Every year, the holiday season brings a bundle of joy with family time, relaxation, and – you guessed it – the best seasonal drinks. Starbucks and Dunkin’ outdid themselves this year with classic favorites as well as impressive newbies. Today, we rank them.
The holiday drinks available at Starbucks include: the Peppermint Mocha, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, Caramel Brulee Latte, Chestnut Praline Latte, Irish Cream Cold Brew, and Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte.
For Dunkin’, their available holiday drinks are: the Peppermint Mocha, Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte, and Cookie Butter Cold Brew.
Let’s dive in.
- Dunkin’: Peppermint Mocha Latte
This drink is often a favorite for many. I am not the biggest fan of peppermint-flavored things, so for this one, I am biased. However, it is a latte available hot or iced. The mocha and peppermint flavor is topped with their whipped cream, mocha drizzle, and hot chocolate powder. This is a great option if you prefer something less sweet than a white chocolate mocha flavor.
- Starbucks: Peppermint Mocha Latte
Again, there is a personal bias here. Both places make a pretty solid Peppermint Mocha Latte. From my time trying both, I would rather have the Starbucks version. Their blend is topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls. Starbucks does also offer a Peppermint Hot Chocolate that I found to be better. It is a great alternative for non-coffee drinkers!
- Starbucks: Irish Cream Cold Brew
This one was intriguing, as the drink includes Irish cream syrup topped with the vanilla sweet cream cold foam and some cocoa powder. However, the taste is pretty bitter and does not give the same holiday energy that the other drinks do. For anyone who loves the taste of black coffee or those who do not want much sweetener in their cup, this is a solid option to give a go.
- Dunkin’: Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte
Seeing this on their menu in the drive-thru one day made me ecstatic as I have always been a sucker for white chocolate flavor in coffee. They top it with whipped cream, caramel drizzle, and cinnamon sugar, which was a nice touch. However, the white chocolate flavor felt like there was something missing. It seemed a little too sweet for my liking, but I may have gotten a bad drink. I tried it a second time and was more impressed, but would not go out of my way to get one.
- Starbucks: Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte
Going in, I had pretty high hopes for this one. They take the Blonde Espresso Roast mixed with sugar cookie flavoring and then almond milk. Plus, they put green and red sprinkles on top. However, this is another drink that is on the more bitter side. While I still enjoyed my time trying it, I found that I prefer the sweeter options most of the time.
I was also able to speak to Shealyn Scott, a junior at Saint Xavier University, who has a remixed drink incorporating the seasonal sugar cookie syrup. She says to order an iced chai with three pumps of sugar cookie syrup and to add the sweet cream cold foam. While the foam is optional, this would make for a sweeter drink that uses the holiday flavor.
4: Dunkin’: Cookie Butter Cold Brew
One thing about Dunkin’ is that their cold brew never fails. They experiment with their own unique cold foam flavors to add sweetness that does not take away from the typical cold brew feeling. Yet, it is always somehow more manageable to drink than regular cold brew. For this beverage, they added hints of brown sugar and baked cookie flavoring, topped with a special Cookie Butter Cold Foam and real cookie crumbs. If you prefer cold brew less sweet, you can order it without the cold foam.
- Starbucks: Chestnut Praline Latte
The top three are what I like to consider an iconic holiday trio. Chestnut Praline is one of the underrated drinks on the holiday menu, and deserves a try for sure. This one is full of caramelized chestnut flavoring topped with whipped cream and spiced praline crumbs. I prefer the iced version and find it to have a more nutty toffee flavor that is sweet in a different way than its peer drinks.
- Starbucks: Caramel Brulee Latte
The next part of the trio would be the legendary Caramel Brulee Latte. This one is so good I tried to order it in the summer once without thinking. It has the usual espresso and steamed milk in their usual lattes, mixed with a caramel brulee sauce. It is topped off with whipped cream and a crunchy caramel topping. If you are a caramel lover, this will be your new favorite, guaranteed.
- Starbucks: Toasted White Chocolate Mocha Latte
Coming in hot at number one, the Toasted White Chocolate Mocha finalizes this trio and this year’s ranking. There is some slight bias from me as my go-to year round would be the regular White Chocolate Mocha. If I had to explain this one in comparison, I would simply say it is the regular version, but almost as a s’more. Plus it is topped with whipped cream, red sprinkles, and white pearl candy, so what is not to like?