During this winter season, Starbucks has two holiday drinks that have stood out to me the most: The Peppermint Mocha (PM) and the Caramel Brulee Latte (CBL).

I wanted to review the drinks to see if they were worth all the celebration, so I made my way to the Starbucks on Sierra College Blvd. to grab myself one of each.

Walking in, there weren’t many customers since it was 4:00 pm and as such not a typical time of day to get coffee. I ordered one of each drink in the size tall, both cost $4.85. The service was quick and I was in and out in maybe seven or eight minutes and overall I paid $9.70, and because of the holiday season I received my drinks in the decorated holiday cup.

I tried the PM first between the two. It had whipped cream with small chocolate chips on it for decoration. It tasted somewhat like a peppermint hot chocolate with a light flavor of coffee. It was smooth, and the peppermint wasn’t too prevalent making way for a nice, warm chocolate flavor. It’s incredibly sweet, so after a while it might become difficult to enjoy without wanting to drink water after.

The next drink I tried was the CBL. Immediately, I noticed how similar it tasted to the Caramel Macchiato which was to be  expected coming from the same store, however the CBL was sweeter with less of a flavor of coffee since it’s a latte. Unlike the PM, this tastes less like a sweet drink and more like a regular latte, however both are still very sweet and could easily be sold as warm, flavored milk (not in a bad way).

Between the two drinks, I definitely prefer the CBL since it has less of that holiday flavor and tastes more like what you might buy every day, but if you’re looking for a good, warm holiday drink that reminds you of Christmas I definitely recommend the PM.

Both drinks are good, and worth the buy if you’re willing to overlook that you’re paying $4.85 for a small coffee. A holiday drink will be overpriced of course because it’s a seasonal commodity, but I still prefer paying less for something I might be able to enjoy more.