It’s that time of year again where Starbucks releases their Christmas drinks. They came out with three new Christmas drinks and two of them were not delightful. I ordered every drink off the Christmas menu to rank them.
These drinks are very overpriced even for a grande, I evened it out to get 3 drinks every two days. That is sixty four dollars for ten drinks. Five to seven dollars for a “special drink”. I ranked them in three different categories: “overall taste,” “likelihood to get again,” also giving them a ranking between one and ten, one being the worst ten being the best.
Cran-Merry Drink
If you could taste Christmas this is what it would taste like. You know when you smell cinnamon or those bags of pine cones for decor in your house and if those pinecones tasted like something sweet this is what those would taste like. This drink was by far the best drink at 9/10, one point off because sometimes it would be bitter. I’d also get this drink again instead of my usual venti Pink Drink
Caramel Brulee Latte
As someone who doesn’t like coffee without a little sweetener, this is a perfect warm coffee drink. Because why would you drink something that’s bitter? It was a 50/50 with flavoring. 50% coffee taste and 50% sweet taste. This drink gives you a cozy holiday feeling, sitting by a fire and listening to the wood crackle while watching Christmas movies. I will be getting this drink again, 8.5/10, 1.5 points off for not enough caramel brulee topping, sadly and that it’s still coffee..
Peppermint Mocha
I also don’t like chocolate very much, but this drink was delish. I couldn’t really taste the coffee, it was more chocolate and a hint of peppermint, The good part of it tasted like a york peppermint pattie. I don’t have much to say about this one, but it was a 6/10 and I would not get this drink again.
Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte
When I think of a sugar cookie I think of those soft, iced colored cookies. This drink WAS NOT like that. I didn’t really expect it to be like that because it still has coffee, though the sprinkles were a nice touch. That was the only “cookie” thing about it. It was more coffee than anything, nothing tasted like a cookie or had a hint of sweet. It also kind of tasted burnt, not just the warm drink the iced too. It was a 4/10 4 points because of the sprinkles and it was bitter. You may say that I can add more sweetener. I know I can but Starbucks already has enough money as it is. I will not get this drink again.
Chestnut Praline Latte
The Starbucks website describes this drink as “flavors of caramelized chestnuts and spices.” How do you caramelize a chestnut? Like an onion? The good thing about it is you can taste the praline, there are bits on top of the drink too which tasted good but could use more of it. It was definitely an equal level of flavor. I like to find more drinks like that because if you taste too much of something it can get overwhelming, say something had too much peppermint or was too sweet. It can ruin the vibe or excitement. Maybe I’d get this a few more times, it was a 6.5/10. Everything about it was equal and not too much of something.
Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai
This drink tasted like a cup of sweet milk. The description of this drink states “warm chai spices;” it lacks the flavoring of those spices. It’s a more creamy smooth coffee. And a HINT of gingerbread but not enough to revolve around the whole drink. There’s not too much flavor. It’s an overall 5/10 the taste is all over and I honestly don’t know what starbucks is going for here. I won’t be getting this drink again.
Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher
You can not taste the orange. This drink is VERY bitter, and sour. When I think of lemonade I think of something refreshing and more sweet than sour. That being said, the fact that the drink was sour made me want to drink it more, not in a good way, being sour made me more thirsty. This drink lowkey made me mad, it says refresher in the name, though it was not refreshing because of how sour and bitter it was. It was a 2/10, 2 points because of the beautiful color the drink was. I will definitely NOT get this drink again.
Cran-Merry Orange Refresher
Samme thing with the Lemonade refresher, but not sour. Still bitter. I know cranberries are bitter but it’s still not refreshing, I didn’t even finish the drink because it was too bitter. I don’t have much to say, but the same reaction with this drink as the lemonade refresher. 3/10 because of the color and it was not sour.
Overall the best drink is the Cran-Merry Drink even though it’s a cold drink it’s the definition of a christmas drink, it’s not sour, or too sweet or bitter like the other drinks. And it’s something that’s actually refreshing. If i were you i’d go grab a Crab-Merry Drink.