Last but Not Least, The Grande Light-Iced Chai Tea Latte

Some people save the best for last, and I am no exception. I know I said at the beginning of this blog that the iced Vanilla Latte was my favorite, but I change my mind on a daily basis. So now i'm onto the Light-Iced Chai Tea Latte, it is so freaking delicious and creamy and refreshing and all around the perfect drink. I have been known to drink two of these in one day, and yes, the barista's judge me. I think this drink has gotten a bad rep because most people think that it's the stereotypical "white girl" drink, but it's so so much more than that. And I mean, sometimes it's nice just to be a basic white girl, right? It is the perfect combo of tea and milk and cinnamon, you just can't beat that. All in all, this drink is pure perfection and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. 

The Grande “Cotton Candy” Frappuccino

Sorry, but what exactly is a “Frappuccino”? Is it a milkshake? Is it coffee? Is it a cold cappuccino? The world may never know. Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of hype about this so-called “Cotton Candy Frappuccino” so naturally, I thought I should go and check it out. When I ordered it, the barista gave me a weird look like “what are you talking about? We don’t sell that here?” and then she asked me, “oh, do you mean a vanilla bean Frappuccino with two pumps of raspberry syrup?” Um.. I don't flipping know! I smiled politely and said yes because frankly I had  no clue what she was talking about. 

When I got it, I was over-joyed to see that it was pink. I mean, seriously, PINK! Literally this was the best part of the drink.  The drink itself was good, there was lot's of whipped cream and it was weirdly refreshing. It could have done with a bit less raspberry syrup though, I would recommend only getting one pump of raspberry syrup if you don't want the drink to be too sweet. In general, this drink was a pretty big success and I will totally order it again!   

Extra Hot Soy Latte with a Pump of Caramel

Anyone who has read this blog knows how much I hate soy, however, I thought I would give it one more chance because I really want to like it, I just don’t. So this time I thought I’d try something a bit different by adding a pump of caramel syrup. When I got it, I instantly regretted my decision, it had this weird brown tint and smelled very off. I didn’t think a drink could be that unappetizing, but I guess I was wrong. But, I’m not one to judge something solely based on its looks, so I gave it a try. Nope. Nope. Nope. The caramel and the soy just simply did not work together, and all I tasted was a more sugary version of soy, which I hate. Anyway, I go and try to salvage the $5.20 I spent on this cup of mud by adding cinnamon to the top… Bad idea. Again, it just didn’t work with the drink. I’m sure many people who like soy would enjoy this beverage, however I am not one of those people. I think it’s time I give up on my quest to become a soy-liker, and instead stick with the things I know I like. But hey, I give myself mad props for at least giving soy two chances. Now that I’ve learned my lesson, I will never, and I mean never order this latte again, but I suggest you try it at least once if you’re one of those weird soy-lovers.

The Grande Extra Hot London Fog

Before I begin this review, I have a quick little story to share. Yesterday, while I was paying for yet another Starbucks drink, the barista informed me that they were out of grande cup so they would have to put my drink in a venti cup. I was obviously fine with this because I don’t discriminate against cup sizes. I paid for my grande drink and waited for them to finish up making my London fog. However, when I actually got the drink, I noticed that it was completely full; they much have not realized that I only paid for a grande. I was pleasantly surprised, see that I got an extra couple ounces of coffee for free. BUT just when I was about to take my drink, the barista quickly stopped me and informed me that they had given me the wrong size and asked if I would give it back to them. She told me that they would re-make it to the grande size. Sorry, what? Yes, she told me that since I did not pay for a venti, I was not allowed to have it. Okay, understandable, but it wasn’t me who messed up the size, and now you’re telling me that you’re going to re-make the exact same drink but smaller. HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? You’re not only wasting a lot of coffee, but you’re also losing money seeing as you just made a venti drink that no one bought. I mean, I didn’t really care, but I was thoroughly taken-aback by the barista’s need to re-make my drink. Anyway, now onto the actual drink. I was good, but nothing special. I’m not a huge fan of earl grey tea, which is what London Fogs are made of, but this time it wasn’t too bad. I was actually surprised by how much I liked this drink. I don’t think I would order it over and over, but I’m definitely impressed and would recommend this drink to any tea-lover.

Why Starbucks Isn't Actually That Good

I thought for this post i'd take a bit of a different route. Okay, so in my last post I talked briefly about how I don’t actually enjoy Starbucks coffee. Yes, that’s right, I actually think the coffee is pretty gross. Throughout this project/blogging experience, I have not been exclusively drinking and I’ve come to realize that Starbucks is actually just over-priced, poorly made coffee. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t like their drinks, because the drinks themselves are pretty good, but the quality of the coffee is another story. When you add as much sugar and syrup to a drink as they do, it’s bound to taste good, but that’s because you don’t taste any coffee, you just taste the added flavor. I came to realize this when I decided to order just a plain medium roast coffee. It was gross. It was bitter with almost a sour after-taste. Granted, I didn’t add any sugar or milk, so I knew right away that I wasn’t going to like it that much, but I thought that I shouldn’t add anything to it so that I could give an accurate review for this blog. Clearly that was a big mistake. I’ve had black coffee before, but nothing this bad. If I’m comparing it to my homemade coffee, the homemade stuff wins by a landslide. I wasn’t disappointed because I had low expectations to begin with, but I will say that I was shocked at how bad it actually was. So I guess what I’m saying is that if you don’t actually care about coffee quality, then Starbucks is great for you, but if you’re looking for an actual decent cup of black coffee, I would STRONGLY recommend that you stay far far away from Starbucks.

The Grande Extra Hot Flat White

Before I review this drink, I have to take a moment and acknowledge the fact that I’ve come to realize that Starbucks isn’t actually that good. I mean, yeah they have cool drinks like Frappuccino’s and “refreshers” (whatever those are) but really, as far as coffee goes, Starbucks’  is actually pretty bad. Anyway, I just needed to get that off my chest.

Okay, so the Extra Hot Flat White is probably one of the best drinks I’ve had from Starbucks. I didn’t want to order it at first because I usually go for sweet and “girly” drinks, but I thought I’d try something new. I have to say, my first impression was that it needed sugar, so I ended up putting half a Splenda package in it, which I know kind of defeats the purpose of order the flat white, but I didn’t care. After I added the Splenda, it instantly tasted 10000000 times better. I actually ended up really liking the drink with the sugar added. It was creamy with just the right amount of sweetener and it almost tasted like almond milk, and anyone who knows me, know that I love almond milk! I feel like this drink could actually replace my staple Extra Hot Vanilla Latte, which is saying something, considering the fact that I’ve been drinking vanilla lattes since I was 10. This drink gets a solid 10 out of 10 on the amazing-o-meter.

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!