Vegan Drinks At Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – How to Order Vegan


Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean – what are they? Okay, to begin with, I should clarify that we are talking about The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain. The place that invented what we have all come to know and love – the “Ice Blended” Drink. Apparently, the now-iconic drink, which literally every coffee store has its own version of, was invented accidentally in 1987 by the store manager at the Westwood, California location. Can you just imagine the thought process – “I wonder what happens if I put ice in a blender with coffee and milk and blend it…OMG a miracle”. Sir/Madam, I salute you for your creativity. In fact, cold versions of coffee drinks have become so popular now that every 3 in 4 drinks sold at Starbucks are cold rather than hot. Having covered Starbucks (How To Actually Order Vegan Starbucks Drinks) and Dunkin’ Donuts (Vegan Drinks at Dunkin’ Donuts – How To Actually Order Vegan), it’s time to look at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (which is currently the 7th most popular coffee chain in the US by store retail units) and breakdown the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Drinks menu. Full disclaimer, this article only covers the drinks items at Coffee Bean and not any food items.

What Drinks Are Vegan At The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf?

There are a variety of basic vegan drinks available at Coffee Bean such as hot/iced coffees, americanos, and teas. Coffee Bean also has soy, coconut, and almond milk which can be substituted in the place of dairy milk to make drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes vegan. None of Coffee Bean’s seasonal, flavored, or iced drinks are vegan, nor can they be made vegan, as their syrups and powders contain dairy.


What about Coffee and Juice – Are they Vegan?

Want to know what is vegan at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? What about if the coffee itself is even vegan (SPOILER it involves Weasel)? Then check out some of my other articles:


Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean - Coffee Bean Cup

Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean – Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Drink Breakdown

What drinks are vegan at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf? In this section, I will break down the Coffee Bean & Leaf Drinks Menu item by item.

Hot Coffee

Yes, coffee is vegan (you can read more about it in the post I wrote – Is Coffee Vegan? How to Find Out the Truth). Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has light, medium, dark, decaffeinated, and flavored brews. They are, according to their website, brewed from only the top 1% of Arabica beans in the world.

Iced Coffee

Iced Coffee is just coffee over ice. If it is just black coffee over ice, it will be vegan.

Red Eye

Okay, I have never had this before – mostly because it is essentially the most extreme caffeine you can possibly have at a coffee shop. Unless you MUST stay awake or work ridiculous hours, not sure exactly who would drink this. A Red Eye is brewed coffee with a shot of espresso on top. Now you know why it is called a “Red Eye”.

Americano

In case you didn’t know an Americano is an espresso diluted with water. Totally Vegan.

Iced Americano

An iced version of the above. Vegan.

Espresso shot

It is the base for any Italian-style coffee drink. It is hot water forced through compacted finely ground coffee. Obviously vegan.

Hot Tea

All Coffee Bean’s green, oolong, black, and herbal infusions are vegan. I covered everything you need to know about tea and whether it is vegan in my post – Is Tea Vegan? Time to Know the Complete Facts. Fun fact, all tea (black, white, oolong, and pur-eh) come from the same plant.

Iced Tea

Often iced tea contains honey so it is good to know that Coffee Bean’s iced tea is vegan.

Sweet Tea

Coffee Bean’s sweet tea consists of your choice of tea, herbal or fruit infusion poured over ice. Vegan.

Iced Tea Lemonade

This is described on Coffee Bean’s website as “brisk and satisfying.” It is made with their Scottish Breakfast Cold Brew Tea and sweet Lemonade Syrup.

Bottle of Water

Self-explanatory – it is water.

Bottled Juice

Depending on the juice brand – that bottle of juice may or may not be vegan. If you want to learn more about what orange juice and juices in general are and are not vegan, then check out my blog post – Is Orange Juice Vegan? Revealing Why You Need To Know.

Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean - Coffee Bean Store

Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean – Drinks That Are Vegan When Substituted with Milk Alternatives (Soy Milk, Coconut Milk, or Almond Milk)

In the above section, I covered the drinks which are vegan. In this section, I cover the drinks that can be made vegan by substituting with plant-based milk. To make it as helpful as possible for you, I also included a summary table of everything below.

Cappuccino (Hot / Iced)

Now that we are on the topic of cappuccinos, what differentiates a cappuccino from a latte? A cappuccino has an even distribution of espresso, steamed milk, and foam. Vegan (so long as ordered with vegan milk).

Latte (Hot / Iced)

A latte, in comparison to a cappuccino, has much more steamed milk and less foam. Both hot and iced lattes are vegan (so long as ordered with vegan milk).

Café Au Lait

This is brewed coffee (not espresso) with steamed milk and no foam. Vegan (so long as ordered with vegan milk).

Flat White

Flat White is a drink that originated in Australia. It contains espresso and steamed milk but less steamed milk than a latte, so it has a stronger coffee taste. A flat white has a signature microfoam on top. Totally vegan (despite the confusing name) so long as ordered with vegan milk.

Macchiato

A macchiato is an espresso with a small amount of foamed milk. Be careful not to order a caramel macchiato, which is not vegan – see below for more details on the syrups/sauces.

Cold Brew Coffee (Regular / Nitro)

Self-explanatory. Vegan.

Cold Brew Tea (Peach Jasmine / Raspberry / Mango / Black Cherry)

Coffee Bean’s cold brew tea is vegan in all flavors.

Vegan Drinks At Coffee Bean – Drinks Which Are Not Vegan and Can’t Be Made Vegan

In this final section, I cover those Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drinks that are not vegan and can not be made vegan through any substitutions.

Are the Syrups and Powders at Coffee Bean Vegan?

This is where I must break some bad news to you. The flavored beverages at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are not vegan (even if ordered with vegan milk). This is because most of Coffee Bean’s powders & syrups contain milk ingredients (e.g. Caramel Syrup, Chocolate Syrup, Vanilla Powder, Chocolate Powder, Hazelnut Powder, and Vanilla Bean Syrup – all contain milk).

I double-checked to see if the Coffee Bean powders you can buy on Amazon (for example the chocolate and vanilla) also contain milk. Unfortunately, I can confirm that they do.

Is the Vanilla Syrup or Powder at Coffee Bean Vegan?

Researching online it does appear that Coffee Bean at one point did have a vegan vanilla sauce, but it is no longer vegan. So just to clarify neither the vanilla syrup nor powder at Coffee Bean is vegan.

Are the Ice Blended Beverages at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Vegan?

The signature Ice Blended beverages (you know the Frappuccino type drinks) at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are not vegan as the powders and syrups used to contain milk.

Interestingly allegedly Starbucks used Coffee Beans iced drink as inspiration for their Frappuccino. If you want to read more about what drinks are vegan at Starbucks (FYI, you can order some Frappuccino vegan with some substitutions at Starbucks) you can here – How To Actually Order Vegan Starbucks Drinks).

Are the Seasonal Drinks at Coffee Bean Vegan?

The seasonal drinks at Coffee Bean are not vegan as they contain flavored powders and syrups which contain dairy.

Is the Coffee Bean Pumpkin Spice Latte Vegan?

Coffee Bean’s pumpkin spice latte is not vegan, and cannot be made vegan, as the pumpkin base contains dairy.

Pumpkin Spice is such a “thing” nowadays that I dedicated a whole post to reviewing whether Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is Vegan. Think it is vegan? If you want to find out, you will have to read Is Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Vegan? The Amazing Truth.

Vegan Drinks At Coffee Bean – Vegan and Non-Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean – Summary Table

For ease of reference, I have summarized in the below table the drinks at Coffee Bean that are vegan as-is, those that can be made vegan with plant-based milk, and those that cannot be made vegan.


Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean & Tea LeafDrinks at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf That Are Vegan When Substituted with Milk AlternativesCoffee Bean & Tea Leaf Drinks Which Are Not Vegan and Can’t Be Made Vegan
Hot CoffeeCappuccino (hot/iced)Flavored Beverages (all their sauces – caramel, vanilla, and chocolate)
Iced CoffeeLatte (hot/iced)Ice Blended Beverages
Red Eye Cafe Au LaitIce Blended Beverages
AmericanoFlat White
Iced AmericanoMacchiato
Espresso ShotCold Brew Coffee (Regular / Nitro)
Hot TeaCold Brew Tea (Peach Jasmine / Raspberry / Mango / Black Cherry)
Iced Tea
Sweet Tea
Iced Tea Lemonade
Bottled Water
Bottled Juice

Vegan Drinks At Coffee Bean – How To Make Vegan Coffee Bean Drinks at Home?

Are you feeling disappointed that the flavored coffees at Coffee Bean are not vegan? Well, fear not. There is a solution. You can purchase Coffee Bean coffee beans on Amazon and then make your own flavored coffee.

And, yes, whilst the Syrups at Coffee Bean are not vegan, you can use your own vegan syrups from another brand. As the saying goes: “sometimes you just have to do it yourself”. I personally recommend these coffee syrups (Mocha, Caramel, and French Vanilla) from Amazon. Add a shot of your flavored syrup of choice, and a dash of your plant-based milk and you have a flavored coffee bean cup of java from the comfort of your own home.

Some more alternative options

More of a pod fan? You can buy Coffee Bean pods on Amazon to take even more work out of making a coffee at home – they work with the Keurig coffee machines which are pretty widely available.

Also, the great news is that Coffee Bean’s chai tea bags are vegan. Believe it or not, a lot of chai tea lattes are not vegan – for instance, the Chai Tea at Starbucks is not vegan as it contains honey. You can make a creamy chai drink at home using these tea bags and some plant-based milk. I should also mention that the only exception I have found for a vegan chai tea latte has been at Dunkin’ – as long as you order the Chai Tea Latte with vegan milk. If you want to learn more read my post on Dunkin’ – Vegan Drinks at Dunkin’ Donuts – How to Actually Order Vegan.


Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean - The Final Sip

Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean – The Final Sip

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf – are there vegan options – yes. Do they have the best selection of vegan options – sadly not. The chain could be doing a lot more to make sure they have a greater variety of vegan drinks available. This is especially the case when it comes to their Ice Blended drinks. In a world where more people, not just vegan, are looking for dairy alternatives it could be something that could help set apart this chain, which in my opinion does have great coffee. It just has to get a bit more with the times – everyone else is.

Vegan Drinks at Coffee Bean

… now you know

Beverage makers may change ingredients and/or manufacturing processes. Always double-check ingredients before purchasing any beverages.


Like what You Are Reading

Does coffee make up a significant portion of your daily routine? Do you want to know what is exactly Vegan and what isn’t at your favorite coffee chains such as Starbucks and Dunkin’? Do you even think coffee is vegan? Find out the answers and more in my other pieces below:

Editorial Team

The Vegan Bev HQ Editorial Team - helping you find the best vegan drink out there!

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