Is Starbucks NEW Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte Vegan? (Updated 2024)

Around the VeggL house, we love when a new drink is being added to Starbucks’ menu; especially when it looks like it just might be vegan… but is it?

Starbucks brought back quite a few drinks, food and even debuted one new drink for the 2023 holiday menu.

If I could describe my perfect caffeinated drink, it would have espresso, chai and either soy or oat milk. I learned about 10 years ago, while living in Richmond, Virginia that this is actually called a Dirty Chai.

A Dirty Chai would be my pick. So when I see that Starbucks is bringing us a Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte, my eyes lit up!

That light did not last long because knowing that Starbucks’ chai situation is complicated made me realize I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

Why is Starbucks’ Chai Situation Complicated?

Simply, Starbucks offers chai in two different ways:

• Chai Tea Bag
• Chai Tea Concentrate

The chai tea bag is what it sounds like. You order a hot Chai Tea and they give you hot water in a cup with a chai tea bag.

However, if you were to order a Chai Tea Latte, you would get their chai tea concentrate which contains:

CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE [AN INFUSION OF (WATER, BLACK TEA, CARDAMOM, BLACK PEPPER, GINGER, CINNAMON, CLOVES, NATURAL FLAVORS, STAR ANISE), SUGAR, HONEY, GINGER JUICE, NATURAL FLAVORS, VANILLA, CITRIC ACID]

In this concentrate, you may notice honey is an ingredient. And as vegans, we know honey is considered an animal by-product and thus is not vegan.

We are aware that some let this one animal by-product slide. You choose your level of comfort. At VeggL, we do not include honey in our vegan ethics.

Back to the question at hand…

Is Starbucks NEW Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte Vegan?

First, let’s answer what Starbucks’ Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte contains:

OATMILK [OATMILK (WATER, OATS), CANOLA OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SEA SALT, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, RIBOFLAVIN, VITAMIN A, VITAMIN D2, VITAMIN B12], ICE, CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE [AN INFUSION OF (WATER, BLACK TEA, CARDAMOM, BLACK PEPPER, GINGER, CINNAMON, CLOVES, NATURAL FLAVORS, STAR ANISE), SUGAR, HONEY, GINGER JUICE, NATURAL FLAVORS, VANILLA, CITRIC ACID], GINGERBREAD FLAVORED SYRUP [WATER, SUGAR, NATURAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVATIVE)], PUMPKIN SPICE TOPPING [CINNAMON, GINGER, NUTMEG, AND CLOVES]

After reading the ingredient list, you may already know our answer.

No. Starbucks’ Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte is NOT vegan due to honey being a part of the chai tea concentrate. 

If we’re not mistaken, this is the first Starbucks drink with oatmilk in the name to not be, vegan-friendly.

But also be aware, the Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai Latte is not a coffee drink. It is a tea drink. Look back at the ingredients… there is no coffee, only the black tea that is in the chai tea concentrate.

Can I Still Order a Gingerbread Flavored Drink That is Vegan?

Yes! You can still order a gingerbread-flavored drink. In fact, we highly recommend it!

HOW TO ORDER VEGAN:

Order a Gingerbread Latte with your choice of non-dairy milk (we like the creamier oat or soy non-dairy milk for this) and NO whip.

Simple as that.

This will include espresso though so be aware that there will be a caffeine difference.

If you are in the mood for a festive drink from Starbucks, we have our popular 2023 Vegan Holiday Guide you can look at.

Tell us in the comments if you tried Starbucks’ Gingerbread Latte with NO whip and which non-dairy milk you prefer for coffee.