Starbucks’ 2024 holiday collection was released on Thursday, November 7th. The lineup includes cups, mugs, tumblers, merch, and their fan-favorite holiday drinks.
The full list of drinks off the holiday menu includes a Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte, Iced Gingerbread Oat Milk Chai, Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam, Peppermint Chocolate Cream Cold Foam, Sugar Cookie Cold Form, Chestnut Praline Cream cold Foam, and Caramel Brulée Cream Cold Foam.
Starbucks has also added all new Refreshers: Cran-Merry Orange Refresher, Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher, and the Cran-Merry Drink. Two hot chocolates are back: the Peppermint Hot Chocolate and the Peppermint White Hot Chocolate.
There are also holiday food items including Turkey Sage Danish, Dark Toffee Bundt, Penguin Cookie, Snowman Cake Pop, Sugar Plum Cheese Danish, and Cranberry Bliss Bar.
With so many menu options, narrowing down a few items to try was a little difficult. Many of the items seemed to contain several of the same ingredients, so while there are many different options to choose from, most of the items seemed to have similar tastes. The decided categories to try were one non-coffee item and a food/dessert. My choices for the categories were the Peppermint Hot Chocolate and the Snowman Cake Pop.
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
The Peppermint Hot Chocolate tasted pretty much as expected, a pretty standard taste for the drink. I did choose to go with almond milk rather than regular milk, so I am not sure if that made a difference in the flavor palette, but it was quite sweet. I do not think the peppermint was overpowering at all, as it did not completely take over the drink. The hot chocolate does unmix quite a bit, and I found that you had to continuously stir it especially after it had been sitting for a bit. I rated the Peppermint Mocha a 7.5/10.
Snowman Cake Pop
The Snowman Cake Pop was just like the Vanilla Cake Pop, which is a little disappointing. I think it would have been a better option to choose some other flavor of cake to change it up. The decorations on the cake pop were very cute and definitely looked to be well made and skillfully designed. The cake pop was sweet, and the texture was very smooth though quite dense. I rated the Snowman Cake Pop an 8/10.
Starbucks’ holiday menu is available now, and while there is no official word on when the menu ends, it typically is removed sometime during the second week of January, so there is still time to stop by and grab a treat for yourself. Heading home from school and need a quick pick-me-up for the rest of the day? Well, stop by the nearest Starbucks just down the street on Lynnhaven Parkway.
