photo credit: Emily Zimpfer
As winter continues, crowds of people rush to Starbucks in hopes of a comforting drink or snack, and now customers have more options that are special to this time of year. For the new year, Starbucks released six new menu items, three of which are brand-new.
One returning drink is the pistachio latte, and it is available to be made iced, hot or as a frappuccino.
“It’s very bland. It has no flavor. I don’t even taste anything. It tastes like it should have caramel or something, but it doesn’t. It tastes like water,” freshman Bridget Regan said.
Another pistachio option, the Pistachio Cream Cold Brew, consists of a vanilla cold brew topped with pistachio cold foam. The cold foam is not mixed in, so with each sip people get a mixture of coffee and foam.
“My favorite one of the three drinks was the pistachio cold brew mixed with the cold foam on top because I think the flavors complimented each other well,” Regan said.
A brand new permanent menu item introduced with the New Year’s line is the Hazelnut Oat Milk Shaken Espresso. It is another addition to the popular shaken espresso lineup and provides customers with another plant-based option, according to stories.starbucks.com.
While this drink was the recommendation of a Starbucks employee, Lilyana, Regan disliked the espresso, saying, “I personally think that the drink tasted very bland and the only taste in it was watered down. They need to highlight the hazelnut flavor more. The aftertaste was not very good and was very bitter.”
One new breakfast item that was introduced were the Potato, Cheddar and Chive Bakes, which are bite sized cubes of egg, potato, spinach, cheddar and chives. When ordered, they are removed from their pre-packaging and are quickly heated up.
“I think they’re gross. To be honest, I don’t like them, but they’re not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten. I’d rate them a four out of 10,” Lilyana said.
Another new permanent menu item is the Chicken, Maple Butter and Egg Sandwich, which has an interesting history in the Starbucks franchise after releasing in 2022 and being discontinued after less than a week. In 2023, it was rereleased in select regions across the country, and although there were allegations of the sandwich giving people food poisoning, Starbucks claimed that they removed the sandwich because they were not satisfied with the quality, according to mashed.com.
The sandwich is usually not in stock and is not very popular compared to the other new releases. The drinks, notably the pistachio options, are preferred among customers, according to Lilyana.
Throughout the year, Starbucks offers other seasonal lines and options, some of which are really popular, such as the pumpkin spice drinks offered in the fall.
“I think that the other seasonal drinks are better because I think that they really have more flavor than these ones. These ones taste very bland,” Regan said.
Overall, the Starbucks winter lineup does not seem to be as popular or well liked as other seasonal options. Adding more flavor to these drinks is what customers would like to see.
