Christmas Cheer - Starbucks Takeaway Coffee

Hello there,

Welcome back to another Christmas Cheer blog post from Tea With Me and Friends. Were you inspired to try the brussels sprouts tea after our last post??

Today we are joined by the lovely Becca and her sister Sam as they recently tried some Starbucks Christmas coffees while out and about in London. During their shopping trip Becca and Sam decided they wanted some caffeine and so headed to Starbucks......they picked the Gingerbread latte and the Toffee Nut Latte from the Christmas menu.

Here are their coffees.....artfully arranged in a Christmas tree in Harrods....

Did you know that Starbucks started selling coffee in 1971?

Anyway, quiz night facts aside....lets see what Becca and Sam thought of their festive coffees.

The toffee nut latte is not new to the Starbucks Christmas menu, but apparently its a firm favourite of Starbucks fans! Its a blend of two shots of espresso, milk and toffee nut syrup. If you are feeling extra decadent you can also have whipped cream and toffee nut sprinkles on top.

Sam told us that this drink was rich and creamy, but very sweet - not for the faint hearted!

Becca enjoyed the Gingerbread Latte (which I have also tried), which is made from two shots of espresso, milk and gingerbread syrup. Again, if you want extra luxury you can top your latte with ginger whip cream and wafer topping. 

Becca really enjoyed this drink, she thought there was just enough ginger and it wasn't too sweet. I also really enjoyed this latte when I tried it - I'm not normally a milky coffee fan, but the balance of ginger in this coffee is really good.

Have you tried these Christmas coffees? We'd love to know what you thought of them!

Thanks for popping by today, we'll be back soon with more Christmas Cheer!

Rachel & Lorna

Christmas Cheer - Christmas Creme Brulee from Starbucks

Hello,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends and our first Christmas Cheer blog post!

I went for a mooch around Farnham on Sunday (I do love a mooch around the shops!) and ducked into Starbucks to avoid a shower. Instead of my usual black coffee I decided to sample one of the Christmas blends, Starbucks have several different options mostly latte blends such as Gingerbread Latte or Toffee Nut Latte.

I opted for the Christmas Crème Brulee Latte and a Salted Caramel Christmas tree....

Let's start with the coffee, if I'm honest I wouldn't normally pick a latte, but I was tempted by this one with it's vanilla and caramel flavours. 

The blurb on the Startbucks website describes it as....."Rich Crème Brulee Sauce is mixed with creamy eggnog milk, poured over our Espresso Roast and finished with a Christmas Brulee topping for a festive take on the traditional Crème Brulee."

It did indeed taste rich and creamy, with a nice caramel finish. But I couldn't have drank more than the small cup I had, it's quite a sweet coffee too!

In the photo below you can see the Christmas Brulee topping....

The salted caramel Christmas tree is a rice crispy and pretzel treat which is decorated with golden balls and white chocolate stars. It looks very pretty and is a good sized portion (you might even want to cut it in half and share it with someone). 

I'm glad this was a salted caramel treat as the salt cut through the sweetness nicely. I also liked the addition of pretzel pieces in with the rice cripsys as it gave the treat another texture. 

All in all a nice sweet treat.....maybe a little too sweet with the flavoured coffee as well....I hit a bit of a sugar high as I was walking back along the main street!

Have you enjoyed a Christmas Crème Brulee from Starbucks? If so what did you think?

Thank you for popping by today, we hope you enjoyed our first Christmas Cheer post! Look out for more posts over the coming weeks!

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review......Tazo Tea on location!

Hello there,

Happy Friday! We hope you are well today!

So, this Friday Review is a little different because when Alex and I went to the cinema last weekend we found ourselves enjoying a cup of green tea! We'd been to the gym in the morning and were feeling a little sleepy....so instead of the usual popcorn or ice cream we opted for some tea. As you know we've featured "take away" tea previously, so as we were drinking I decided to grab my
camera!

Tea With Me and Friends enjoying
a cuppa while at the cinema!

Our cinema sells a certain well known coffee brand (Starbucks) within the foyer and in their product range are Tazo Teas. Tazo sources their teas, spices and botanicals from communities around the world and only buy unblended teas. 

I am always a little suspicious of green tea served at take away outlets as often it is made with boiling water which can leave the tea tasting a little bitter.....but I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a whirl......

Tazo China Green Tips Tea

The green tea on offer at our cinema is Tazo China Green Tips tea. 

Ignoring the awful cup (which is to be expected when out and about and enjoying a cup of tea) this was actually a great cup of green tea. The water wasn't too hot and the tea bag was left in the cup so we could brew it to our own taste.

Once brewed the liquor was a lovely pale green-yellow colour. This green tea is a light, refreshing tea which is easy to drink. I would definitely have a cup of tea at the cinema again - does that make me sound really old??

Oh and just in case you were wondering, on this cinema trip we saw "Joy" - which was a little bizarre, but also quite inspiring all at the same time!

Have you experienced a great.....or not so great....take away tea while on your travels? Why not let us know about it....leave us a comment below!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel