Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
The Lalastarbucks Coffee And Sunglasses
The Lalastarbucks Coffee And Sunglasses
Her Campus Media
Culture

A Definitive Ranking of Starbucks’ Seasonal Drinks

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at South Carolina chapter.

The end of the semester is such a bittersweet time for college students. Yes, we’re super overwhelmed with finals and projects and papers, but we’re also getting excited for December graduation and the holiday season. Starbucks is rolling out their festive drinks, and this is the perfect time of year to drink coffee that makes you feel warm and fuzzy while also consuming the caffeine necessary to stay up all night cramming. If you need help figuring out what drink to get you through the day, we’ve got you covered.  

Salted Caramel Mocha- 10/10 

Salted caramel and chocolate are two of the best things on the planet year-round, period. So it’s no wonder that this sweet drink made the top of our list. This drink is warm and sippable and will make you feel like you’re in front of a fireplace.  

Caramel Brulee Latte- 9/10 

Starbucks’ caramel is just so good, y’all. The caramel brulee latte is sweet but not as sweet as some of the other options on this list. It has a really nice flavor and it’s not super rich; it’s something that we could probably drink every single day.  

Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate- 8/10 

We don’t know how they did it, but the snickerdoodle hot chocolate is literally like drinking a snickerdoodle. It’s super sweet and reminiscent of everyone’s favorite holiday cookie. However, it is super rich and doesn’t actually have any espresso in it.  

Peppermint Mocha- 7/10 

If you were the type of kid who stirred their hot chocolate with a candy cane, then this drink is for you. It has that nice minty flavor that’s not too toothpastey and the chocolate compliments it super well.  

Chestnut Praline Latte- 6/10 

This drink is nice but nothing super special. It has a little bit of nuttiness to it, but overall it’s not too different from a typical vanilla or caramel latte. However, who doesn’t love a vanilla latte? Can’t really complain.  

Peppermint White Mocha- 5/10 

This drink was really nice, almost better than the regular peppermint mocha, until it started to get this really unpleasant grainy texture. We may have caught the T-Coop Starbucks on a bad day, but nobody really likes their coffee to have texture.  

Toasted White Mocha- 4/10 

Honestly, just save the 70 cents and get a regular white mocha. The white mocha flavor is better and the cranberry sugar is flavorless. There were also these weird pearls in the drink that added a really unpleasant texture.

Pumpkin Spice Latte- 3/10 

PSL is definitely one of the first things that comes to mind when we think of seasonal drinks, but honestly it is not worth the hype. Instead of a nice pumpkin pie flavor, it pretty much just tastes like the spices.  

Eggnog Latte- 0/10 

No, just no. Why, when you have so many other amazing options, would you choose to drink an eggnog latte?  

We hope that you find a (non-alcoholic) drink to make finals suck a little bit less! 

Jenna Cameron

South Carolina '21

Jenna is a social work major with a minor in criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. She is a sophomore and this is her first year writing for Her Campus.
Katie Graybill

South Carolina '20

Katie is a journalism student at the University of South Carolina. She loves the beach, traveling, writing, and spending time with her pets!