it, especially with the knowledge that it wouldn't upset my stomach like regular milk.
Next up, I swished my mouth with some water to cleanse my palate and went in on the dupe. On my first sip, it actually didn't taste EXACTLY the same. I thought it had a much stronger coffee flavor than the original, and the brown sugar taste wasn't quite as prominent. It actually tasted a bit more cinnamon-y from the topping. But after both drinks sat for a bit and their flavors began to meld more, I literally couldn't tell the difference between the two.
