Tiramisu Velvet, Snowy Apple, Peppermint Mocha—The Best Starbucks Holiday Drinks of 2026, Taste-Tested & Ranked

• What It Is: apple-flavored Refresher shaken with ice and swirled with pomegranate-flavored popping pearls
• Recommended Temp: iced (not available hot)
• Price (tall): $6

What's this, a Christmas tree Refresher? Pomegranate-flavored popping pearls resemble the baubles on a Christmas tree, making this drink extra festive. "This drink took me right back to the early days of green apple jolly ranchers and late-fall nostalgia," says Rachel Schleider, associate social strategist at PureWow, and I wholeheartedly agree with her assessment. "It is very sweet, so this may be for you if you have more of a sweet tooth than I do. I will say, the pomegranate popping pearls are a nice end-of-drink treat."

As with other Refreshers, the caffeine levels in this drink can be customized to suit your tastes, from none at all to light (50mg in a grande) to extra caffeine (125mg). You can also order it with a lemonade base instead of water, for more of a sweet-tart flavor.

• What It Is: apple-flavored Refresher shaken with coconutmilk and ice, swirled with pomegranate-flavored popping pearls
• Recommended Temp: iced (not available hot)
• Price (tall): $6

While the Apple Pomegranate Refresher skewed a bit too sweet for our tastes, the Snowy Apple Refresher felt perfectly balanced. That's thanks in large part to its coconutmilk base; its creamy, milky quality offset the apple flavor. It's still every bit as festive without requiring you to keep a palate-cleansing glass of water on hand.

• What It Is: sugar cookie syrup, blonde espresso, milk, red and green cookie sprinkles
• Recommended Temp: iced
• Price (tall): $6

This was the first-ever non-dairy holiday drink to make it on the roster, as it used to come with almond milk by default. These days, it comes with regular milk instead, although you can substitute any non-dairy option you'd like. (You can also order this latte hot.)

"I was surprised how on-theme it smelled and tasted," PureWow contributing food editor and former barista Taryn Pire says. "It's very buttery, sweet and slightly salty, much like sugar cookie dough. There's nothing wrong with it exactly, but it didn't impress me like some of the others. It tastes like dipping a sugar cookie in milk, minus the gritty, soggy crumbs at the bottom of the glass."

• What It Is: peppermint syrup, mocha sauce, espresso, milk, whipped cream, dark chocolate curls
• Recommended Temp: hot
• Price (tall): $6

Consider this a cup of liquid peppermint bark. Admittedly, it's a bit of a sugar bomb because it’s made with two sweeteners instead of one. But the mocha is hot chocolate-level rich, and the minty-fresh finish is prominent without being overwhelming or medicinal—in the hot version, anyway.

"The iced peppermint mocha is far less balanced and much more cloying," Pire says. "If I were the barista making the drink, I'd have poured the hot espresso directly on top of the pool of syrup at the bottom, stirred it to dissolve the thicker mocha sauce, then added ice and milk. If the sauces aren't thoroughly mixed, the straw will pick up large pools of it with each sip, and you'll be left to stomach the mocha sauce's chalky texture and the bev's improper ratio."

Try it as a Frappuccino, if you don't want it hot. The blended ice and milk will help dilute the sweetness of the double-syrup base. I fully acknowledge that it makes zero sense that I revert to my Frappuccino-toting high school days in the coldest season of the year, but I do, and I savor every sip.

• What It Is: caramel brulée sauce, espresso, milk, whipped cream, caramel brulée bits
• Recommended Temp: hot
• Price (tall): $6

Even if you "bah humbug" at the hype surrounding Starbucks's holiday drinks, you'll still enjoy this one. It stars rich, buttery caramel brulée sauce, inspired by a crème brûlée’s layer of torched sugar, and the crunchy topping mimics the burnt sugar of its namesake even further. What's not to like about that?

"While this Starbucks holiday drink has all the sweet, comforting traits of a standard caramel latte, it also features a honeyed, almost smoky nuance to it that makes me look forward to its return every year," Pire explains. "It's simple yet still feels special, and it's the perfect upgrade for Caramel Macchiato regulars."

• What It Is: cold brew topped with Velvet Mascarpone Cream cold foam and cocoa cookie dust
• Recommended Temp: iced
• Price (tall): $6

My, oh my, this one took us by surprise. The Velvet Mascarpone Cream Cold Foam takes cold foam to the next level. It's richer and denser, seeping into the drink much more slowly, so you can savor each layer of flavor (and you should!). The mascarpone topping is like a dessert in and of itself, and the lightly sweetened cold brew helps cut through the richness.

That said, you'll want a straw with this one. It took several sips to get through the almost pudding-like cold foam layer to get to the cold brew itself. But I enjoyed it so much I wanted to eat it with a spoon, separately, TBH.

• What It Is: chai concentrate, milk, nondairy gingerbread-flavored cold foam, spice topping
• Recommended Temp: iced
• Price (tall): $6

Back in 2000, the gingerbread latte became an annual cornerstone of Starbucks's holiday menu. After a years-long discontinuation, it returned to menus in 2025, and I'm pleased to report it's back, back again, for 2026.

"As someone who already enjoys Starbucks's iced chai, this was a no-brainer for me," Pire says. "The bitter, earthy black tea base plays beautifully with the spiced, nutmeg-kissed notes of the cold foam. The spice topping looks festive, no matter what temp drink you order, and it tastes downright Christmas-y."

• What It Is: espresso combined with vanilla syrup and milk, topped with Velvet Mascarpone cold foam and cocoa cookie dust
• Recommended Temp: hot
• Price (tall): $6

She is beauty, she is grace—she's the drink to order when you are chilled to the bone and need a cozy pick-me-up, stat. If you missed the decadence of the Salted Caramel Mocha, you've found your new favorite. Inspired by the classic Italian dessert, this latte is every bit as rich. The vanilla syrup-sweetened espresso mimics the espresso-soaked ladyfingers, and the ultra-thick Mascarpone Cream cold foam practically needs to be cut through with a fork. That's why I recommend it hot; the flavors meld better together, resulting in a creamy, sweet-yet-slightly-tangy drink that will make you ditch hot cocoa for good this season. (Blasphemy, I know.)