The Grande Extra Hot Caramel Brulée Latte
(Seasonal)

It’s a dessert! It’s a drink! No, it’s the amazing Caramel Brulée Latte! This drink is the epitome of “dessert drink,” forget the usual milkshake or hot chocolate; make room for the Caramel Brulée Latte. This drink is part of Starbucks’ holiday drink collection, but in my opinion, this should be on the menu all year long, I mean, there’s never a bad time for dessert! I have to admit, I almost felt guilty after ordering this drink before dinner, and I felt like I was breaking the golden rule of “no dessert before dinner.” The Caramel Brulée Latte tastes as if the barista literally melted a Werther’s Original caramel in the cup then added whipped cream on the top. Now, don’t get me wrong, this drink is delicious, but for those of you that prefer a spicier drink, I would defiantly not recommend this to you. In general though, I really enjoyed the Caramel Brulée Latte. The topping on the top was by far the best part; it was like drinking a whipped cream cloud filled with little bits of deliciousness. I think the topping is supposed to imitate the burnt top of crème brulée, which it did perfectly! However, I have to say, this drink is not for the faint of heart, it is probably thickest and heaviest drink that I’ve ever ordered from Starbucks. It almost felt like I was drinking eggnog. The texture and thickness didn’t bother me too much, but I’m sure some of you more squeamish people would find this drink absolutely repulsing. I imagine that little girls around the world are ordering the Caramel Brulée Latte to satiate their sweet tooth, but not realizing that this is slowly contributing to their future coffee addiction. At least, that’s what happened to me. Still, if I had to choose a favorite Starbucks Christmas drink, this would come in third. Yes, it’s good, but if you drink more than one of these a week, you will probably become highly addicted and your blood-sugar will be through the roof. I would give this beverage a solid 7.75 jingle bells out of 10, if I ever feel the urge to be rebellious and have dessert before dinner, I will totally order this drink again!

The Grande Extra Hot Gingerbread Tea Latte

(Seasonal)

That’s right, it’s that time of years again, the time when Starbucks brings out their much anticipated Christmas, or should I say “holiday” drinks.  Prepare yourself for swarms of girls flocking to Starbucks to taste the deliciousness that is the Eggnog Latte or the Skinny Peppermint Mocha. I would also suggest that you prepare yourself for the hordes of out-raged people that hate the new red cup. Yep, that right, people are angry because Starbucks decided to scrap their usual “Christmassy” cup designs because they acknowledge the fact that not everyone in the world celebrates Christmas. Instead they went with a simple red cup this year. So apparently now Starbucks hates Christmas and is secretly plotting to destroy all the fun in the world?  I don’t about that, but I do know that they are still making amazing Christmas drinks and I was more excited than anyone to get my hands on the holiday goodness.

 I decided to take a bit of a different route when choosing the first holiday drink that I was going to try this season. I chose the Gingerbread Tea Latte because it combines tea and cookies, which is of course the best combo in the world. As someone who has tried almost every Starbucks drink at least three times, I was shocked to see this new addition pop up on their holiday menu. I must say, I was highly impressed with this drink. I was smooth, spicy and had just the right amount of sweetness to cut the strong cinnamon taste. I thought that the tea version of the iconic Gingerbread Latte would be tasteless and watery, but I was pleasantly wrong. It was a bit less strong than the original Gingerbread Latte, but in a good way. It was less “in your face” and more subtle, like the shy younger sister of the Gingerbread Latte. I do wish, however, that they added whipped cream to the top of this delicious drink, it would have been the perfect final touch, but unfortunately I don’t make the rules, so I will have to get over the lack of whipped cream. Altogether, I think this was the perfect beverage to kick off the winter season. The only way that I could describe this drink would be “Christmas in a cup.” It brought back those nostalgic memories of baking holiday treats at grandma’s house and eating nothing but cinnamon buns for breakfast on Christmas morning.  I am fully aware of how cheesy that sounds, but it’s the 100% truth. Anyone who sincerely enjoys Christmas should try this drink at least once during this holiday a season; it might just bring back memories for you too.  I give this drink a solid 9.5 reindeer out of 10.