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.