Lovely Christmas drinks are on the menu once more... So I tried the Christmas Cookie Frappucino at Starbucks. Non-coffee version, cuz I find that coffee just overpowers all the other flavours. I also requested less sugar, so they put less of the cookie frap syrup, although I don't know how much less.
To be honest, I was very disappointed. Firstly, it's Starbucks' usual problem that they can't reduce sugar without also reducing whatever the special flavour is. (Unless it's vanilla syrup, cuz they have sugar free vanilla.) So I guess the reduced "Christmas cookie" flavour made this just taste mostly like a normal vanilla frappuccino.
Furthermore, the cookie bits were only the few bits you see on top of the whipped cream. At least, there wasn't much, and I didn't notice any under the cream in the drink itself. So despite the word "cookie" being in the name of the drink, there wasn't much of it.
Thirdly, the whipped cream was terrible. I guess I haven't had whipped cream on frap in a long time (I usually have it in warm drinks), so I didn't notice. But the cream was SO waxy! The ice cooled it down so it didn't dissolve or melt, and it formed a gross waxy and greasy layer coating my upper palate. A telltale sign of hydrogenated fats?
Fourthly, it was expensive - $7.30 for tall size. As special flavours usually have inflated prices, one would expect something more distinct or exotic... the unique flavour should be a highlight of the drink. I wouldn't mind paying $7.30 for a unique experience. Unfortunately, this was too ordinary, so the high price sucked quite badly.
Well, after a great many sips, imagination and giving it the benefit of the doubt, towards the end of the drink, I think the syrup gave the milk a very vague toffee taste. Maybe it's meant to taste like cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream. Or maybe it's the "buttery shortbread" taste their official site claims it has... because I guess toffee has butter in it. That's the closest I can come to seeing the value in this drink.
So yeah, not worth trying in my opinion.
Maybe some would argue that I shouldn't have changed the drink from its original formula (e.g. there should have been coffee with full syrup portions). But I've a problem with this argument:
Furthermore, the cookie bits were only the few bits you see on top of the whipped cream. At least, there wasn't much, and I didn't notice any under the cream in the drink itself. So despite the word "cookie" being in the name of the drink, there wasn't much of it.
Thirdly, the whipped cream was terrible. I guess I haven't had whipped cream on frap in a long time (I usually have it in warm drinks), so I didn't notice. But the cream was SO waxy! The ice cooled it down so it didn't dissolve or melt, and it formed a gross waxy and greasy layer coating my upper palate. A telltale sign of hydrogenated fats?
Fourthly, it was expensive - $7.30 for tall size. As special flavours usually have inflated prices, one would expect something more distinct or exotic... the unique flavour should be a highlight of the drink. I wouldn't mind paying $7.30 for a unique experience. Unfortunately, this was too ordinary, so the high price sucked quite badly.
Well, after a great many sips, imagination and giving it the benefit of the doubt, towards the end of the drink, I think the syrup gave the milk a very vague toffee taste. Maybe it's meant to taste like cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream. Or maybe it's the "buttery shortbread" taste their official site claims it has... because I guess toffee has butter in it. That's the closest I can come to seeing the value in this drink.
So yeah, not worth trying in my opinion.
Maybe some would argue that I shouldn't have changed the drink from its original formula (e.g. there should have been coffee with full syrup portions). But I've a problem with this argument:
- Starbucks advertises its drinks as being very customisable. They didn't qualify that seasonal offerings were exempt from this.
- The saleslady should have informed me about how changing the ingredients would alter the experience. In fact, I did clarify to ask her if it was really ok to take out coffee, and if the reduced syrup pumps would affect it. She said it was not a problem at all. Previously, for different drinks at different outlets, the staff would warn me if reducing the sugar would take away from the flavour, for instance. Maybe this was a one-off slip up... but oh well, not excusable because their drinks cost so much. Surely some of the revenue could be channeled to better staff training.
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