Starbucks Is (Finally!) Offering Oat Milk on Its Permanent Menu

Starbucks recently announced that oat milk will (finally!) be offered as part of its permanent menu in stores nationwide beginning March 2. Starbucks is using Oatly oat milk, a creamy, plant-based, and nondairy milk alternative that pairs perfectly in your favorite Starbucks beverage. Yep, that means you can now enjoy one of its new Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espressos or a delicious Honey Oatmilk Latte without risking a stomachache or sacrificing creaminess.

The good news for dairy-free coffee-lovers comes after a successful regional trial run, as detailed in a blog post about the brand's sustainability efforts and growing interest in plant-based foods.

Disappointingly, there's still an additional charge to make a beverage dairy-free (I just tried to place an order for a latte with Oatly oat milk and was charged an additional 80 cents compared to a latte with dairy), but this might change in the future. After many Starbucks customers expressed their frustrations with the dairy-free milk tax and animal-rights organization PETA spoke up about removing the upcharge, Starbucks responded that it expects the cost to come down because more and more people are now using dairy-free options, although there's been no set timeline for when this will occur. It previously justified the additional cost because the dairy-free options weren't used as frequently.

Many coffee shops have embraced the popular milk substitute; Dunkin', for example, has carried it nationwide since August 2020. Starbucks also offers three additional dairy-free milk substitutes — soy, almond, and coconut milk.

Oat milk is an ideal companion for coffee and other beverages, with a creamy texture that more closely resembles cow's milk than other substitutes do. It also froths well — perfect for that foamy latte texture we know and love.