The Peppermint Mocha is back as of today, and this year it shares the board with a new Tiramisu Velvet Latte topped with mascarpone cold foam and a dusting of coffee and cocoa. Starbucks’ holiday menu landed in U.S. stores on November 5, and Red Cup Day, when a holiday drink comes with a free reusable cup, is set for Tuesday, November 17.
A holiday drink gets expensive quickly once you add the foam, the extra shot and a bigger size. Nobody needs a lecture about making coffee at home. What helps is knowing where the price climbs, how the Rewards program actually pays back, and which parts of the season are built to get you to spend a little more each visit.
Prices vary by store and region, so treat any dollar figure below as an example and check your own app before you order.
What’s on the holiday menu this year
The new drinks are the Tiramisu Velvet Latte (hot or iced), a Tiramisu Velvet Cold Brew with the same foam, and a coffee-free Apple Pomegranate Refresher with popping pomegranate-flavored pearls, plus a creamier Snowy Apple version made with coconut milk. Returning are the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brûlée Latte, Sugar Cookie Latte and Gingerbread Chai.
On the food side, the Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese and a new-recipe Turkey & Stuffing Sandwich join the Cranberry Bliss Bar, Snowman Cookie and Sugar Plum Cheese Danish. The merchandise drops are spread out on purpose: Bearista mystery glass cups start November 10, and the original Bearista cups return December 1.
Where the price of a holiday drink climbs
The base drink is only part of the bill. Three things push it up, and you control all of them.
Size. Before you size up, open the drink in the app and look at the espresso shots and syrup pumps listed for each size. On some drinks, the larger cup adds milk and syrup without adding espresso, so you pay more for a sweeter drink that isn’t any stronger. If caffeine is the point, price out a smaller size with an added shot against the bigger cup; the app shows both totals before you order.
Add-ons. Extra shots, extra syrup, sauces and cold foam are priced separately when they aren’t part of the recipe. The new Tiramisu drinks already include the mascarpone cold foam, so there’s no reason to stack another topping on top. On any drink, asking for extra drizzle, another pump or a second shot is where a $1 or $2 creeps in.
Frequency. This is the big one. A holiday latte twice a week from now through the end of December is around 16 drinks. At a hypothetical $7 each, that’s $112 for the season. Cutting it to once a week saves more than any coupon will, and the drink tastes like a treat again.
How Starbucks Rewards pays you back
Under the current Rewards terms, effective March 10 of this year, members sit in one of three levels. Green members earn 1 Star per dollar. Gold members, who collect at least 500 Stars within 12 months, earn 1.2 Stars per dollar. Reserve members, who earn 2,500 more Stars within 12 months of reaching Gold, earn 1.7. The rate depends on your level, not on how you pay, as long as you scan your member barcode or pay through the app.
Not all redemptions are equal. Dividing the maximum value of each reward by the Stars it costs gives a rough value per Star:
| Stars | What you get (U.S.) | Best-case value per Star |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $1 off one add-on (extra shot, syrup or sauce) | 4 cents |
| 60 | $2 off a qualifying item | About 3.3 cents |
| 100 | Brewed coffee or tea, a bakery item, a packaged snack or a select cup, up to $6 | 6 cents |
| 200 | Any handcrafted drink or hot breakfast item, up to $10 | 5 cents |
| 300 | Packaged salad or lunch sandwich, protein box or packaged coffee, up to $16 | About 5.3 cents |
| 400 | Select merchandise or packaged Reserve coffee, up to $20 | 5 cents |
“Best case” is the key phrase. You only get 5 cents per Star at the 200 level if the drink costs close to $10. Use 200 Stars on a drink that rings up at $7 and you’re getting 3.5 cents per Star. So the cheapest way to use Stars on holiday drinks is to redeem them on the most expensive version you’d actually order, like the larger size or the drink with an add-on you’d normally pay for, and pay cash for the plain ones. Some stores only offer the 200-Star reward, so check before you plan around the 100-Star level.
Put the earning side next to the table and the program’s ceiling is clear. A Green member spends about $200 to collect 200 Stars, which tops out at a $10 drink, roughly 5% back. A Gold member gets there after about $167. That’s a nice rebate on coffee you were buying anyway and a poor reason to buy more.
Three rules that cost people Stars
- Green Stars expire. They lapse six months after the month you earned them. A qualifying purchase, a redemption or a digital reload of $30 or more in the month before they expire extends them. Gold and Reserve Stars don’t expire while you keep that status.
- The birthday reward has conditions. You need to join at least seven days before your birthday, have the date in your account and make one Star-earning purchase before your birthday each year. Green members can redeem only on the day itself; Gold members get seven days.
- Free Mod Mondays are monthly. One free customization worth up to $2 before tax, on a Monday Starbucks picks each month. If you like an extra shot or flavor in your holiday drink, that’s the day to order it.
Red Cup Day without overspending
On November 17, Starbucks will give a collectible reusable holiday cup with the purchase of a holiday beverage. It hasn’t announced the cup design or any limits yet, so if you want the cup, going earlier in the day is the safer bet. If you’d buy a holiday drink that week anyway, moving it to the 17th costs nothing.
The cup has value after the day, too. The current Rewards terms say Starbucks may offer double Stars on a qualifying order when you bring a clean reusable cup and use it instead of a paper to-go cup. Last year, people who brought a cup back after Red Cup Day got 10 cents off a drink and members earned double Stars on the whole order, according to MoneyTalksNews. Starbucks hasn’t said whether that repeats this year, so check the app before you assume it.
Merch is where the budget leaks
The drinks are small purchases. The cups, tumblers and ornaments are not, and the season is designed around staggered drops. Mystery Bearista glass cups arrive November 10 in sealed boxes you can’t see into, and the original Bearista cups come back December 1. Starbucks says quantities are limited.
If you collect, set a number before the first drop and stick to it. Mystery packaging is built to make you buy again for the design you didn’t get. If you’re shopping for a gift, a Red Cup Day cup that came with a drink you were buying anyway costs you nothing extra.
The at-home version, done honestly
A peppermint mocha at home is espresso or strong coffee, steamed or warmed milk, chocolate sauce and a little peppermint syrup or extract. It won’t taste identical, and the first bottle of syrup and sauce is an upfront cost. Spread over a season of drinks, it gets cheap per cup. The middle ground is the most realistic: buy the café version on Red Cup Day or with Stars, and make the weekday ones at home.
For this week, a short plan: check your Star balance and level in the app, note when any Green Stars expire, save 200 Stars for the most expensive drink you’ll order this season, and put November 17 on the calendar if you want the cup.
