By: Maggie Kelly | Staff Writer
For coffee lovers, it seems that the holiday season does not officially start until they can get their favorite drink in the classic Starbucks red holiday cup. This year, the franchise is celebrating the 25th anniversary of that very cup.
On November 3rd, six specialty drinks were added to Starbucks’ menu. While it is an exciting time, it is also easy to get overwhelmed by the new choices. So, I decided that it would be helpful to try each of these beverages and rank them in order to figure out which one is the best. Some may claim that my views are biased, as a self-proclaimed coffee lover, so I dragged my friend Paige who is not a fan of coffee at all along with me to provide her own input.
5. Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte
This combination of sugar cookie syrup, ice, almond milk, blonde espresso and sprinkles sounds like it should be amazing. However, the reality is greatly disappointing. I have heard that it is much better with oat milk rather than almond milk, but for this ranking we ordered all of the drinks exactly as they are advertised. Both Paige and I agreed that it honestly tasted like watery icing, which isn’t exactly appealing. Therefore, it is at the bottom of my list.
4. Toasted White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino
As someone who is guilty of exclusively ordering a vanilla frappuccino between the ages of 13 and 15, I prefer to keep the blended beverages in my rearview mirror. I have to admit, though, this was fairly decent for such a sweet drink. The beverage is created by blending coffee, ice, white chocolate flavor, and milk. The chocolate strongly overpowers any taste of coffee, and for that reason it is ranked so low for me. It felt more like a milkshake than a coffee, but for the exact same reason, it is ranked number one on Paige’s list.
3. Irish Cream Cold Brew
A fairly simple drink to make, it mixes cold brew with Irish cream syrup, topped with vanilla sweet cream foam. Overall, it was not the worst nor the best. Both Paige and I ranked it at number three. We agreed that although the initial taste is pretty good, the aftertaste ruins it quickly after. The only thing I can compare this unique taste to is a butter beer from Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. So, if you have ever been able to try one of those, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about.
2. Peppermint Mocha
One of my most unpopular opinions is my loathing of peppermint. I am not a fan of candy canes or anything in that realm, which is not very helpful during the holidays. However, even I could admit that this drink was pretty good. To be fair, I am a huge lover of mocha, so that more than likely helped in how I felt about this drink. Paige felt differently, and ranked this at number four on her own list, due to the fairly large coffee presence. While researching for this article, I discovered that this beverage, which features espresso combined with mocha sauce, steamed milk, and peppermint-flavored syrup, debuted in 2002. It is celebrating its 20th year, and I agree that it definitely deserves such a long reign.
1. Caramel Bruleé Latte
Now, this drink and its ranking came as a complete surprise to me. By all accounts, it should have ranked low on my list, as I am not a big fan of caramel, or even hot coffee for that matter. Instead, I was shocked by how much I loved this drink. It holds a simple mix of espresso, steamed milk, and caramel. By far my favorite on the holiday menu, it even appealed to Paige, who ranked it as number two. I loved this drink so much that it is now my go-to coffee order. But, I do prefer to get it iced. I have recommended it to everyone, and I have only ever heard good responses.
Cover photo from Jasmin Schuler on unsplash.com
