The Grande Extra Hot Vanilla Latte with Eggnog

Yesterday I had the bright idea to go to Starbucks and order a Vanilla Latte with eggnog instead of regular milk. If I ignore the amount of sugar and calories I just put into my body, I loved this drink! As someone who loves eggnog with a passion, I was delighted to hear that Starbucks offered all their drinks with eggnog for the holiday season. At first, I wasn’t too sure if the vanilla and eggnog would work together, but I was pleasantly surprised! The eggnog made the drink a bit thicker and a lot sweeter, so I would not recommend this drink to someone who likes lighter, less-sweet coffee. However, I loved this drink, I think it’s the perfect alternative to the usual eggnog latte, which is nothing compared to this. The Vanilla Latte with eggnog encompasses what it means to have “Christmas in a cup.” My only complaint, as usual, is that there was no whipped cream, I mean, why doesn’t Starbucks just state on their menu is their drinks come with whipped cream or not? It’s not that hard. Anyway, next time I will be sure to ask for it with whipped cream on top. Other than that, I have literally no complaints about this drink, it was all around delicious! I give the Vanilla Latte with eggnog a good 9 mistletoe out of 10!

The Chestnut Praline Latte

(Seasonal)

Alright, if I’m being honest, I couldn’t think of a drink to review for this post. But finally it came to me as I waited for my mom to pick me up in the rain, that’s when I decided to go to Starbucks and order the Chestnut Praline Latte. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good as I had hoped, so I was slightly disappointed. I was expecting some sort of nutty goodness, but what I got was a half-sweet cup of wood. That’s the only way I can describe it, “woody.” I’m not usually someone that likes pralines in the first place, so I’m not sure what possessed me to order this nasty drink, but I guess I was feeling rather adventurous that day, either way, I made a big mistake. The worst part was that I once again forgot to get it “extra hot” so not only did I get a cup of woody liquid, I got a cup of lukewarm woody liquid. To top it off, as I was sitting outside in the freezing cold rain, I dropped my binders in a big puddle. Now, you may be wondering how this relates to the Chestnut Praline Latte, so i'll tell you. When I bent down to pick up my soaking wet binders, I ended up spilling half of this stupid drink on my jeans. It goes without saying how much I hate this drink. It was disgusting. I feel like people who prefer spicy and flavorless drinks would thoroughly enjoy the Chestnut Praline latte. Either way, I didn’t like it one bit so  I’m giving this drink -6 Santa Claus’ out of 10.

Grande Extra Hot Hot Chocolate

 
If I’m being honest, I got lazy the other day and decided that instead of ordering some fancy drink that I might only mildly enjoy, I should order a simple hot chocolate.  Needless to say, I wasn’t at all disappointed by my decision to get such a classic drink. It was thoroughly delicious and I enjoyed every moment of it. I am still a firm believer that hot chocolate is one of the best drinks ever, no matter what time of year it is. I have to say, if I’m comparing Starbucks hot chocolate to Tim Horton’s hot chocolate, I would actually prefer Timmy’s, but Starbucks come in at a close second. Starbucks’ hot chocolate is just a bit too dark for my liking, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad by any means, but they might want to consider either adding more milk or adding less chocolate syrup. However, I don’t work at Starbucks, so who am I to judge? In general, I still quite liked this drink, it was the perfect sweet treat I needed after a long, rainy day… And the best part? There was whipped cream! As you all know by now, whipped cream is possibly my favorite thing on this planet at the moment, so it’s no surprise that this drink gets major brownie points for coming with whipped cream.  Not only did this drink satisfy my craving for something sweet and chocolaty, but it also brought back those fond memories of drinking hot chocolate with in my pajamas, watching the Polar Express on Christmas Eve. I don’t know what it is, but hot chocolate bring back some seriously nostalgic memories for me.  I would give the classic hot chocolate a solid 8.5 nutcrackers out of 10. 

The Grande Extra Hot Eggnog Latte
(seasonal)

It’s back! The coveted Eggnog Latte has returned from its hiatus and is as delicious as ever! I’m sure most of you have tried or at least heard of the Eggnog Latte from Starbucks, it’s a classic. I for one, get very excited when I see that they’ve put it back on their menu. This drink screams Christmas to me. It’s sweet, it’s creamy and it’s all around the perfect holiday drink for anyone who enjoys eggnog. I know eggnog is an acquired taste and lots of people thinks its “gross” or “too thick” but I personally think that eggnog is delicious and it’s probably one of the best parts about Christmas. Even those of you who don’t like eggnog, I think it’s worth it to give this drink a shot; the eggnog isn’t too noticeable, it tastes more like a regular latte with a pinch of sweetness. On top, the barista’s add a couple dabs of cinnamon that adds that perfect hint of spice to this otherwise sweet drink. The only disappointing part was that there was no whipped cream, and as you can probably tell by now, I freaking love whipped cream. I seriously think that would have made this drink a million times better, but that’s just me, if I had it my way, everything would have whipped cream on it. Now, if I’m comparing this to the other holiday drinks from Starbucks, which I am, this would be one of my favorites. I wouldn’t call this a “typical” holiday drink because it’s not as sweet and festive as the others, but this screams Christmas in a more subtle, subdued way, which I really like. In total, I would award this wonderful drink 8 elves out of 10.