The holidays will arrive at Starbucks on November 7th and the coffee giant revealed its new designs for this season’s holiday cups. Kristy Cameron, Starbucks creative director for this year’s holiday cup designs, said, in a press release, that the team was inspired to try to make every sip a joyful one:
“We love finding these genuine moments of joy and coffee to inspire the creative,” Cameron said. “Whether that’s coffee trees growing, beans roasting, cups toasting, or lights glowing – we wanted to share the warmth of our coffeehouse and the anticipation of the red cups arriving with our customers and partners.”
The theme for Holiday 2024 is Merrier Together. The holiday menu is scheduled to be released on November 7th, the same day the company will stop charging extra for customizing drinks with non-dairy milk. Here is a snapshot of everything from the holiday cup designs to the new menu items:
Holiday Cup Designs
Holiday cup designs from left (details from the press release):
- The Joyful Connection cup, with its circular shapes combine to form a pattern that honors the art of coffee roasting and the joy of being together.
- Lyrical Landscape features vibrant, undulating lines that weave together, reminiscent of holiday ribbons and the green rolling hills where coffee is grown. Alternating bands of red, green and pink create a symphony of colour like a perfectly wrapped gift.
- Siren Chorus includes striped holiday charms that come together in a chorus of colours, drawing inspiration from the patterns made from raking coffee beans in the sun and the flowing lines of the Starbucks siren.
- With Warm Wishes, Starbucks designers started with the idea of a view of coffee cups from above coming together and saying “cheers” to each other. Interconnected dots evoke glowing holiday lights and moments of enjoying coffee together.
Holiday Menu Updates and Mini-Reviews
The holiday menu at Starbucks sees the return of some of your favourite handcrafted espresso drinks. Starting November 7th, the Peppermint Mocha returns to the menu along with favorites like the Caramel Brûlé Latte and Chestnut Praline Latte. This year, Starbucks is also introducing a trio of new Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers, plus a selection of new and returning holiday pastries, as well as seasonal coffee blends, including the Christmas Blend and Holiday Blend.
I had a sneak peek at some of the new menu items and here are my thoughts:
Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers Mini Review
Let me preface this by saying that not only am I not a juice lover, but I also have never had a Refresher. I tried three versions of the Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers – one made with water, one with creamy coconut beverage and the final made with lemonade.
My ranking was the water based beverage in first place. It was actually great and truly refreshing. If you don’t like an overly sweet beverage, it’s perfect. In a close second was the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher made with creamy coconut beverage. This was like a treat in a cup, but still not overly sweet. Everything comes down to personal preference so, that leaves the Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher in last place, but if you like lemonade, you will love it.
Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers are infused with green coffee extract from unroasted arabica coffee beans, so you still can get a hit of caffeine, albeit a milder one than with their espresso based beverages.
Starbucks Holiday Cold Foams Mini Reviews
Speaking of espresso-based beverages, we also had the chance to try two new Cold Foams that are available November 7:
- Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam: Sweet and deliciously spicy gingerbread flavours blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet cream. This was delicious. It tasted like you were eating a beverage version of gingerbread. The ginger wasn’t overpowering – it was just right.
- Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam: Nutty flavours of pecan and rich brown buttery notes
combined with a touch of salt and blended with Starbucks signature vanilla sweet
cream. This tasted like dessert in a cup. If you like salted caramel flavour (which I do), you will love this.
All of your favourite espresso-based beverages can be made non-dairy.
Finally, Starbucks Christmas Blend is available for purchase as whole bean coffee, ground and decaf in participating Starbucks stores throughout the holiday season while supplies last. I tried the Christmas Blend black and it is surprisingly smooth and has a subtle hint of ginger. It’s a great gift for the coffee-lover in your holiday list.
