Once the weather turns cold, the snow starts to fall, and the warm clothes come out, so do the Starbucks gift cards. Starbucks drinks never fail to amaze me, especially when walking for 30 minutes to get to the closest shop. The holidays are about being close to one another, spending time with family, school breaks, and of course, holiday drinks.

This season, when the drinks made an entrance, so did their friends. This season, if you bought one holiday drink, you got a second one for free. Many Starbucks lovers rushed to the nearest Starbucks to get as many as possible, myself included.

If you have never built a gingerbread house, you are missing out. When I drank the gingerbread latte, it gave me many nostalgic memories of building gingerbread houses. This drink was rated eight out of ten because of some bitterness and an overwhelming rush of creamer. There is an uncanny resemblance to gingerbread which is distinguished by the dash of cinnamon. In addition to all of this, there is a dominant coffee flavor. However, these differences do not set apart for the amazing flavor of the latte.

The next drink I tasted was the peppermint mocha frappuccino. This drink has a present coffee taste. Being a peppermint mocha, it lacked the peppermint part, since the drink had an overall dark chocolate taste.  The appearance of this drink was not an issue. This cute drink looked like every other Starbucks frappuccino; on top of the whipped cream, there were small pieces of chocolate. Overall, I recommend this drink to to those who are unphased by a taste of coffee or dark chocolate, and to those who can brave a nice cold drink in the freezing weather.

Eggnog is a holiday tradition, which is why Starbucks created an Eggnog latte. However, they should not have made this drink. When deciding to drink eggnog or the latte, you should chose the actual eggnog. This latte did not taste like eggnog, and is not sweet. I highly recommend against this drink because the name does not adequately describe it.

What are the holidays without curling up around the fire with a cup of hot chocolate? The final drink I tried was the salted caramel hot chocolate. At some point or another, you probably had a hot chocolate from Starbucks. This was my first time trying the salted caramel hot chocolate and this proves that their hot chocolates never fail to amaze me. Tasting this drink allowed me to realize that not all of the hot chocolates are the same, since drink was very different than the standard Starbucks. However, there may be some false advertising in the name. There is no dominant salted caramel flavor in the drink. Your tastebuds are mainly overwhelmed by chocolate, and there is only a little aftertaste of caramel. Even though there is slight false advertising with the drink, I highly recommend this it, since it was my favorite one I tried.

As George Wyle once said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” This statement can not be even more true right now. With perfect weather, new friends, and more memories than last year, Starbucks kept up with this season by having drinks that conveyed the mood perfectly. I know that the next time I need a drink, I will go get a holiday one from Starbucks.