Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

Starbucks’ Frappuccino, the most famous blended coffee drink in the world, is a hacked clone of this blended concoction invented at the California-based chain, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. In the mid-'80s, a store manager at the Westwood, California location mixed diet drink powder with ice, milk, and coffee in a blender and was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. The recipe was tweaked to include the chain’s chocolate powder instead of the diet powder, and a new hit product was born.

To make the vanilla version of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Ice Blended at home, we must first make the secret flavoring powder, which starts with dry coffee creamer. You’ll also need vanilla extract powder, which can be found online. And if you can find them, I recommend superfine sugar (Baker’s sugar) and superfine salt (popcorn salt), because the fine crystals will dissolve better in the cold drink. 

Once your secret powder is made, measure 1/3 cup of it into a blender with ice, cold espresso, and milk, and blend on high until smooth. In just a few minutes, you'll have a 16-ounce re-creation of the original blended coffee drink now served at over 1,100 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations around the globe.

Try my Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Vanilla Ice Blended copycat recipe below, and find more of my copycat drink recipes here.