Festive Drinks

Holiday spirit and decorations aren’t the only things introduced with the colder weather. Famous coffee chains like Dunkin’, Starbucks, and Caribou Coffee come out with holiday drinks every winter.

Starbucks:
Let’s start off with the famous Starbucks, the largest coffeehouse chain in the world. Starbucks has introduced 7 different kinds of drinks this holiday season. The Peppermint Mocha is one of the most loved holiday drinks on the menu and has returned every year since 2002 – when it first debuted. The drink features espresso, steamed milk, mocha sauce, and peppermint syrup: the drink is then topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls.

The Chestnut Praline Latte includes espresso, steamed milk, and the flavors of caramelized chestnuts, topped with whipped cream and spiced praline crumbs. The Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte, returning for its second season, combines sugar cookie syrup, Blonde Espresso, ice, and creamy almond milk, and is topped with festive red and green sprinkles.

The Caramel Brulee latte includes Espresso, steamed milk, and rich caramel brulée sauce and is topped with whipped cream and caramel brulée topping.

Another drink introduced was the Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, which includes caramelized white chocolate mocha sauce, espresso, and steamed milk, which is then finished with whipped cream and topped with holiday sugar sparkles and crispy white pearls.

The last drink, the Irish Cream Cold Brew, is topped with vanilla sweet cream foam and cocoa powder.

My Review:

I tried the Chestnut Praline Latte, the Caramel Brulee Latte, and the Iced sugar cookie almond milk latte. I rated the Chestnut praline latte a 7/10, the Caramel Brulee latte a 7/10, and the Iced sugar cookie almond milk latte a 5/10. What surprised me was that the Iced sugar cookie almond milk latte wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, that was the one I was looking forward to the most and it definitely disappointed me. Overall the drinks here weren’t bad, and there weren’t any that I would never drink again.

Caribou Coffee:

The next coffee shop is Caribou Coffee. It’s a smaller specialty coffee chain that presents itself as an alternative but has better quality food on the menu and fewer crowds in the morning. With a cabin feel on the inside, people often go to Caribou to enjoy the cozier, more laid-back experience. Caribou released 4 drinks this winter.

The drinks include an Iced Crafted Press with egg nog cold foam which is a cold press with a splash of milk and sugar, with ice and topped with egg nog cold foam.

The Ho Ho Mint Mocha is next and is real chocolate melted into steamed milk and combined with espresso and mint flavoring. Topped with whipped cream and peppermints. The Ho Ho Mint Mocha is also available in iced, blended, or nitro.

The Fa La Latte was also introduced and includes espresso and steamed egg nog, topped with whipped cream and a hint of nutmeg. The drink is also available in iced or nitro.

Lastly, Caribou released the Spicy Mocha. The Spicy Mocha is real chocolate melted into steamed milk, espresso, ancho chili, and chipotle flavors. Topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips and is available in iced, blended, or nitro.

My Review:

I tried the Iced Crafted Press with Egg nog cold foam, the Ho Ho mint mocha, and the Fa La latte. I rated the Iced Crafted Press with Egg nog cold foam 2/10, the Ho Ho mint mocha 8/10, and the Fa La latte 9/10. What surprised me was that my favorite was the Fa La latte because when I had read the ingredients it did not sound good. I definitely do not recommend the Iced Crafted Press with Egg nog cold foam unless you love egg nog, but to me, it tasted like water.

Dunkin’ Donuts:

The last coffee shop I researched was Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ is a market leader in sales of hot, decaffeinated, and flavored coffee, iced coffee, bagels, donuts, and muffins. Dunkin released 4-holiday drinks this season.

This includes the brand new Cookie butter cold brew which includes cold brew, along with brown sugar and baked cookie flavors. It’s topped with creamy Cookie Butter Cold Foam and finished with cookie butter crumbles.

Brought back by popular demand is the Peppermint mocha signature latte. The Peppermint mocha signature latte which is available hot or iced is a mocha balanced with peppermint, topped with whipped cream, mocha drizzle, and a hint of hot chocolate powder.

The toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte was also brought back this season. The Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte features a creamy-rich white chocolate flavor in a signature latte topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzle, and cinnamon sugar.

Lastly is the featured Holiday Blend which is a limited holiday flavor. I tried Dunkin’s Cookie butter cold brew, the Peppermint mocha signature latte, and the Toasted white chocolate signature latte.

My Review:

I rated the Cookie butter cold brew 5/10, the Peppermint mocha signature latte 3/10, and the Toasted white chocolate signature latte 6/10. I definitely do not recommend the Peppermint mocha signature latte, that was gross but the Toasted white chocolate signature latte wasn’t bad and was my favorite drink there.

Starbucks 

• Peppermint Mocha 
• Chestnut praline latte 7/10
• Caramel Brulee latte 7/10
• Sugar cookie almond milk latte
• Iced sugar cookie almond milk latte 5/10
• Toasted white chocolate mocha 
• Irish cream cold brew 

Caribou Coffee 

• Iced Crafted Press with Eggnog cold foam 2/10
• Ho Ho mint mocha 8/10
• Fa La latte (hot) 9/10 

Dunkin 

• Cookie butter cold brew 5/10
• Peppermint mocha signature latte 3/10
• Toasted white chocolate signature latte 6/10
• Holiday blend coffee