I asked some of my neighborhood Starbucks baristas what their favorite holiday drink hack is – what special customization of a holiday drink do they especially enjoy? I thought it would be fun to know what my favorite baristas are drinking, when they’re not the ones making the drinks! The rules were that it could be just about anything, but had to involve this year’s five seasonal holiday beverages:
- Eggnog Latte
- Gingerbread Latte
- Chestnut Praline Latte
- Peppermint Mocha
- Caramel Brulee Latte
Here’s their 10 picks – hope you enjoy! What’s your favorite holiday hack? By the way, I tried every one of the drinks below. That was part of the deal – I had to try them all. All delicious! (Well, honestly, mostly they were good. I tried a few drinks that were too sweet for me but you might love them!)
Nick at the 6th and Union Starbucks says that he loves a Chestnut Praline Smoothie. It’s a chocolate banana smoothie, with no mocha sauce, substitute Chestnut Praline syrup. The Chestnut Praline topping goes on the bottom of the drink, in the cup, not blended in. This was a fun creative thing to do with the chestnut praline syrup, which was extremely popular with baristas.
Shameka at the 7th and Pike Starbucks says that drink a triple tall Chestnut Praline Latte with one pump of white mocha!
Karissa at East Olive Way has a delicious creation. Her holiday pick is a Eggnog Chai Latte with spiced whipped cream and molasses drizzle on top! This was truly delicious and one of my favorite of the 10 barista-picks drinks that I tried.
Adam at Westlake Center Starbucks loves to drink a triple grande peppermint mocha with extra curls. He says the holiday curls make the drink and he loves how they infuse the mocha with an extra chocolatey flavor.
Amanda at University Village 3 Starbucks drinks an iced grande triple caramel brulee latte with 2 pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup and no whipped cream or topping. Her drink is made with whole milk and has only two pumps of the caramel brulee latte syrup. This was one of the more heavily customized drinks I came across – but I was resigned to drink all ten drinks, so I tried this one too. I like this iced caramel brulee latte, thought it wouldn’t be my go-to drink.
Jonathan, who is a shift supervisor at the University Village 3 Starbucks, recommends a Caramel Apple Spice drink with no cinnamon dulce syrup. Instead, he suggests substituting the Gingerbread syrup. I know that doesn’t quite fit the five holiday drinks criteria, but I tried it and thought it was good. I figured you might enjoy it too!
Jordan, who is an Assistant Store Manager, enjoys drinking a grande chestnut praline americano with a splash of cold soy. This was delicious! I drank the whole thing! (A few of the drinks in this article were too sweet for me). I recommend this!
Bryan drinks an earl grey tea latte made with eggnog instead of milk. This was surprisingly good. It makes for a spicy and rich tea latte. You’ll find Bryan at the Pacific Place Starbucks.
Also at the Pacific Place Starbucks, you’ll find Lauren who drinks a triple iced eggnog latte with one pump of white mocha and one pump of caramel brulee syrup.
Last but not least, David at the Westlake Center Starbucks recommends an iced coffee with uncut eggnog and chestnut praline syrup. This too was a little too sweet for me!
Now it’s your turn. Do you have a favorite holiday drink hack? A favorite holiday customization? Now I’ve given you some ideas to run with if you’re looking for a new twist on your holiday favorite drink.
Keep in mind that you can collect stickers for each holiday drink: if you buy five, your sixth drink is free. (And your sixth drink doesn’t need to be a holiday beverage). For more information on this limited promotion, click here.
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My absolute favorite is a whole-milk misto (ideally with Christmas Blend, but Pike is good too!) with two pumps of Chestnut Praline. And maybe a shot of espresso if I really need the boost đ I also like gingerbread-white mocha (only one pump of each for a grande)…sort of a frosted gingerbread effect. And if I’m really splurging, a peppermint white hot chocolate, half-sweet.
Glad to see I’m not the only partner who’s completely hooked on chestnut praline! đ
@Misto Girl – This was a difficult article put together! There were so many things! One thing was that it was hard to get a lot of variations in the drinks – everyone loves chestnut praline latte! The other part that was a challenge was that I discovered that when I approached partners who didn’t know me at all and tried to explain “Oh I have a blog, I’m working on an article, I don’t work for Starbucks, no I’m not trying to sell you anything, I really just want to find out your favorite drink variation, has to be one of the 5 drinks…” it was just too much. One thing I want to say is that the 10 partners featured here are fabulously passionate about Starbucks!!
Melody, you should have come to my new store! 2200 Westlake above Whole Foods.
My current favourite is a tall soy teavana oprah chai with 1 pump of chestnut praline and cinnamon dolce sprinkles. đ
What a fun article!
