Hannahlaneblogs

It’s always so exciting when November comes around and all of the holiday decorations, drinks, and music returns. I am a Christmas right after Halloween kind of person. (Yes, I still love Thanksgiving.)

I will admit, overall, I am a Dunkin’ over Starbucks kind of person, but the holiday drinks at Starbucks make it a closer competition. Dunkin’ bringing back butter pecan year round has also been a leading cause for my choosing them over Starbucks. However, both have amazing holiday menus this winter!

Starbucks brought back their usual holiday drinks including peppermint mocha, caramel brulee latte and the sugar cookie almond milk latte. Peppermint mocha is my FAVORITE overall holiday/winter drink across the board. I have yet to try the caramel brulee latte, but I am a huge caramel fan, so I assume it’s delicious. The sugar cookie almond milk latte is my second favorite holiday drink. It is slightly tainted because it reminds me of when Red (Taylor’s Version) first came out.

This season, Starbucks also introduced the new iced gingerbread oat milk Chai. I am not the biggest chai fan, but I actually really enjoyed this drink. Not enough to order it on my own, but enough to have a sip when I order it for Jack. 

As for their treats, for the 2023 season Starbucks has the classic snowman cookie, gingerbread loaf, and peppermint brownie cake pop. The sugar cookie reminds me of going to Starbucks growing up, but I’ll be honest I haven’t had it in a few years. I have yet to try the gingerbread loaf and the peppermint brownie cake pop, but both sound amazing.

Dunkin’ has their own assortment of winter drinks and treats for this winter season. Their holiday drinks include the toasted white chocolate iced latte, peppermint mocha, cookie butter cold brew, and spiced cookie iced coffee. I have tried everything, but the toasted white chocolate iced latte. Obviously, peppermint mocha is my favorite, always a classic. The cookie butter cold brew was slightly disappointing. Although it was good, it didn’t live up to the hype social media has given it. I would like to try it again, but it’s not my first choice. The same goes for the spiced cookie iced coffee, it was pretty good, but not my favorite coffee I have had from Dunkin’.

This year, Dunkin’ introduced the triple chocolate muffin and the loaded hash browns. I love their hash browns, but the loaded ones again didn’t live up to my expectations. The bacon was a great addition, but after I heard about how the cheese is made and put on them, I will never order them again. As much as I enjoy a solid muffin every now and again, the triple chocolate is too chocolatey and heavy for me to try.

All in all, both franchises introduced fun and festive holiday menus for the 2023 season. I am going to have to give the overall win for the holiday drinks and treats to Starbucks! Their peppermint mocha is my favorite treat and Starbucks has tended to be more consistent than Dunkin’ in their creation of the two. My favorite Dunkin’ drink isn’t a part of the holiday menu, so I feel like that would be an unfair advantage to Dunkin’.

Xoxo,

Hannahlane