Coffee Drink
Iced Shaken Espresso: Recipe, Calories & Latte Comparison
Iced shaken espresso is espresso shaken with ice to chill and aerate it, then served cold, often with sweetener and a little milk. Shaking makes the light coffee foam; steaming milk is unnecessary.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- About 75 mg reference36 g prepared espresso; generic USDA composition76.3 mg before rounding. Actual caffeine depends on coffee, dose and extraction; the home recipe has not been assayed.
- Calories
- About 80 kcalDefined whole-milk and sugar recipeCalculated from USDA ingredient composition; includes all measured milk and sugar. Ice adds no calories.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 1 drink: 36 g espresso, 10 g sugar, 60 g whole milk and 150 g ice
- Made with
- Espresso, sugar, ice and a little cold milk
- Sugar
- About 13 g total. About 10 g added sugar plus about 3 g naturally occurring milk sugar.
- Preparation
- About 5 minutes with espresso equipment ready
USDA composition references checked 26 September 2026. Estimates apply to these quantities, not a particular café size. No firsthand recipe testing is claimed. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1Dissolve sugar in the hot espresso, then cool it over ice before closing the shaker. Add the cold milk after shaking.
- 2This serving is about 80 kcal and 13 g total sugar. The roughly 75 mg caffeine figure is a generic espresso reference, not a measured recipe result.
- 3An iced latte is assembled with milk and espresso; a shakerato is usually strained without serving ice. This recipe keeps the shaking ice.
On This Page8 Sections
What Shaking Does to Espresso
Shaking chills the coffee, mixes the sweetener and introduces air. The result has a light foam and a different first sip from espresso simply poured over ice. Foam is temporary, so make the drink when you are ready to serve it.
There is no universal milk ratio for every shaken espresso. Starbucks' published home version uses two espresso shots and 60 ml milk, with a shake-and-strain approach. Its café menu also describes sweetness and milk. Our recipe below sets its own gram amounts, keeps the shaking ice and adds unfrothed milk. It is a practical home interpretation, not a Starbucks formula.
How to Make Iced Shaken Espresso
Makes one drink · About 5 minutes · Use a 330 ml glass with headroom. Have the espresso machine hot and ready. A metal cocktail shaker should have room for the ice to move.
Ingredients
- 18 g coffee beans, ground for espresso; brew to 36 g espresso
- 10 g granulated sugar
- 150 g ice cubes
- 60 g cold whole milk
Method
- Mix. Brew 18 g ground coffee to 36 g espresso in a heatproof cup. Stir in 10 g sugar until dissolved.
- Chill. Put 150 g ice in a metal cocktail shaker. Pour in the sweetened espresso and stir with the lid off until the mixture is cold.
- Shake. Close the shaker securely, hold both parts firmly away from your face, and shake for about 15 seconds.
- Serve. Pour the coffee and its ice into a 330 ml glass. Add 60 g cold whole milk and stir gently if preferred. Leave headroom and serve promptly.
Use the espresso brewing guide to dial in the coffee before building the drink. The 18 g dose and 36 g yield are a starting recipe, not a fixed definition of a double espresso.
No espresso machine? A short, concentrated moka-pot coffee can make a useful alternative. Measure 36 g of the collected coffee for a first attempt and adjust to taste; it is not espresso and the caffeine reference below no longer applies. Without a shaker, stirring over ice still makes a cold drink, but will not reproduce the same aeration.
Shaken Espresso vs. Iced Latte and Shakerato
This table scrolls horizontally on smaller screens.
| Drink | Main preparation | Milk and serving ice |
|---|---|---|
| This iced shaken espresso | Espresso and sugar shaken over ice | 60 g milk, with the shaking ice served |
| Iced latte | Espresso combined with cold milk and ice | Milk forms a larger part of many recipes; shaking is optional |
| Caffè shakerato | Espresso shaken with ice, then strained | Our Italian-style recipe has neither milk nor serving ice |
Milk quantity changes how concentrated the coffee tastes; it does not remove caffeine. Comparing caffeine requires knowing the actual espresso portion in both drinks. A darker-looking drink is not automatically more caffeinated.
For brown sugar, oat milk and cinnamon, use the separate brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso recipe. For plain espresso over ice, see iced espresso.
Calories, Sugar and Caffeine
This whole-milk recipe is about 80 kcal and 13 g total sugar. Its roughly 75 mg caffeine figure is a generic composition reference for 36 g prepared espresso, not a measurement of your beans or a café drink.
The table isolates simple changes while keeping the espresso and ice unchanged. These are our calculations from public USDA ingredient records, not brewed comparisons.
This table scrolls horizontally on smaller screens.
| Version | Milk and added sugar | Estimated calories | Estimated total sugar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main recipe | 60 g whole milk + 10 g sugar | 80 kcal | 13 g |
| Less sweet | 60 g whole milk + 5 g sugar | 60 kcal | 8 g |
| No added sugar | 60 g whole milk, no sugar added | 40 kcal | 3 g |
| Black and unsweetened | No milk or sugar | 3 kcal | 0 g |
Serving calculation and sources
USDA reference values per 100 g are 9 kcal and 212 mg caffeine for prepared espresso, 61 kcal and 5.05 g sugar for whole milk, and 387 kcal and 99.8 g sugar for granulated sugar. The main recipe therefore gives (36 × 0.09) + (60 × 0.61) + (10 × 3.87) = 78.54 kcal, rounded to about 80. Total sugar is about 13.01 g. Espresso caffeine is 36 × 2.12 = 76.32 mg, rounded to about 75. These calculations assume all measured ingredients are served; ice melt changes concentration, not those ingredient totals.
Whole milk contains milk allergens. A plant-based alternative changes nutrition and may introduce other allergens; use the actual carton label. Decaf espresso reduces caffeine, but does not mean zero caffeine. More ice or a bigger glass does not tell you how much caffeine is present.
Fixing Watery Coffee or Weak Foam
This table scrolls horizontally on smaller screens.
| What you notice | Check first | Useful adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Watery after a few minutes | Warm glass, small melting ice or extra unmeasured milk | Chill the glass and keep milk at the measured portion |
| Very bitter or sour | The espresso before adding milk | Adjust the espresso recipe rather than covering a brewing defect with sugar |
| Little foam | Whether the drink was shaken or only stirred | Give cold coffee and ice space to move; serve immediately |
| Too milky | Milk measured by weight versus filling the glass | Stop at 60 g; a larger glass is not a milk instruction |
| Gritty sweetness | Sugar added to the cold drink | Dissolve it in the hot espresso first |
Some foam settles quickly even with careful shaking. Its height is not a quality score, and pouring milk can disturb it. Do not add a stabilizer simply to imitate an idealized photograph.
Common Questions
Can I make shaken espresso without milk?
Do I need syrup?
Is shaken espresso stronger than an iced latte?
Can I make it ahead?
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
5 references
External links open in a new tab
Preparation
Serving estimates
- USDA FoodData CentralPrepared espresso, FDC 171891Generic 9 kcal and 212 mg caffeine per 100 g, not a measured home espresso(opens in a new tab)
- USDA FoodData CentralWhole milk, FDC 17126561 kcal and 5.05 g sugar per 100 g for the defined milk portion(opens in a new tab)
- USDA FoodData CentralGranulated sugar387 kcal and 99.8 g sugar per 100 g for transparent sweetener calculations(opens in a new tab)