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The Best Starbucks Holiday Drinks, Ranked

The white chocolate mocha is such a low-key favorite.

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starbucks holiday drinks
Connor Surdi

Besides seeing family, exchanging gifts, eating lots of food, and getting time off work, one of the best parts of the holiday season is finally sipping on all the festive drinks from Starbucks. Each year, the beloved coffee chain rolls out its best and finest seasonal favorites—and occasionally some new gems, too!

This year, the list has six options: the Chestnut Praline Latte, Irish Foam Cold Brew, a new Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte (which comes iced or hot), Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, and Peppermint Mocha.

In honor of that new chill in the air (you feel it, right?) and Christmas songs on the radio, we took it upon ourselves to rank the Starbucks holiday drink menu, centered around those 2021 offerings. Whether you're a fan of the zesty Peppermint Mochas or the cozy-sweet Chestnut Praline Latte, we hope you'll agree that they're all pretty great.

6

Chestnut Praline Latte

chestnut praline latte
Starbucks

This latte is often forgotten about when it comes to the holiday line-up, and we kindaaaa see why. It's sweet and comforting, yes, but its flavors are not so unique that you couldn't find them in other lattes year-round. This sip has its fans who want it to stick around, but we want the festive factor here—and this option doesn't have a ton.

5

Irish Cream Cold Brew

irish cream cold brew
Starbucks

This brew was first added to the holiday menu last year. It's good if you're a lover of straightforward coffee, sans sugary flavors, because it's really only giving strong notes of that. Curious as to what "Irish cream" is? I was, too. It's basically vanilla sweet cream and syrup with a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top. It's a beautiful drink that once again doesn't hold a lot of holiday flavor, so we're keeping it toward the bottom of the list.

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4

Peppermint Mocha

peppermint mocha
Starbucks

Does it get more holiday than this? COME ON. It's the OG, it's the GOAT, it's all sorts of other positive acronyms. But here's the thing with this drink: If you don't like peppermint (as I don't), then it's got nothing for you. If the holidays for you mean scarfing down all the peppermint bark and candy canes, then yes, this drink is your holiday match.

3

Caramel Brulée Latte

caramel brulée latte
Starbucks

This latte isn't explicitly holiday-flavored but one sip will make you feel like it's Christmastime. It brings in all the sweet, rich, and buttery notes of caramel with an almost cinnamon-y bite that cuts through, making the drink all around pretty great. It's all your favorite holiday desserts in one comforting bev.

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2

Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte

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Here's a newbie to the lineup. This option comes either hot or iced, but hot is better IMO. It's everything you want in a deeply indulgent, somewhat ridiculous holiday drink, but know that the flavors of sugar cookie really come through without being too sweet, which is a welcome departure from some of the other beverages on this list.

1

Toasted White Chocolate Mocha

starbucks toasted white chocolate mocha
Starbucks

The White Chocolate Mocha is a fave year-round, but its holiday-themed cousin is topped with holiday sprinkles and candy pearls, and there's a slight marshmallow-y flavor mixed in. Okay, it's pretty similar to the usual drink, but we totally love it anyway! Just imagine sipping on one of these while looking up at a giant Christmas tree. SEE? You get it. It tastes exactly like its name—toasted white chocolate, though how do you even toast white chocolate?—and we are obsessed.

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