Five years. That’s how long it has been since Starbucks released a new holiday drink. Think back five years ago at who you were, what you were doing and where you lived. This goes back to the early days in high school or even middle school. *shudder* Point being, five years is a long time.
Since then, Starbucks has been thriving on their seasonal fall drink, the Pumpkin Spice Latte, and its red cups seem to have become iconic for the Starbucks addicts. I’m not talking about red Solo cups either. I’m talking about the time of year when there are more red cups around campus in the mornings than on Friday nights. ‘Tis the season for the traditional Starbucks’ holiday red cups. This holiday season, they will be filled with Starbucks’ latest concoction: the Chestnut Praline Latte.
I’m sure you have heard about it, and maybe you counted down the days until you could finally try it. Before you change up ‘the regular’ on your Starbucks tomorrow morning, we ordered all four of the holiday themed drinks and tasted them all to save you the time, money and 145 grams of sugar…(BTW and PSA: that’s the amount of sugar combined in these four, 12 oz. tall drinks).
Anyway, there’s no shame in indulging in extra sugar occasionally, but at least make the sugar count for something delicious! Here’s what we thought about Starbucks’ four holiday drinks.
Photo by Becky Hughes
I’ll start with this one because the rest of the drinks can only get better from here. Quite frankly, this one was my least favorite. Even though it was full of sugar, it wasn’t the sweet drink I was expecting. It tasted a bit like a cinnamon drink gone wrong. That could be a bit harsh though, since the drink did maintain a gingerbread taste. Perhaps gingerbread is simply better as a companion to coffee and not a flavor for it.
Photo by Becky Hughes
Do you remember the York Peppermint Patties? The peppermint mocha tasted like one of those melted up into a drink, except with more chocolate flavor. The name does it justice, and it has the creamiest texture out of the four drinks. Keeping in mind that the drink has the most sugar out of the four, it is perfect for mint chocolate fans.
Photo by Becky Hughes
The caramel flavors are subtle in this latte, but don’t be hesitant on tasting it yet. The latte is still overly sweet unless you’re conditioned for these types of drinks, but the dominant flavor is definitely the crème brulée. Since it’s not an everyday flavor like chocolate or vanilla, it was unique and tasty but difficult to deal with the overwhelming thirst for water afterward.
Photo by Becky Hughes
Last, but not least, the drink that you’ve been seeing all over the Twitter-verse. I have to give a gold star to Starbucks for this one because it is my favorite holiday drink of the four. It has the nutty taste you would hope for with the double-named nut drink. Although, not surprisingly, it is still very sweet, it is less sweet than the Caramel Brulée. Overall, the Chestnut Praline Latte finishes first and is a good addition to the line up of holiday drinks at Starbucks.
Now that you have a better idea of which holiday drink is best for you, go try one for yourself to get into the holiday spirit.