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Starbucks rolls out holiday 2021 menu, cups

By MixDex Article may include affiliate links

Starbucks is rolling out its 2021 holiday menu and cup designs Nov. 4, 2021, a day after rival Dunkin’ did.

This year’s cups feature four designs inspire by the act of gift giving.

The looks include a wrapping paper, ribbon, holiday lights and candy cane themed design, each with a “gift tag” printed on it with sentiments such as “Missed you” and “Welcome to the family.”

“This holiday, we wanted it to feel magical, we wanted it to be warm, and we wanted it to be inclusive,” said Suzie Reecer, Starbucks’ associate creative director, in a press release.

As with many previous years, the designs feature a decidedly green, red and white color scheme that is often associated with Christmas.

From a menu standpoint, Starbucks is adding an iced sugar cookie almond milk latte featuring blonde espresso, sugar-cookie syrup, almond milk and sprinkles on top. The beverage is also available hot and with any of Starbucks’ normal dairy or other dairy alternatives.

Also new this year is a reindeer cake pop that combines vanilla cake inside and chocolate icing.

Peppermint mocha, the Irish cream cold brew, the caramel brûlée latte, the toasted white chocolate mocha and the chestnut praline latte are all returning along with cranberry bliss bar, the snowman cookie and the sugar plum cheese danish.

The rollout comes amid worldwide supply chain challenges and some locations are already reporting they didn’t receive any or all of the ingredients used to make the holiday drinks. Starbucks, like many foodservice industry businesses, is also facing a staffing shortage that has lead to longer wait times, stores switching to drive-thru only and quality control issues.