When the weather cools down, the coffee heats up (goodbye iced lattes and fraps). But for those in the know, the absolute best Starbucks hot drink can do more than just warm your tummy on a cool, foggy morning; it can double as a dessert. Starbucks' White Chocolate Mocha (WCM) is part of its "classic" array of drinks (tried-and-true long-timers with a loyal following that sticks around year after year).
In late September, Starbucks launched its new variations of its popular cold foam add-on to top cold drinks. The $2 foams add 15 grams of protein and flavors like chocolate, vanilla, banana, and pumpkin to any iced drink - and they're surprisingly tasty.
The cost of a Starbucks Corp. ( NASDAQ: SBUX) "short" cup of coffee, which is 8 fl oz, is $3.65. It comes in four versions: Blonde Roast - Sunsera, Pike Place Roast, Featured Dark Roast, and Decaf Pike Place Roast. Each has five calories. No matter what else Starbucks does to improve its tattered fortunes, it needs to charge less. The price of a cup of coffee brewed at home is $0.40. Factoring in electricity and water adds a few pennies. A coffee brewing machine costs as little as $15. The value of that machine per cup can be measured over years and thousands of cups.
The changing of the seasons always brings the excitement of special new drinks at Starbucks, but the 2025 holiday menu appears to be missing the new creations that fans look forward to. Announced by Starbucks in a new press release, the 2025 holiday menu, which will be released on November 6, features plenty of returning favorites, including six seasonal holiday drinks, four of which will be released on that date, and two more that will come at an unspecified later date.
it has also debuted protein-enriched milk and cold foams for specialty drinks like the Iced Banana Cream Protein Matcha (24 grams of protein) and the Chocolate Cream Protein Cold Brew (19 grams). The banana number was mostly inoffensive (and flavorless) but the juiced-up matcha smacked of a musky, powdery flavor that was unpleasant. The chocolate cold foamed coffee had an actual cocoa flavor that worked well with the robust cold brew, and the double whammy protein-spiked vanilla latte and cold foam was sweet, but tasty.
Well, here's an obvious win for Starbucks: The company is releasing a few new protein-ified offerings (it seems the protein craze is never-ending, with everything from protein sodas to protein-packed pasta being all the rage these days). I'm not mad about it. Who could say no to incorporating some nutrients into a drink that's already routine? Starting September 29, 2025, the company is launching several Protein Lattes alongside a few Protein Cold Foams, the latter of which can be added to any cold drink.
"This is literally the only reason I go to Starbucks over Dunkin. The cold foam," wrote one Redditor, proving that the whipped topping is the deciding factor for some customers. Starbucks' cold foam - added to everything from iced coffee and matcha to frappuccinos - also has the advantage over Dunkin's because it's made to order and can be customized with different flavors and milk alternatives. Unlike Dunkin', Starbucks also offers a non-dairy cold foam that makes the topping more adaptable to different diets.
In 2024, Brian Niccol took over as the CEO of Starbucks. With his arrival, he promised a big revamp, - dubbed "Back to Starbucks" - that emphasized the overall experience a person has from when they enter Starbucks to when they receive their order. Niccol's strategy is customer-centered, including initiatives like the return of a classic, in-store café feature and an the updated message-writing policy that requires baristas to write cutesy messages on the cups.
Shortly after taking the Starbucks job a year ago, Niccol launched a back-to-basics strategy. He culled the bloated menu, launched an ad campaign that refocused consumers' attention on the quality of the coffee itself, jettisoned those printed drink-order stickers on cups for cute handwritten Sharpie notes, and worked to improve the physical experience of sitting in a Starbucks and enjoying your drink.
The workers, backed by the union, filed class-action lawsuits in Illinois and Colorado, and filed complaints with California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency in a push for the agency to penalize the coffee chain. According to the lawsuits, Colorado state law prohibits employers from imposing expenses on workers without the workers' consent. Meanwhile, several plaintiffs say they asked their employer to reimburse them for funds they spent on new clothing, but their requests were denied.
As the fall season approaches and Starbucks famed autumn lineup of cozy drinks prepares to hit menus around the country, fans have had concerns. Favorites of the season like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai, and Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte would remain untouched and unchanged, but it was the line of apple crisp drinks that seemed on the chopping block.
"When it's truly a third place, I think that's our point of difference," Niccol told audiences at the Fast Company Innovation Festival on September 16. "It's why people fell in love with Starbucks. It's why I fell in love with Starbucks 20 years ago."
Vanilla sweet cream is a mix of milk, cream, and vanilla syrup. Starbucks employees prepare a fresh batch of this every day for use in various cold foams and signature drinks, like the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew. Its sweet, thick texture makes it a favorite for many customers. But an individual store can only hold so much of it at a time.
From a flat white made with half skim milk and half non-dairy milk for a customer who was "only a little lactose intolerant" to a lemon ginger tea with Tabasco sauce, the orders baristas share in the r/barista subreddit only get weirder and weirder. But, while it's true they see their fair share of unusual orders, and that most make for harmless after-shift stories, Starbucks baristas wish people would stop ordering shaken iced drinks without the ice.
Madrid now drowns in indie coffee shops with coffee brewed from specialty beans that are flown in by winged unicorns and roasted to perfection. In this city, the green mermaid feels as relevant as a McDonald's next to Casa Botín (the oldest restaurant in the world, opened 51 years before the United States declared its independence), Dabiz Muñoz's three-Michelin-starred DiverXo, or any other of the best restaurants on the planet that reside in Madrid.
The Strategic Organizing Center and Starbucks Workers United released a new study that says that 90% of Starbucks Corp. ( NASDAQ: SBUX) stores are understaffed and customers face long wait times. Starbucks Workers United and Starbucks management have not always gotten along. BerlinRosen, the PR firm that released the study, has a mixed reputation. The survey is an indictment of new CEO Brian Niccol and his "Back to Starbucks" plan, a set of programs to get faltering same-store sales back on track.
Protein is already being advertised to you on pretty much every food and drink product you see at the supermarket, and now Starbucks is going to make sure you get your fill at the coffee shop, too. Until now, Starbucks has been content to provide protein boxes of cheeses and eggs for its customers, but it seems the protein trend is too big to keep undrinkable. In the past decade, high-protein products have quadrupled in sales, partially due to fitness and wellness influencers pumping up the importance of high-protein ingredients for a healthy diet. This has led to a deluge of products, with everything from chips to breakfast cereals to ice cream advertising high protein content, and now ending with its inevitable form: a new Starbucks menu option.
Starbucks is known for its secret menu offerings, unique items that customers whip up themselves by slightly changing the ingredients of an existing beverage. There are countless secret menu recipes online, encompassing all kinds of flavors from Twix to Cinnamon Toast Crunch to Gummy Shark. But if you are a cookie lover with a hankering for a fruity kick, let us introduce you to the Strawberry Cookie Frappuccino.
Starbucks doesn't usually stand out, and I tend to reserve my Frappuccino indulgences for the occasional trip into the suburbs. I might have to make an exception this fall. The seasonal cold foams are decadent and insanely creamy, the egg bites offered a more than pleasant surprise, and even the drip coffee went down incredibly easy. (In fact, that's the one drink I took home with me.)
To serious Starbucks fans, it doesn't matter when the color of the leaves changes - autumn begins as soon as the pumpkin drinks hit the menu. August 26 is the debut day for the coffee chain's fall lineup, and while Starbucks is turning a new leaf with a pecan drink, three pumpkin favorites are also returning. This includes the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and its topping of pumpkin cream cold foam, which is so good, you'll want to try it on all sorts of drinks.
