I was kind of glad because I strongly disliked all of the pumpkin flavored items that were out there for public consumption. Out with the fall drinks and in with the winter...
Our first taste of the December holiday drinks was during the Veterans Day weekend at our go-to road stop, Starbucks in Tustin off the Red Hull exit (it opens at 4:30 am) for our LA road trip
You can't see the coffee in here, but this was Bert's hot peppermint mocha served in one of their many holiday themed cups. There was a backlash last year when the company switched to plain red cups, causing some to say that it was "anti-Christmas". Well, the decorated cups are back this year in a number of customer created designs. This one was quite busy but fun looking. Bert didn't care too much about the cup and more about the drink which he enjoyed. I thought it was okay but the mocha itself had a "thin" feel to it. I have to say that I much prefer the peppermint taste to anything that reeks of pumpkin.
More recently Bert and I were at one of our favorite coffee places, Dark Horse (North Park location)...
The drinks menu is for Fall but it was still being offered for the winter. Our choices? Iced salted maple with almond milk for me and the hot salted maple with soy for Bert.
The problem with my drink was that there was damn cinnamon in it. I don't recall cinnamon being an ingredient in the salted maple drink in the past. I didn't like it at all and ended up getting a Nutella cold brew (made with housemade hazelnut milk, drink not pictured) at nearby Holsem Coffee (one of my favorite coffee shops in San Diego). I think they made a mistake but sadly, I didn't realize it until after we had left and I had tasted the drink while walking on 30th.
In December, Dark Horse in Golden Hill changed over to their holiday drinks menu and I wanted to have my first crack at their new drink...
(I liked the popsicle snowflakes)
This. Was. Awesome.
Behold, the minty mocha cortado. It has everything I love in a coffee drink. Dark chocolate ganache, a low ratio of coffee to milk and to make it holiday-like, crushed peppermint candies on the rim.
It tasted as great as it looked. The portion was quite right. Now why can't other places make peppermint cortados rather than lattes (which use way too much milk that I would care to consume), heh?
In the bathroom (which is located outside in the courtyard), they switched out their posters to include Chevy Chase in "Christmas Vacation".
They also had their design for their Christmas blend featuring an axe wielding Santa. Love the dark horses too. If you don't get the reference to the font for "Slay", it's a blatant nod to Slayer's logo. Slayer is an American thrash metal band. I remember they were part of a quartet of thrash bands that were highly popular in the late 80's to early 90's along with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax.
More recently, I returned to this same location with D because I wanted to have that drink again. It was that good.
Donuts looked cool but I'm done with donuts for the year. Plus, they were vegan and I only like vegan donuts from Donut Panic.
As you can see, I had the same drink, the minty mocha cortado while D had their other holiday drink, the Minty Mocha....
D's drink was rich tasting and smooth. As for mine, I could drink this every weekend.
Another local coffee house that was serving holiday themed drinks was Imperial Grounds Coffee in Logan Heights. They were decked out for the holidays - Gold tree with mini pinata ornaments, real boughs as decor...
They also had new artwork from local artist Denise Wolf on the walls. The work depicted Bill Murray and Owen Wilson in "The Royal Tenenbaums".
You know I didn't get that pumpkin, ha ha. Barista Sergio was there and obliged when I asked if I could have my Snowbird in a mug. Bert also had his Peppermint latte (with almond milk) in a mug. Looks much nicer than an ugly paper cup.
Snowbird (white mocha, espresso, peppermint syrup, whipped cream and candy cane sprinkles topped with a white Peep). I normally don't get whipped cream but relented for this drink. It would have seemed naked without it and OMG, this was pretty damn good as well.
Bert's Peppermint Mocha - latte art is non existent, but the drink really hit the spot for him. Nice, smooth and rich flavored.
Plus, the mug had a cool gold crown on it!@
Lastly, I tried a few of Starbucks seasonal drinks. But iced. I usually don't drink Starbucks but since I had a giftcard from a co-worker, decided to use it or lose it!
Chestnut praline latte with almond milk and iced. No whipped cream. The drink might have looked "prettier" had I left it with whipped cream but no, I did not. Pictures I've seen online have praline crumbs on of the whipped cream. I felt a bit gypped since no crumbs in mine. I also found out that they charge .60 for milk substitutes. It's subtle but their clear cups are also holiday themed.
Later that day, I tried the peppermint mocha, also iced, but with whipped cream. I had actually forgotten to ask them to omit it. The drink was topped with chocolate chips. The milk sub was coconut (they were out of almond and I hate soy). The chestnut drink was nice with an interesting flavor. My peppermint mocha was okay as well. Not ground breaking, but good for what it was.
It still doesn't beat that minty mocha cortado from Dark Horse!
While there are a few other holiday flavors out there, I chose to stick with these since I'm not an eggnog fan. There is, however, that caramel brulee drink and maybe Bert and I can try that later this season and give it a go.
Christmas is just around the corner...
2 comments:
Oooh the minty mocha cortado looks so cool! I love the rim.
Yes, I highly recommend it Kirbie. :) The rim is what makes the drink!
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