Demystifying the Starbucks Seasonal Blends—‘Tis the Season After All

-

There’s something special about the Starbucks seasonal holiday coffee blends…and even the most cynical among us are likely to have at least 1 cup of a seasonal blend, at some point between Thanksgiving and New Years, assuming we drink Starbucks coffee, of course.

First…There was the Christmas Blend

Initially,  of course, the decision to create a seasonal holiday blend was a marketing decision that dates back to 1984, when Starbucks first introduced the Starbucks® Christmas blend, a full-bodied, dark roast that is different every year, but always has hints of spiciness and notable depth.

The Christmas blend is made from beans sourced from Latin America and Indonesia; however, the thing that separates the Christmas Holiday Blend from other coffee blends is the infusion of select Sumatran beans. These beans are like magic beans.

Each year, the Christmas blend is made with spicy Sumatra beams that are aged for 3 to 5 years in order to create a full-bodied, rich coffee blend. This year’s Christmas blend is true to its roots; it is sweet, spicy, deep, and dark, with hints of cedar and black licorice.

I personally love it.

New multicolored reusable cups

Then Came the Holiday Blend

The Starbucks® Holiday Blend was introduced in 2013 as a medium roast, full-bodied coffee.

My experience of the Holiday Blend is that it is perfectly balanced in terms of depth and flavor---with a tiny bit of a kick that can be modulated based on what you put in it. Best drunk very hot. It is intended to be bright and mellow.

To me, the Christmas Blend is the coffee equivalent of a very good chai latte. (I drink my chai lattes with black chai, Oregon chai mix, milk, cayenne pepper, ginger, and honey).

My favorite pairing with the Starbucks Holiday Blend is oat milk. And if I’m in the mood for a sweet, this blend is a perfect accompaniment.

According to a description of the Starbucks Holiday Blend on Costco.com: “This coffee is distinctive, yet you can drink it all day long. It is definitely sturdy enough for the holidays and foods of the season, but approachable enough to bring to a family gathering.”

The Starbucks seasonal winter/holiday blend coffee options are rounded out by Starbucks’ Christmas Decaf Blend, VIA Christmas Blend, and the Christmas Reserve Blend.

And another important difference: While the holiday blend is available at retail stores, as well as Starbucks locations, the Christmas blend is only available at Starbucks. Both blends are available for a limited time.

Considering that the Christmas blend pretty much disappears after the winter holiday period, it’s worth a trip to a Starbucks café to try this year’s blend. I for one thought it was well worth the trip.

Happy holidays!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee Prices Explode & Global Coffee Gratitude

-
Image
At the end of the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of how grateful I am for coffee. Not only for its rich, soothing, energizing effects---but also because of its health benefits, including a reduced risk of diabetes, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and depression. I am also grateful that increasingly the medical evidence is documenting these benefits with amazing contributions from European and American universities! I am also grateful that most of the coffee-drinkers I know can still afford to drink coffee and enjoy its benefits. That is not insignificant, especially when you consider that coffee prices are at an all-time high for the past 13 years. In fact, coffee futures have increased 44%. According to pundits, a constellation of factors are contributing to coffee's sky-high prices, including bad weather in South America and low stockpiles in the United States. But, there's something else: Increasing demand from coffee drinkers in emerging economies. The largest increase i
Read more

Who is Juan Valdez and why I drink instant coffee

-
Image
Instant coffee gets a bad rap. But like it or not, instant coffee---a freeze-dried, powdered concentrated form of coffee--- is coffee. And like other types of coffee, it is full of antioxidants. The obvious downside for many people, however, is that instant coffee has a different flavor profile than traditionally brewed coffee. But that does not mean that it can’t be good. In fact, there are now second- and third-generation instant coffees that have gained a following.  However, this post is NOT about the most au courant instant coffees. This post is about an old-school, first-generation instant coffee. Specifically, Juan Valdez Café instant coffee (which I recently received as a gift from good friends). The Juan Valdez Café brand represents coffee produced by Colombian Coffee Farmers---500,000 strong, who are devoted to continuing a coffee-growing tradition that many say produces the best coffee in the world. Amazon reviewers tend to rate Juan Valdez Café coffee with 4.5 to 5 stars (
Read more

Happiness Is…Buying a New Coffee Maker & Getting a Refund for the Old One

-
Image
About a week ago, the unthinkable happened. One mid-August morning, my Barista Aroma TM 8-cup coffeemaker broke. It became essentially unusable. My first reaction was denial. The large rubber lip of the thermal carafe had become completely unhinged. I tried to meld it back together, but this coffee maker was almost 4 years old. Indeed, if ever there was ‘planned obsolescence’ this was it---because it was definitely NOT abuse. Over the years, I have loved that coffeemaker. On some cold winter mornings, I would practically coo at it as it competently brewed my coffee. I loved many of its features. It’s black and silver sleekness, the gold mesh flat filter, the fact that I could yank the carafe away from the case before it finished brewing in order to pour myself half a cup. I loved the shushing sound it made as it brewed, the strategically placed water canister, and the digital read-out. Ours was a warm respectable relationship informed by my primal addiction to coffee.
Read more