Starbucks Drops Its First-Ever Ice-Cold Holiday Refresher
Don’t worry, the chain is still bringing back fan-favorite hot seasonal beverages.
Photo courtesy of Starbucks
It’s beginning to look a lot like — OK, maybe it’s not looking much like Christmas outside just yet. All the same, the winter holidays are emerging in department stores, building lobbies and other places where seasonal decorations debut before kids have made even the slightest dent in their Halloween candy hauls. Cue the festive holiday tunes.
Another place the holiday season is taking hold: Starbucks. The coffee chain has just released its holiday menu, featuring new and returning holiday beverages and pastries and set to arrive in stores on Thursday, November 7.
Notable in the lineup are Starbucks’ first ever holiday Refreshers, a trio of icy-cold drinks centering cranberry (or “Cran-Merry,” as Starbucks has dubbed it in a nod to seasonal mood) and orange flavors.
The new Cran-Merry Orange Refresher combines the taste of “sweet” orange and “tart” cranberry with a “warm” spice blend of cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg, according to Starbucks. Featuring real cranberries, the drink is shaken with ice and water.
The two other drinks in the trio, all three of which, like all Refreshers, contain green coffee extract from unroasted coffee beans, riff on the theme. The Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher starts with the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher and adds lemonade to the mix, while the new Cran-Merry Drink takes the same base and adds coconut milk for a creamy drink. Both are served with ice and real cranberries.
JULIA STOTZ/Photo courtesy of Starbucks
Returning espresso-based holiday beverages include longtime fan favorite Peppermint Mocha as well as Caramel Brulée Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte and Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte. All are available hot, iced and as a blended Frappuccino. For tea drinkers, Starbucks is also bringing back its Iced Gingerbread Oatmilk Chai.
Cold foam fans will be happy to hear that Starbucks is introducing two new cold foam flavors for the holiday season and bringing back several holiday favorites as well. All are available in either dairy or non-dairy versions and can be added to any drink (for an additional charge) for an added festive froth.
New Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam features “sweet and deliciously spicy gingerbread flavors blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream,” while new Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam offers “nutty flavors of pecan and rich brown buttery notes combined with a touch of salt and blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream,” according to the chain.
The latter cold foam is a main feature of the new Salted Pecan Crunch Cold Brew, which features cold brew coffee and Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam and is topped with pecan-flavored sugar for a bit of crunch. Starbucks describes it as a “savory-meets-sweet beverage inspired by sweet and salty candied pecan flavors of the holidays.” You can get it via the Starbucks app.
The returning holiday flavors are Peppermint Chocolate Cream Cold Foam, Sugar Cookie Cream Cold Foam, Chestnut Praline Cream Cold Foam and Caramel Brulée Cream Cold Foam.
And if the holiday season makes you hungry, Starbucks is on that, adding several new pastries to its menu boards, offering both sweet and savory options. The new Turkey Sage Danish (“a flaky savory pastry filled with turkey sausage and a creamy bechamel sauce”), Dark Toffee Bundt (“deep toffee flavor notes swirl together in a personal-sized bundt cake”), Snowman Cake Pop (“vanilla cake mixed with buttercream, dipped in white chocolaty icing”) and Penguin Cookie (“a buttery shortbread cookie adorned with a merry penguin design”) are all making their debut. Two additional returning holiday pastries — Sugar Plum Cheese Danish and Cranberry Bliss Bar — will also be available.
For your cup at home, Starbucks is also offering three seasonal whole bean coffee blends in November and December: Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend, Starbucks Holiday Blend and, back for its 40th year, Starbucks Christmas Blend.
And speaking of cups, Starbucks’ new holiday cup designs, featuring four new hot-cup and one new cold-cup design are already available at locations nationwide. This year’s theme is an upbeat one: “Merrier Together.” The cups lean into shades of green, cranberry red, “fondant-inspired soft pastels” and curvy lines that recall the wavy hair of the Starbucks siren. They’re meant to evoke the joyful spirit of the season.
“We kept thinking about this notion of voices coming together, like our siren singing,” Kristy Cameron, Starbucks creative director for this year’s holiday cup designs, said in a statement. “It feels musical in a way.”
Those festival holiday tunes? Cue them again.
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