2024 Holiday Drinks

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Peppermint Ice Storm

One of the best holiday drinks I tried this year. When I went to order it I asked for 2 extra pumps of peppermint syrup, and they said that they couldn't do that because they don't use syrup, but actual peppermint pieces. I said cool and she said that she would still put extra on it for the peppermint. It came out perfect. This drink was more like a milkshake instead of a frappuccino.

Cracker Barrel 

Sugar Plum Tea

Cracker Barrel has been killing it with their tea game this year. In the fall they had an amazing apple tea and now they have this plum tea. I lost track of how many refills I had. This was one of the top holiday drinks I had this year.

Starbucks

Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chi

It was ok. I know at Starbucks that I have to ask for 9 pumps of flavor in their large drinks. I will saw though that the oakmilk did go with the gingerbread, but they were still fighting for the dominant flavor.

Cran-merry Orange Lemonade Refresher

I've had this drink a few times thinking it could be a good drink if you could just get the ratios right. The first time I tried it with no modifications and it was super tart. The next time I tried 3 pumps of their simple syrup, then the next time with 4 pumps, and I'm thinking on my next time I will need to jump to 8 pumps. I'm hoping I can find the right ratio and when I do I will share it.

Chestnut Parline Latte

This was the first drink of the holiday season I tried. The first thing I want to say is that the graphic art this year was a total flop and pink is not a Christmas/holiday color. I understand that some people like pink, but it should not be used in marketing for the winter holiday season. It's great for spring with Valentine's Day and Easter, but not now. Then the drink itself was bland. I didn't do any modification to the drink. Not only was there no specific chestnut flavor, but there wasn't even a nutty aspect to this drink.

Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte

Another Starbucks disappoint. First off this is what they give you when you ask for lite ice...I also didn't asked for any extra syrup and it was bland. Just tasted like a super milky latte.

Kataluma Chi

This holiday season is the first time I've been disappointed in this chain and I even got one of the drinks at the good location in Flatirons Mall.

Peppermint Kisses

This drink used their chocolate chi mix as the base. It was ok, but they messed up on it. It tasted like they had used their mint syrup instead of the peppermint syrup. Some people don't believe there is a difference, but there is. As just a mint drink it was ok, but as a peppermint drink it failed. This drink came from the Flatirons location.

Mistletoe

So...in a way I kind of got what I deserved with this one based off of the flavor profile. The base for this drink is their raspberry chi and then they add mint syrup. A weird combo and the taste was just...weird. I would not recommend mixing these flavors. I ordered this drink knowing that there was a high chance it would not be good, but it had a holiday related name. Try at your own risk.

Dunkin

Cookie Butter Cold Brew

All of the flavor in this drink is in the foam. You take a lick of the foam and you clearly get the flavor. When you mix the foam in to try to spread the flavor it just disappears. They need to also flavor the coffee. Their coffee is bitter and needs all the help it can get.

Peppermint Mocha Latte Iced

This was by far the grossest holiday drink I tried this holiday season. Dunkin has issues with bitter coffee, but then when they mixed it with peppermint it went horrible. Not all peppermint syrups are the same and some brands can have a really weird taste. I think they use one of these off brands that do not make good peppermint syrups. Just avoid this drink if you value your stomach.

Cozy Coffee Co

About both of the drinks at this place that I tried neither was worth the high prices I paid for them. The drinks costed more then Starbucks' drinks with modifications for their base drink with no modifications. I suffered through them so that you don't have to.

The Candy Cane

Peppermint, white mocha, vanilla, & whipped cream. This drink only had the coffee flavor come through. It wasn't just a matter of the peppermint being weak, it wasn't there like they forgot to put it in. 

Eggnog Latte

Eggnog, vanilla, and cinnamon topping. I saw them put eggnog in the drink, but there was hardly any flavor. They needed to add extra eggnog syrup or something.

I think both of these drinks suffered from the same thing: whatever they are using for their base is watering down their drinks. Not to mention that both of these drinks also had vanilla in them which they did not need and it can negatively impact the flavor profile when misused.

Top Picture From: https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/46003579-pink-drink-on-table