Buzzzzz. A new challenge has dropped for Starbucks Rewards: “Earn 90 bonus stars by ordering an iced latte three times in the next four days.” Enticing, although a bit ridiculous sounding, opportunities like this come up on my Starbucks app around once a week, and every time they appear I am faced with an internal decision: is it worth it?

I am hooked on Starbucks, or rather, their rewards system. Every day, I find myself checking the app for new offers to gain rewards points, which are called stars, or just looking at any new drinks that I will need to try soon. 

Earning stars wisely can be challenging for new customers, but the system itself is pretty simple. Each star is earned after spending $1, so the hack here is to use gift cards, which you can purchase and reload yourself to earn double stars on every purchase. Now, what to do with all those stars you have earned? 

I would only redeem 25 stars if you are not a frequent customer, because stars expire six months after earning them. But if you don’t foresee yourself frequenting Starbucks enough within six months to earn 200 plus stars, then I would recommend using the stars right when you earn them. 

I tend to normally cash out 200 stars when I earn them. By selecting the choice to get a free handcrafted drink, you are left with countless options to make your drink worth up to $15 or more dollars. I usually make mine around $12 because it is hard to rack up the price if you are purely concerned with money and not taste, unless you are adding countless espresso shots to your drink. 

As I mentioned earlier, there are other ways to earn stars other than purely from purchasing standard drinks. If you are a frequent user of the Starbucks rewards app, they will send challenges to your account. These challenges are catered to an algorithm of what the app thinks you frequently purchase. My most recent challenge that I completed was worth 90 stars. This challenge included purchasing three specific drinks before 11 a.m. Often, I am not able to complete challenges because they included purchasing drinks almost every day for over three days in a row. This would break the bank for me. There have been periods of time where I don’t have access to a Starbucks, such as on vacations, so I purchase Starbucks less. It is only after these droughts that the app stops sending me challenges and offers to earn more stars.

In the past, Starbucks has offered double and triple star days. These special days used to come about once a week but I have not seen one for months. These star days are exactly what they sound like, on every purchase you earn double or triple the amount of stars. Remember, using a gift card on one of these days can earn you quadruple or sixtuple the amount of stars on your purchase. 

There used to be other deal days too such as BOGO (Buy One, Get One) days or BOGO 50 percent off any size drink. I presume that these deals come across less frequently now due to the change in CEO or the dwindling end of boycotts. 

Although I am obsessed with earning stars, I do still care about which drinks I order. Here is my complete list of drink recommendations for every season:

Ranked No. 1 is an Iced Shaken Espresso with Peppermint Chocolate Cold Foam. I would rate this a 9.8/10. For me this drink is best enjoyed in the winter because of the holiday vibes that the peppermint brings. During the holiday season, Starbucks also features special cup designs as well as free red cups given out on Nov. 14 every year with purchase. Aside from the holiday season, a shaken espresso with any flavor of cold foam is entirely dependent on the texture. You can think of cold foams as sort of a marshmallow fluff whipped cream texture when they are prepared correctly. The shaken espresso also needs to be properly shaken so the cold foam can sit on top of the espresso froth. When properly prepared, a shaken espresso is my top-rated drink from Starbucks. 

Ranked No. 2 is another seasonal special. This is the Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha, I substitute the oat milk with 2% milk, which I would rate a 9.6/10. Last year in the spring Starbucks introduced their lavender powder and the fans (I) went crazy. The lavender flavor is subtle but the foam is sweet enough to complement Starbucks’ mediocre matcha. Since this is a seasonal drink, you can’t order it for most of the year. A good alternative for when you can’t order this drink is just to get a matcha latte with vanilla sweet cream cold foam. The texture is the exact same and the flavor is also very solid. 

Ranked No. 3 and 4 are refreshers. On the left is the Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher and on the right is the Cran-merry Orange Lemonade Refresher. I would rate the cranberry refresher a 9/10 and the mango dragonfruit a 9.1/10. The Cran-merry is the first seasonal refresher ever released and I recommend that you give it a try but with no inclusions. Inclusions are the freeze dried fruit pieces that get rehydrated by the drink. The Mango Dragonfruit is my all-time go-to drink, but it especially hits in the summer. I only get this drink with lemonade because just a water base is completely flavorless. A hack that I use for refreshers is purchasing a tall size drink with no ice and then asking for a venti cup of ice and mixing them together. This hack is cost effective and can also work well for Matcha Lemonade. Sometimes I get this drink with no ice and drink it over the course of two days, this is only when I am really pinching pennies.

Ranked No. 5 is Matcha Lemonade. This drink is a hit or a miss depending on how well the barista shakes the drink. This drink also does not keep well because the matcha sediment collects at the bottom of the cup and turns a brownish color. You should never drink this over the course of multiple days, like I do, because of the unsettling color. This is a good summer alternative to a regular matcha latte so I would recommend giving it a try if you like lemonade-based drinks. Keep in mind that Starbucks does not use ceremonial grade matcha so do not expect the flavor to be that concentrated.

My order history is not limited to these five drinks, but these are ones I tend to get regularly. For refreshers, I always recommend the lemonade base rather than the water, because the ice already waters down the flavor. For coffees, I tend to lean towards the iced option unless it is a mocha. 

During the holiday season, which I personally start in Nov., I stay away from refreshers so I can try the new drinks on the menu. Out of those new drinks I highly recommend the Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai. The combination of the spiced cold foam makes the bland flavor of Starbucks chai very bearable. 

I am a very high supporter of Starbucks drinks, and if I may, I give myself the title of connoisseur. But not everything they make is the best you can find. I do not recommend Starbucks London Fog or Chai. These teas are much better elsewhere. I also do not recommend their raspberry flavored pearls, or you may know them as popping boba. This addition of “boba” to the menu is straying too far away from Starbucks’ cafe origins. If you want to order boba, just go to a boba shop. 

I am also not a fan of the “subtle” price inflations on some of my go-to drinks. In other states and bigger cities, prices of these so-called “standard” drinks differ. But alas, this is due to inflation and other unspecified company costs.

This is a pseudo-complete guide as I do not include the bakery and sandwich options in my ratings. I aim to try those one day, but for now I am sticking to the drinks. It’s a good place to start your Starbucks journey. And lastly, my biggest recommendation is to just get the Starbucks App.