Order Your Own Italian Soda At Starbucks In 2 Easy Steps

As more and more people have decided to control their intake of coffee (for one reason or another), alternatives to the morning staple have become increasingly popular across the United States. While the most obvious example of this is the dirty soda trend (which you can replicate at Starbucks), there's also the Italian soda trend, which consumers can create at Starbucks with ease.

For those unaware, Italian soda is the simple combination of sparkling water and flavored syrup. So, if you want to skip out on the sugar and caffeine involved with both soda and coffee to instead focus on the delicious flavors offered by Starbucks' syrups, ask for a few pumps of syrup in an ice cup and then buy San Pellegrino from the cooler. Once you've checked out, combine them together to create a great-tasting Italian soda.

This is a hack that some online commenters have been swearing by as of late, and it's a pretty great bargain, all things considered. While there's no official price for a cup of just syrup and ice (and thus the price at your local Starbucks can vary), some report it cost them less than $1. Because of this, the bottle of Pellegrino will likely be the more expensive of the two. If you're a sparkling water connoisseur who's willing to bring a bottle from home, you can save even more money by only purchasing the syrup cup.

While it's unlikely that Italian sodas or dirty sodas will completely take over the coffee market (it is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, after all), having a low-priced alternative to Starbucks' coffee is a great way to enjoy the delicious flavors of the chain's signature syrups. If you want to make your Italian soda even more flavorful, choosing a different kind of sparkling water could be your key to success. For example, San Pellegrino Limonata would bring fresh lemon juice to the mix and would pair well with Starbucks' raspberry syrup for an absolutely delicious combination. If you prefer the Spindrift brand, try combining its Fuji Apple sparkling water with Starbucks' banana syrup for an incredible end result.

Alternatively, one Reddit user who's a big fan of the Italian soda hack noted that making it into a French soda is a great choice, as well. To do this, ask for half-and-half with your syrup of choice and then add the sparkling water in for a creamy, delectable beverage that fans of Italian soda are sure to love. This trick is made even better if your local Starbucks has a self-serve condiment station, as it allows you to add exactly as much cream as you'd like to your concoction.