The cold winter weather brings warm holiday treats worth trying to the Starbucks on campus. The creamy Chestnut Praline Latte and the even more nutty Pecan Tart make up two of the new items on the seasonal menu. Decorated with the holiday spirit, the shop welcomes that festive appetite along with friendly workers to help order.
This hot drink is filled with espresso and steamed milk along with different flavors of caramelized chestnuts and spices. It is also filled to the top with whipped cream and sprinkled with spiced praline crumbs. This light and fluffy drink tastes perfect stirred with the toppings or left just the way it is served.
If you enjoy the smell of a cinnamon scented candle, the first impression of this drink will make your mouth water. The whipped cream tends to cool the drink down, giving a delicious hot and cold mix. The sprinkled crumbs at the top could be left out because the flavoring of the actual drink has enough love in it.
If you’re a lover of pecan pie, the new Pecan Tart is for you: with a buttery crust forming a gooey pecan-filled center, this snack could fit in your palm. The inside consists of honey, spices, brown sugar, tree nuts, soy, wheat, milk and eggs.
Shaped like a small flat hot tub, this snack tastes like the Kellogg’s Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts. After each bite, the snack does not crumble and fall apart but stays together nice and neat. However, this snack would taste better heated up for 15-25 seconds in a microwave.
This snack and drink combo together is too nutty, but separate they are amazing. Although the Chestnut Praline Latte consists of chestnuts and the Pecan Tart consists mostly of pecans, the two together is repetitive. The latte would taste better with the Gingerbread Loaf, another holiday special, while the tart would be better washed down with a simple Starbucks Holiday Blonde Roast coffee.
For a tall size, the drink has 290 calories at a cost of $4.70, while the snack consists of 330 calories at $4.09. Since this is offered on campus, students can use their flex dollars to buy this quick breakfast or afternoon snack under $10.
