Photo by John Lineberger.

I have another confession to make – before doing this review, I wasn’t exactly sure what a snickerdoodle was. It sounds like some kind of german candy bar that I probably had once or twice as a kid, but the drink said caramel so surely it couldn’t be bad, right? A quick search showed me that it was just a sugar cookie with cinnamon on it and all my fears faded away.

I headed upstairs to Starbucks a little early today and found my regular baristas to not be there yet. I told the guy behind the counter that I had a recipe for him to try, to which he said, “uh-oh.” Not the best first response, but I had to persist. They worked away behind the counter and out came with the newest drink to add to my collection. Here’s the recipe:

– Iced Soy Caramel Macchiato, Upside Down

-Add Vanilla Syrup (1 pump Tall, 1.5 pumps Grande, 2 pumps Venti)

– Add Cinnamon Dolce Syrup (1 pump Tall, 1.5 pumps Grande, 2 pumps Venti)

Here’s a big and important tip – stir the macchiato before drinking! At first, the drink wasn’t working too well for me. I was getting a lot of the coffee with no sweetness or cinnamon or anything. After stirring it up though, things improved drastically. As far as the recipe, I think it needs more cinnamon flavor to deserve that “snickerdoodle” label. As is, it honestly tastes just like a regular iced caramel macchiato with maybe a hint of cinnamon mixed in. Not that that’s a bad thing – I LOVE my caramel macchiatos, but this drink doesn’t really standout as a secret recipe item to me. If I ever got this again, I would definitely shoot for an extra pump of cinnamon.

But that’s just my opinion! If you like the sound of it, go try it. Mine came out to be $4.60 after some debating between the baristas. If you’re not into it, come back next week and we’ll have another item off of Starbucks’ secret menu that may be more to your liking.

You can find all of Starbucks’ secret menu items at starbuckssecretmenu.net.