Starbucks released its 2025 holiday menu on November 6th, and since then, I have become obsessed with trying everything in the lineup. While I was trying all the different items, I thought it would be a great article, so I started jotting down my opinions and thoughts on each item. I also decided to look into what new items are available and which ones have been returning year after year. Let’s dive into my review of the Starbucks 2025 holiday menu, as well as my experience ordering at the on-campus Starbucks at WCU.
Holiday Beverages
This year, the Starbucks holiday menu featured nine holiday beverages. The Peppermint Mocha and Peppermint or Regular White Chocolate Mocha can be ordered as a frappuccino, mocha, latte, or hot chocolate. The Sugar Cookie Latte and Caramel Brûlée Latte can be ordered as a frappuccino, crème frappuccino, latte, or breve. The Gingerbread Chai could also be ordered as a latte. They are also continuing to serve the Pumpkin Spice Latte, and they have considered it part of the holiday menu. Starbucks will also be adding the Chestnut Praline Latte, Eggnog Latte, and the new Eggnog Cold Foam that can be added to any cold drink. These items are speculated to be available on December 2nd. All of these beverages are returning items except for the Eggnog Cold Foam. The beverages that have not returned this year are the three Cran-Merry items, the Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, and the Gingerbread Hot Chocolate.
I have tried some variant of each of these drinks, and my rating on a scale from 1-10 would be an 8/10. I thought they all tasted good, and none of them tasted super bad to me. Some standouts for me were the Caramel Brûlée Latte (hot), the Sugar Cookie Crème Frappuccino, and the Iced Gingerbread Chai. I thought that the Caramel Brûlée Latte was the perfect mix of caramel and coffee, and I gave it a 9/10. I preferred the Sugar Cookie Crème Frappuccino over the regular one, but I thought they were both good. I do wish there was more of the sugar cookie flavor, though, so I gave it an 8/10. I loved the Gingerbread Chai. The only issue I had was that I wish there was more of the gingerbread flavor because to me it tasted exactly like the Pumpkin Chai (which I love, so I’m not really complaining that much), but I decided to give it an 8/10. I would have to say that my least favorite of the beverages that I tried would be the White Chocolate Mocha Latte. To me it tasted just like a regular coffee with some half and half. I didn’t taste any white chocolate in it, so I gave it a 4/10. Like I said before, I thought this year’s holiday beverage lineup was really good, but I wish there were more fruity-flavored drinks like the Cran-Merry refreshers from last year. I am excited to try the drinks that are being released later, especially the new Eggnog Cold Foam.
Holiday Food Items
For the 2025 holiday season, the Starbucks menu featured five festive treats: the Polar Bear Cake Pop, Snowman Cookie, Cinnamon Pull-Apart, Cranberry Bliss Bar (can be bought individually or as a tray), and Sugar Plum Cheese Danish. The Cinnamon Pull-Apart, Polar Bear Cake Pop (which has replaced last year’s snowman cake pop), and Snowman Cookie (which has replaced last year’s penguin cookie) are all new items. Items that have not returned this year are the Turkey & Sage Danish, Snowman Cake Pop, Penguin Cookie, and Dark Coffee Bundt Cake.
So far, I have tried the Cranberry Bliss Bar, Polar Bear Cake Pop, and Snowman Cookie, and I thought they all were delicious. My favorite by far is the Cranberry Bliss Bar. I thought it had a perfect blend of all the different flavors it featured. I gave it a 10/10, and I am definitely considering buying the tray of them to have over Thanksgiving break. The Snowman Cookie was a lot better than I thought it would be. It tasted homemade and wasn’t overly sweet. I gave it a 9/10. Lastly, the Polar Bear Cake Pop tasted like a regular cake pop but was very yummy. I had given it a 7/10. I am definitely looking forward to trying the rest of the items on the menu.
On-Campus Ordering
All of the items that I tried so far from the Starbucks holiday lineup have been ordered at the Starbucks on campus in the library. Before coming to campus, I had only ever had Starbucks a few times, so I didn’t really have any expectations for the one here on campus. So at first I thought it ran well. But my thoughts have definitely changed after a few months. Nothing significantly bad has happened while ordering, but there have been a lot of little things that don’t make Starbucks look its best. For example, I have found mold on one of the breakfast sandwiches before, they stop selling anything coffee an hour before closing (I looked into this and other Starbucks locations don’t do this, even though the manager said they do), and all the times I’ve ordered food or even a treat that does not need to be put in the oven it ends up taking longer than the drink I ordered. Like I said, all of these are little things that aren’t super significant, but some of them do get annoying after a while. One pro, though, is that sometimes they hand out free cake pops and cookies.
The 2025 Starbucks holiday menu featured many beverages and other treats this year. I enjoyed pretty much everything that I tried from the menu, and I thought the lineup had a decent variety. I do wish they had more fruity items similar to the Cran-Merry beverages from last year. Other than that, I don’t think I would change anything else about it. I am definitely looking forward to trying more of the items as the holiday season continues.