Holiday Spirit, Served Hot! A Review of the Starbucks Holiday Menu

This graphic was released on the Starbucks website to depict the popular menu items of the 2025 Starbucks Holiday Menu. The four featured drinks are pictured in the back, including two hot versions and two iced versions. All five food menu items are lined up at the front of the image. Photo Creds: Starbucks Website

Harper Costin, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn 

A $7.45 Apple Pay charge, an extra early alarm, and a venti iced oat milk latte. This is a combination I am extraordinarily familiar with. With a love for this routine once winter rolls around, I am filled with immense excitement for the debut of the Starbucks holiday menu! This year's menu consists of the forever popular Peppermint Mocha, accompanied by the Caramel Brulée Latte, Iced Sugar Cookie Latte and Iced Gingerbread Chai. Along with drinks, there are many festive foods and treats, like the Snowman Cookie, Cranberry Bliss Bar, and Polar Bear Cake Pop. These treats were sweet and fun additions to the menu that caught my eye with their detailed frosted decor. This holiday season, I set out to review the well-anticipated menu so you can see which items get the spirited stamp of approval.

The first item I tasted was a grande Peppermint Mocha. A grande is the Starbucks equivalent to a medium, and it is the size I chose for each drink I reviewed.  I would describe the flavor profile of this drink as strong and smooth, with a sharp peppermint flavor and deep chocolate notes from the mocha. This drink has 175 mg of caffeine, which is a sizable enough amount to leave you with a strong energy boost. Though the flavors of this drink were deep and rich, I would not describe it as anything overly special, due to the lack of creativity in its flavoring. Overall, the Peppermint Mocha is an enjoyable holiday staple on the Starbucks menu, and based on my observations of its flavors I would rate this drink a 7/10. 

Secondly I took some sips of a grande Caramel Brulée Latte. This drink was sweet and creamy with a memorable topping of whipped cream and caramelized sugar crystals. This drink lived up to the “brulee” flavoring rather than traditional caramel by unlocking a deeper and more complex caramel taste that I would describe as an almost “burnt-sugar” sweetness. However I would say that this drink could lean a little bit too sweet for some people's coffee preferences. For these reasons I am rating the Caramel Brulee Latte a 7/10. 

My third and favorite drink was the grande Sugar Cookie Latte. By adding the sugar cookie cold foam to this drink, the flavor profile was maximized and quickly stole the spot for first place on my list of the holiday menu items. This drink was sweet and creamy with notes of vanilla and almond. The cold foam topping was an enjoyable texture with a flavor that complimented the latte well. This drink also had a festive red and green sprinkle topping that added some extra sweetness and holiday cheer. Based on this description I rate the Sugar Cookie Latte a 10/10. 

The fourth and final drink I tasted was the grande Gingerbread Chai with gingerbread cold foam. This drink had a delicious chai base that complemented the warm gingerbread spices well. This drink had clear tastes of cinnamon, gingerbread spice, and nutmeg. Starbucks has a well loved chai that has a mild yet memorable spiced flavoring that pairs perfectly with the traditional gingerbread flavors. However, this drink was slightly mild. I would consider gingerbread a strong taste that could have been better represented within the syrup added to the chai. Based on these observations I rate the Gingerbread Chai a 8/10. 

Lastly I tasted some of the food menu items, including the Cranberry Bliss Bar, Snowman Cookie, and Polar Bear Cake Pop. Each of these treats were sweet and memorable, but the one that stood out the most was the Cranberry Bliss Bar. The Cranberry Bliss Bar is a blondie with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and dried cranberries folded throughout and sprinkled on top. The frosting was a sweet component with a complex flavor profile that complimented the bar well. There was also a perfect amount of dried cranberries within the blondie. This bar was a lovely addition to the holiday collection and quickly marked its spot as my top food menu item. I rate the cranberry bliss bar a 9/10. 

Overall the 2025 Starbucks holiday menu lived up to my expectations. The Sugar Cookie Latte was a lovely caffeine boost that I am excited to add to my holiday routine. The cranberry bliss bar was a unique and memorable treat that I look forward to recommending to friends and family. This menu embodied nostalgic Christmas spirit and covered a multitude of flavorings.  I rate the 2025 Starbucks holiday menu a 9/10.