Starbucks' Caramel Macchiato Vs Caramel Brûlée Latte: What's The Difference?

When the holiday season arrives, you might find yourself craving a Starbucks winter favorite: the Caramel Brulée Latte. With a candy-like caramel topping and an indulgent sweetness, it's not hard to see why this seasonal drink has become a Starbucks winter mainstay. However, if you're familiar with the coffee chain's menu, you may wonder if the Caramel Brulée Latte is just a Caramel Macchiato with a crunchy topping.

While both drinks are composed of espresso, steamed milk, and caramel, there are some elements that are unique to each drink. The Caramel Macchiato uses vanilla syrup and a caramel drizzle, offering a sweet yet balanced profile. On the other hand, the Caramel Brulée Latte uses a special Caramel Brulée Sauce, providing a more intense sugary flavor that's complemented by whipped cream for extra richness. The latter drink is also a bit more caramel-forward than the Caramel Macchiato for a few reasons.

Starbucks' Caramel Macchiato consists of steamed milk flavored with pumps of vanilla syrup, layered with espresso and finished with a drizzle of caramel. It may surprise some customers that actual caramel joins the drink only as a topping. You may also have heard that a Starbucks 'macchiato' isn't a real macchiato. Traditionally, an espresso macchiato is just espresso topped with steamed milk. You can order a proper espresso macchiato from Starbucks, but drinks like the Caramel Macchiato are technically a latte macchiato: A latte where espresso is poured on top of the milk, not the other way around. The result is a visually pleasing gradient in your drink and a tasty contrast between the bitter coffee and creamy milk.

You can recreate a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato at home by carefully layering a few ingredients in a cup. Start with vanilla syrup, then add steamed milk (for a hot drink) or cold milk with ice (for a cold version), one or two espresso shots, and finish with a drizzle of caramel sauce over the top. In contrast, the Caramel Brulée Latte is a bit more complex, and a touch harder to recreate at home.

The Caramel Brulée Latte is flavored with winter-exclusive Caramel Brulée Sauce, rather than one of Starbucks' basic syrups. This sauce marries rich caramel with the smoky sweetness and toasted sugar notes of freshly torched crème brulée. This drink is also topped with whipped cream and caramel brulée sprinkles, further differentiating it from a Caramel Macchiato.

You can create a reasonable facsimile of Starbucks' crunchy caramel topping by carefully toasting or torching sugar, but the exact recipe for the Caramel Brulée Sauce is not known, and copycat recipes vary. Some homemade caramel brulée recipes mix caramel sauce and vanilla syrup, while others claim that you can recreate the taste of Caramel Brulée Sauce using Starbucks white mocha and toffee nut syrups. You may have to experiment with trial and error to see which copycat formula hits the notes that you're looking for in a caramel brulée latte.

While neither Caramel Macchiatos nor Caramel Brulée Lattes are healthy by any stretch of the imagination, they do have nutritional differences. In a standard, grande-size Caramel Macchiato, you'll find 250 calories, 33 grams of sugar, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, and 150 milligrams of sodium. A standard Caramel Brulée Latte comes in at 410 calories, 48 grams of sugar, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, and 340 milligrams of sodium. Choosing the Caramel Brulée Latte means doubling your cholesterol intake and more than doubling your sodium intake, compared to the Caramel Macchiato.

The daily recommended sodium intake for adults with no dietary limitations or health conditions is 2,300 milligrams, and cholesterol intake maxes out at 300 milligrams. This means that a Caramel Brulée Latte contains around 15% of your daily sodium as well as 17% of your daily cholesterol, all in just one 16-ounce drink. It's probably best to limit how often you indulge in this caramel-y seasonal treat.

In their basic forms, with no customizations, neither the Caramel Macchiato nor the Caramel Brulée Latte are dairy-free. The caramel topping in a Caramel Macchiato contains dairy, but you can ask for caramel syrup instead of drizzle, as well as plant-based milk in place of cow's milk, to get a dairy-free version.

A Caramel Brulée Latte, on the other hand, wouldn't be a Caramel Brulée Latte at all without its signature sauce. Skim milk powder is a built-in ingredient in the Caramel Brulée Sauce, so even if you order this drink with non-dairy milk, it still won't be dairy-free. Some recommend asking for white mocha sauce in place of the brulée sauce, but the mocha sauce also contains dairy. There's very little you can do to get a dairy-free version of this fan-favorite holiday item, other than experimenting with vegan copycat recipes at home.