Starbucks’ latest winter launch is all about cozy vibes—think mixology-inspired flavors with a touch of hygge. This new limited-time lineup includes the Blackberry Sage Refresher, Blackberry Sage Lemonade Refresher, and the Midnight Drink.

According to Starbucks’ development team, the inspiration came from customers looking for something refreshing and soothing during the colder months, as well as the growing mixology trend of pairing fruit and herbs together.

Visually, they designed the drink to have a deep violet hue with hints of red to evoke a winter sunset or the warmth of a cabin retreat.

I was all in on the concept, as I’m all about interesting flavor combinations and cozy winter vibes. So, I decided to try the Midnight Drink. I usually go for Refreshers with coconut milk, such as the Pink Drink or Dragon Drink. This one features the Blackberry Sage Refresher base with coconut milk and blackberry inclusions.

From the first sip, the flavor felt well-balanced—sweet but distinctly herbal, almost savory. The savory note might just be my brain associating sage with Thanksgiving turkey, but it definitely added depth. Unfortunately for me, it’s peak cold and flu season, and I’ve been eating a lot of elderberry-flavored lozenges, which have a similar flavor — fruity but herbal.

The more I sipped, the more I appreciated the flavors, but it definitely tasted medicinal. That might be some people’s jam, but it’s not mine. I can’t have orange-flavored things without thinking of liquid Motrin or most grape-flavored things without tasting Dimetapp.

Like all Refreshers, I love how the freeze-dried fruit rehydrates in the drink. It adds a nice texture, and I always enjoy eating the fruit pieces. It was my first time having blackberry like this, and it worked well!

I love the bold innovation and strongly believe Starbucks should keep it up. But this particular fruit-and-herb pairing isn’t for me.

Purchased Price: $5.75
Size: Grande (16 fl oz)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 24 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein, and 55mg caffeine.

Alongside the usual sweet suspects like pumpkin spice, peppermint, and gingerbread, the 2024 Starbucks holiday menu brings a new savory offering in the form of the Turkey Sage Danish. It features turkey sausage lightly coated in béchamel sauce and wrapped up in a flaky pastry. As a firm believer that turkey and stuffing shouldn’t be relegated to only a small handful of days each year, I was excited to see if this snack could capture some of those flavors in a neat little dough package.

My danish arrived lightly warmed up, and when I pulled it out of the paper bag, I was pleasantly surprised to see it nicely browned in several places and generously scattered with herbs. Two sides of the pastry are folded over like little dough arms attempting to hug their filling but ultimately letting the turkey tumble out. The sausage crumbles aren’t exactly appealing, looking like the grayish meat morsels you might find in a Hot Pocket. I happen to love Hot Pockets, so that isn’t a knock on either product, but I don’t think anyone will look at these poultry pebbles and think, “Those look tasty!” When eaten alone, they aren’t particularly flavorful. The sausage itself doesn’t seem to have much seasoning, with most of the flavor here instead coming from the herb topping. The bottom of my danish was golden and crisp, and while the middle had a bit of a doughy, not quite done texture, other parts were puffed in the flaky layers you’d look for in a laminated pastry.

This has a very familiar taste that’s less “fancy bakery pastry” and more like a slightly underbaked Pillsbury crescent roll that’s been nestled up to the stuffing on your Thanksgiving plate. I love the sagey, herb flavors here and wish they would be even more pronounced. The béchamel is a welcome addition, bringing a little creamy note and preventing things from becoming too dry, but as stated in the description, there isn’t a whole lot of it.

Sizewise, this eats like a snack more than a breakfast. Mine had a few turkey sausage crumbles in the middle, but mostly what you see on the outside is what you get, maybe two tablespoons worth. Writing up the nutrition facts, I noticed that this item has less protein than the last coffee I reviewed. It seems to be a popular trend now to cram as much protein as possible into everything, but as someone not particularly worried about that, I was happy to eat this as a savory afternoon snack. I enjoyed the Turkey Sage Danish and would probably order it again if I was looking to scratch my stuffing itch while on the go, but if you want a filling breakfast or lunch, you’ll have to pay almost $10 and gobble up two of these.

Purchased Price: $4.95
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 270 calories, 13 grams of total fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 480 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of total carbs, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 5 grams of total sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

Starbucks’ limited-edition holiday lineup this year has all of winter’s most beloved flavors—peppermint, gingerbread, sugar cookie, and even toffee! While the latter sounds like it could make a delicious signature latte (can you say “toffee coffee” five times fast?), it’s actually attending this holiday party in food form via the Dark Toffee Bundt cake.

Though this is a new offering, it has a classic feel: it fits right in with those aforementioned faves, boasting a distinctive flavor like peppermint, a hint of cozy zing like gingerbread, and a sweetness like a sugar cookie. And while Starbucks is currently cooking up coffee cakes and cake pops, I don’t recall ever seeing it sling a bundt before, so I was also looking forward to that shot of novelty.

Right off the bat, I got festive vibes from the green and red sprinkles (which the website, perhaps unnecessarily but certainly amusingly, specifies are “holly-and-berry-shaped”). That’s not all, though: the dark color of the cake and its rich, dense texture brought to mind other seasonal stalwarts like fruitcake and figgy pudding. The bundt shape was visually appealing enough that I almost felt a little bad ruining those pristine ridges by biting into them. Fortunately for you, reader, my hunger won out over my aesthetic appreciation.

I noticed a slight sheen on the top of the cake that made me worry that it might be sticky enough to cause a mess, but thankfully, the eating experience was relatively clean. The shiny glaze was only applied to the top, so when I picked the cake up from the sides, my hands came away clean (I wish I could say the same about certain other holiday treats—looking at you, candy canes).

The cake had a satisfying heft that was a nice complement to its rich, hearty taste: sweet but not too sweet, with notes of molasses and brown sugar adding complexity and comfort. It didn’t necessarily scream “toffee,” but it was good enough that it didn’t bother me much. I also enjoyed the texture, as the outside was lightly springy while the inside was dense but still crumbly. It was perhaps a bit dry, but I think a fudgier consistency would have been overwhelming, so I appreciated that the graininess made it feel lighter than I was expecting from its solid stature, more afternoon snack than evening ender. (It was certainly tasty and filling enough to serve as a dessert, but it was convenient that it didn’t crash me into an insta-food coma.)

I think this is a treat that would lend itself well to being served heated, but unfortunately, that’s not the default. I was too shy to consider asking an employee, but I think a warm temperature would go great with the warm flavors and amp up that pleasant Christmasy coziness even further. Even as-is, I didn’t feel like this was lacking, and I walked away stuffed and jolly as a Christmas stocking. If Santa ever gets tired of Christmas cookies, I’m sure he’d find the Dark Toffee Bundt a fine replacement, and you might too.

Purchased Price: $4.84
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 15 grams of fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 46 grams of carbohydrates, 29 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein