By Sophia Doan and Donya Vandersteen
Like most teenage girls, we adore Starbucks. Every last penny we have is spent on the large variety of drinks they have to offer, whether it be an ice-cold refresher, sugary frappuccino, or a perfectly brewed coffee. Scrolling through TikTok or Instagram Reels, we see a lot of crazy drink combinations that we’ve always been hesitant to try. We decided to take the risk and try all of the wild drinks so you don’t have to!
The Hot Cocoa Cold Brew
How to order: Sweet cream cold brew with 2 pumps of vanilla, 4 pumps of mocha, 1 pump of toasted vanilla and add chocolate powder.
How much it cost: $6.25 for a grande
Sophia’s rating: 8.5/10
Donyas rating: 9/10
The Hot Cocoa Cold Brew–a delightful blend of coffee and chocolate–is truly a new and improved version of a plain old mocha. With its rich and vibrant additions of cocoa, vanilla, and coffee, we could not put this drink down. “I call dibs on this one!” exclaimed Donya. It had the most perfect chocolate to coffee ratio along with a sweet hint of vanilla, and perfectly masked the typical coffee aftertaste. A minor suggestion for those who aren’t as keen on strong chocolatey flavors, would be using 2 or 3 pumps of mocha instead of 4. With its high rating, and little to no improvements needed, we highly suggest the Hot Cocoa Cold Brew, for it will unequivocally satisfy your chocolate cravings and provide you with the boost of energy you need throughout a long day.
The Cookie Cream Latte
How to order: iced sugar cookie oat milk latte with 2 pumps of toasted white mocha and sugar cookie cold foam.
How much it cost: $7.05 for a grande
Sophia’s rating: 6/10
Donyas rating: 6.5/10
With swirls of white mocha, oatmilk, and sugar cookie cold foam, The Cookie Cream Latte is the epitome of Christmas in a cup. Festively topped with green and red sprinkles, this drink looks as sweet as it tastes. Despite the slight aftertaste of oat milk and overall sweetness, the flavors blended perfectly, making it taste just like a holiday treat. Sophia remarked, “The sugar cookie cold foam carried,” which couldn’t be more true. The concept of this drink was ideal, but in the future we plan on replacing the oat milk with regular whole milk. Besides the few minor setbacks, we highly recommend The Cookie Cream Latte for all sugar cookie lovers.
The Boba Blast
How to order: Grande Custom Tea Lemonade
How much it cost: $3.95 for a grande
Sophia’s rating: 7/10
Donyas rating: 7.5/10
When we asked the barista to make us his favorite drink, he concocted the amazing Boba Blast, which tastes exactly like milk tea. We curiously sampled this drink, hoping it would live up to our expectations, and it did not disappoint. Right before our eyes was boba tea without the pearls, and for such a bargain. Unfortunately, we are not quite sure how to order this drink, but we will make a point to ask in the next issue. The inexpensive Boba Blast will undoubtedly please all boba fanatics and Starbucks lovers alike.