It’s not the holidays if you’re not drinking so much caffeine that you could jump-start a car by licking the battery, and Starbucks is here to help.
With spooky season in the rearview mirror and summer a distant memory, it is time once again for the most magical 17% of the year – a time when Starbucks franchises across the globe break out their seasonal ho-ho-hoard of crimson paper cups, ginger flavoring, and enough peppermint sprinkles to make an existentially terrified Santa Claus beg for his insulin.
This year sees familiar favorites returning to the menu, as well as a few fresh new entries that are sure to become classics. Here’s a look at everything coming to the Starbucks holiday menu on November 2.
The New Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai
Flying in the face of its very name, the New Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai is available not just as a frosty treat but as a piping hot beverage, too. Enjoy the aromas of fresh gingerbread, spicy chai, milk that won’t make your stomach hurt, and, on a side note, coffee.
Peppermint Mocha
It’s not rocket science. Starbucks has our number. The only thing better than coffee is coffee which tastes like something besides coffee, preferably candy. The Peppermint Mocha has been a staple of the holiday menu for years thanks to its mint chocolate deliciousness.
Caramel Brulée Latte
It’s a little disappointing that the Caramel Brulée Latte isn’t lightly torched like its namesake before making it into your hands. Then again, if the stereotypical barista can’t be trusted to get your name right, maybe it’s better not to give them a flamethrower just to add some zing and caramelization to a drink consisting of espresso roast coffee, whipped cream, and brulée-flavored sauce and sprinkles.
Chestnut Praline Latte
If you like spiced praline crumbs, dark espresso coffee, and caramelized chestnut flavoring, then buddy, you’re in luck. The Chestnut Praline Latte returns, available hot, cold, blended, or – if you catch a disgruntled barista on their last day – poured down the front of your shirt.
Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte
If a sugar cookie were liquid, made with almond milk, and filled with ice, it would look exactly like the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte on Starbucks’ holiday menu. Blonde espresso, ice chips, sugar cookie syrup, and a generous helping of seasonally colored sprinkles combine to make what might just be your new favorite selectively available beverage.
Oleato™ Gingerbread Oatmilk Latte
Only purchasable in select locations, this brand-new Starbucks drink has everything: Gingerbread syrup. Ginger and citrus flavors, lovingly dusted along the top. Most importantly, oat milk is lovingly steamed and infused with a spoonful of olive oil. It’s the new coffee craze that Bon Appetit called “available” and that CNN reported might make you go to the bathroom even faster than regular coffee.
Cranberry Bliss® Bar
Meanwhile, in the world of baked goods, Starbucks continues its year-round tradition of being a place where you can stand in front of the display case and go “Hmmm” while 20 people wait behind you. This holiday season, you can stand before the display case and go “Hmmm” at the Cranberry Bliss Bar, a blondie cake covered in cream cheese frosting, cranberries, and citrus zest.
Gingerbread Loaf
You’re only human. You love the taste of gingerbread and icing. Go and get the taste of gingerbread and icing, you human.
Peppermint Brownie Cake Pop
Everything is better served on a stick. Corndogs beat hot dogs, popsicles are better than loose frozen mounds of juice that you eat with your bare hands, and peppermint brownie cake is improved by the addition of an implement by which to hold it, allowing you to keep eating tiny bites of pastry without taking your mittens off. What can’t science do?
Snowman Cookie
This is a snowman cookie. It is shaped like three circles of different sizes, stacked one atop the other, and its frosting depicts a snowman wearing adorable earmuffs and a handsome scarf. If you scream every time you take a bite and pretend it was the cookie doing it, your date will leave, potentially forgetting their snowman cookie when they do. This is a great way to get two snowman cookies.
Sugar Plum Cheese Danish
If you’ve never had sugar plums, they’re the things that you keep having visions of dancing in your head. They’re also inspired by the delicious spiced topping on Starbucks’ Sugar Plum Cheese Danish, topping off a layer of cream cheese filling and a pastry base.