Yes, MY FAV is “Caramel Oprah Spice”. Sub Oprah Chai instead of Cinnamon Dolce on the C.A.S.. Proceed as usual. If you can get over how ridiculous it sounds to order, One of the best heart warming drinks on a cold night!
Nice work on article and great drink variations by Seattle area partners in holiday mood.
Chocolate Eggnog Coffee
Christmas Blend, Bittersweet Mocha Sauce, eggnog and steamed milk topped with whipped cream.
I love the a grande soy gingerbread Frappuccino with regular whip, nutmeg on top, no molasses, and 2 extra pumps of frapproast.
Spiced Caramel Brulée Coffee
Christmas Blend, Caramel Brulée Sauce, Cinnamon Syrup and steamed milk topped with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.
Blonde Roast Caramel Brulée coffee
Caramel Brulée Syrup and Veranda Blend, topped with chilled milk or cream
@MJM – I have to try the CB with Veranda Blend. Sounds good!
Melody,
Great article! I love the variations of drinks and advising which are sweet, which I try to avoid.
Love the split screen pictures.
I am enjoying the recommendations in the comments as well.
Thank you for another year of extra work, taking the time to generously share your passion with us.. your like minded readers.
Happy Holidays to you.
@Sterling – I love the idea of a gingerbread Frappuccino. I want to try that!
@S. Fox – Thank you!! You know one of my next articles is going to be a giveaway for a Roastery card. đ
I remember making a Christmas cake Frappuccino a few years back. Sultanas, mocha syrup, gingerbread syrup, peppermint syrup and a few other ingredients.
This is an adorable and such a nice idea for a post, I love it!
Not exactly a holiday drink per say, but I love making a tall pumpkin spice latte with one pump pumpkin spice, one pump mocha, and two pumps white mocha with two shots of espresso. It’s amazing and based off the pumpkin spice black and white cookie we had like 6 years ago.
this isn’t much of a hack, but a plug for the VIA peppermint mocha! I was really skeptical that this would be good, but I subbed half and half (or breve in the biz) for the water. It was rich and creamy and just right! A great stocking stuffer.
Hey Melody,
I have loved the Chesnut Praline Syrup, I’m hoping we keep it around. It’s my favorite syrup. My drink of choice is a tall Chestnut Praline Americano with cream and a good couple of shakes of Cinnamon Dolce sprinkles. Or I skip the cream and sprinkles and just do the spiced whip cream. Both are good! I like the cinnamon dolce sprinkle version better cause I love the way the cinnamon complements the syrup. Worth a try!
-Rachel: Assistant Store Manager at 83rd and Aurora.
Love the many suggestions! I will have to try some of them. Lots of great comments. I feel like I need to say thank you to every single comment.
Eggnog Misto. I like Blonde Roast, but have done others too. Add 1 pump hazelnut; and on a early morning, 1 shot too.
Mocha Chestnut Praline latte! I don’t love super sweet, so I usually go with half the pumps and extra shot(s), extra chestnut praline topping. Tastes kindof like Cocoa Puffs cereal.
Christmas blend with about an inch of uncut, cold eggnog. It brings out the spiciness of the Christmas blend. I got many customers hooked on this every holiday!
Try a Chai Tea Latte with no water and Gingerbread. So yummy!
With working at starbucks and having a ton of trainees that come in, they tend to have no idea what they want and have us “surprise” them. One of my favorites that I would drink and suggest would be a gingerbread latte with 2 pumps of white mocha and 1 pump of caramel in a grande topped with regular whipped cream and caramel drizzle.
Patrick – the Caramel Oprah Spice, haha, is my favourite drink also! The Oprah Chai is just divine with the steamed apple juice. It’s my go-to comfort ‘sweater season’ drink!
@Rebecca B. Hehehe thanks. I even loved it when it was the Apple Chai Infusion back in ’08 with whip and Carmel drizzle . But Opra’s Chai has a ginger quality that fits better with the Holidays. “You get a Chai, You get a Chai. And you get a Chai. Ladies and Gentleman Rebecca and I drink warm Christmas in a cup. SERIOUSLY!
Here in Poland we have only ToffeeNut Latte and Gingerbread Latte (and one hot chocolate), but try to make Tall TNL, but with just 2 pumps of TN syrup, and take just a bit of Chai…Not too much ! Made on Whole milk with Christmas Espresso Roast shots ( I made it on 2) tastes awesome ! Especially, when before drinking you will eat Whipped cream with Toffee sprinkles and 3 circles of caramel drizzle.
Merry Christmas to all Starbucks Partners from Poland !