It’s that time of the year: Starbucks is back with the holiday drinks. This year, it launched its holiday drinks menu on Nov. 7, nationwide. Compared to previous years, Starbucks made some changes to its holiday menu ranging from introducing their first-ever holiday refresher to removing some customer-favorites away from the menu, such as the Toasted White Chocolate Mocha.
The holiday menu gives a twist of flavors to Starbucks’ regular coffee and chai drinks. The menu includes drinks, such as the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte and Gingerbread Latte. The majority of these drinks are available hot, iced or as frappuccino.
Starbucks also launched new holiday cold foams. For those who enjoy extra-sweet drinks, adding a layer of foam is the perfect way to combine and enjoy the regular coffee with a creamy touch. The holiday cold foams are the Gingerbread, Peppermint Chocolate, Sugar Cookie, Chestnut Praline and Caramel Brulée. It offers a wide variety of alternative cold foams, making it easy for customers with different tastes to find their favorite flavor. However, there is an extra $1.25 charge for adding cold foam to one’s coffee.
As previously mentioned, this year, Starbucks launched refreshers for the first time as part of its holiday menu. By adding refreshers to its holiday menu, it is expanding its market by offering alternatives to non-coffee drinkers.
There are three types of refreshers: the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher, the Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher and the Cran-Merry Drink. Although they are similar, the difference between them is that the regular Cran-Merry Orange Refresher is mixed with water and the Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher is mixed with lemonade, making it sweeter. On the other hand, the Cran-Merry drink contains coconut milk, which also adds a component of sweetness.
While I haven’t tried the holiday refreshers, I have tried the regular refreshers, such as the Strawberry Açai and the Mango Dragon Fruit refreshers, and they are both really good, so I am sure that the holiday refresher must also be delicious.
In addition, on Oct. 30, Starbucks announced its removal of an extra charge for non-dairy milk, which also began on November 7. Starbucks offers oat milk, almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk as non-dairy milk options.
According to Starbucks, “Besides adding an extra shot of espresso, substituting regular milk for a non-dairy alternative is the second most requested customization in a coffee order. Although this change only applies to stores in the US and Canada, customers who used to pay to switch their milk preference are expected to see a 10% reduction in their coffee price.”
Since I regularly drink coffee, especially during final exams in December and May, I will benefit from this change since I order coffee with a non-dairy milk.
