I'm sorry to all of those who are not quite ready for Christmas just yet but that word is going to be cropping up quite a bit around these parts. Last week I went along to Costa to try out their Christmas menu and I must say I was pretty impressed.
I absolutely fell in love with the Tiramisu latte. I'm not really a coffee fan but this I think is going to be my Costa Coffee Christmas drink of choice this year. A close contender and second to that is the salted caramel hot chocolate.
I usually go for the hot spiced apple and was very disappointed to see it had been dropped from the menu this year, OK, gutted to see it had been dropped. In it's place is the Mulled Christmas Fruits. It was OK but I wouldn't order it, I'm sticking with the latte this year. Another new option quite similar to this is the Christmas tea. Personally I think they would have been better leaving the tea bag in the cup as it wasn't really all that flavoursome, it had a real watery taste to it which was a shame, it smelt amazing though.
Moving onto the cakes (the best part) There is a huge selection in their Christmas range this year, there wasn't a great deal there that I didn't like. Personally I cannot stand ginger so anything gingerbread flavour is off the cards for me, I also don't like mince pies (you have no idea how much this upsets me) so as pretty as these look I didn't actually try them but my Mum did and said they were lovely. My favourite from the Christmas range is the salted caramel brownie, it was divine. Quite sickly but I can cope with that.
The Billionaires tart was good, as was the orange and cranberry muffin and the caramel cookie stack. You never can go wrong with a bit of cake, even more so when it is Christmas themed.
We also tried the white chocolate and passion-fruit snowball which isn't something I would have chosen given the choice but it was surprisingly really good. Mind you I don't think I could eat a whole one, they are pretty big.
I think it's safe to say that Costa have superseded Starbucks when it comes to Christmas. I always used to get excited when the red cups were launched but I much prefer the designs on the Costa Christmas cups now, they are all so sweet. My favourite has to be the Santa cup, it's brilliant.
I can see me spending a lot of time in Costa between now and Christmas, that's for sure.
~ Gem x
I always prefer the fun Costa Cups more than the Starbucks ones. It's so difficult in Epping though as Costa and Starbucks are pretty much next door to each other it's like which to choose!
ReplyDeleteVictoria x
FlorenceandMary.com
I do like Costa, I have one of their coffee club cards too so every now and then can treat myself to a free drink, but I shall be making some visits to Starbucks this year purely just for their mulled spiced apple drink x x x
DeleteWow! Did they invite you to try? Or didi you an your mum just go and try EVERYTHING? Starbucks seems to have scaled back their holiday treats this year (and even their cups - plain red!) and Costas has stepped it up! No Costas here in Canada. Maybe you could send me a tiramisu latte in the mail? :)
ReplyDeleteI was invited as one of their coffee club card holders, it's a great idea though, I certainly tried things I wouldn't normally have chosen and will be buying them on future visits so as sales campaigns go, this was a good one.
DeleteIf I knew it would make it there, I'd send you one over x x x
I wasn't happy to see the spiced apple missing too - the new fruit one wasn't nice and quite watery - much prefer the mulled grape in Starbucks !! Costa have lost a lot of custom off me this year, as I like the choices in Starbucks much more ! x
ReplyDeleteI've not been into Starbucks yet but have looked at their menu online. I will be popping in to try the mulled grape, I'm also pleased to see that they have the mulled apple in there so all is not lost this year x x x
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