Homemade Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew

Published 2/19/2024 Raise your hand if you splurge and buy a fancy coffee drink during the week? We do! Sometimes you just want to get out of the house and treat yourself to a fancy latte. Recently we’ve been doing a big ole’ group Starbucks order for the team and most of the time this vanilla sweet cream cold brew is on the list.

What is Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew?

If you haven’t been introduced to the Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew, let us introduce you. It is a semi-sweet coffee drink that is a delicious combination of cold brew coffee and vanilla sweet cream. We were heading to the coffee shop so often for this tasty treat that we decided to make it at home!

What You Need for Sweet Cream Cold Brew

Cold brew coffee

The base of this coffee drink is cold brew coffee, not espresso. You have two options when it comes to what kind of cold brew coffee you will use.

Cole brew is light, sweet, and easier on your tummy than regular coffee. It is a sweeter coffee drink but is not overwhelmingly sweet. It tastes just like the Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold brew. You save money by making it at home. You can make a big batch and drink it all week long.

Homemade cold brew coffee- we have a delicious cold brew coffee recipe on FFF. If you are going to take the homemade cold brew coffee route be sure that you make it the day before. Homemade cold brew coffee takes between 12-18 hours to make. Store-bought cold brew coffee– if you don’t have the time to make homemade cold brew coffee feel free to use store-bought cold brew concentrate. There are so many great brands out there. Our favorites are Wondering Bear and Chameleon brands.

Heavy cream

The vanilla sweet cream is a combination of a few ingredients. The heavy cream in this recipe adds the delicious richness you’re looking for in this copycat recipe.

2% milk

You combine heavy cream and 2% cream to make the vanilla sweet cream because if you were to just use heavy cream to your cold brew it would mostly likely clump.

Vanilla Bean

Oh baby, it doesn’t get much better than fresh vanilla bean. Scrape out every bit of fresh vanilla bean paste and shake it up into your vanilla sweet cream. Can I use vanilla extract instead? Yes, you can use 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.

simple syrup

The simple syrup just sweetens up this drink just enough! If you don’t want to use simple syrup, but still want to make your sweet cream sweet, here are a few ideas:

Honey simple syrup Maple syrup Stevia (not recommended)

Salt

Why salt? A pinch of salt to the vanilla sweet cream enhances every single ingredient in this drink!

Ice

You serve this drink cold and serve it over ice.

Make the Cold Brew

If you are using homemade cold brew you have to let it sit in the refrigerator for up to 18 hours so be sure to make it a day before. Here is the short version of how to make homemade cold brew Print Your Own For a more tips and tricks on how to make cold brew check out this post!

Prepare the Vanilla Sweet Cream

Storage Suggestion

We recommend storing the vanilla sweet cream separate from the cold brew coffee and mixing them together right before you are ready to enjoy your drink. Substitute either oat milk or pea milk for the heavy cream and milk for a creamy non-dairy option. To turn the vanilla sweet cream into a foam, use a frother to froth it for 15-20 seconds.

Serve over ice

We recommend hands down serving this drink over ice. The cold brew that you use will most likely be a concentrate and tends to be better ice cold! Pour the cold brew over ice and then add the sweet cream!

Can I make it hot?

We do not recommend making this drink hot, but if you must go for it! Heat your cold brew in the microwave and then add the vanilla sweet cream to the hot coffee. Store the sweet cream in an airtight container. in the refrigerator and store the cold brew in a separate air-tight jar. Cold Brew Coffee