Starbucks Holiday Menu: Cran-Merry Refreshers and Dark Toffee Bundt Review

By Donal Buckley

It’s peppermint season, and you know what that means: new Starbucks holiday items. Every year, Starbucks releases new treats to celebrate the holiday season. This year, they released on November 7, and are set to leave stores in mid-January. Among the new delicacies are a seasonal refresher — the Cran-Merry Orange refresher — and a new pastry — the Dark Toffee Bundt. I tried them so you don’t have to, and by the end of the article, you can decide whether you’ll indulge in the new snacks or just stick to the peppermint basics.

Cran-Merry Orange Refreshers

This year, Starbucks released their first-ever holiday refresher: the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher. Like their staple refreshers, this drink comes in three variants: with water (Cran-Merry Orange Refresher), with lemonade (Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher), or with coconut milk (Cran-Merry Drink). I’m not the biggest fan of cranberry, but I was excited to give these drinks a try.

First, the Cran-Merry Orange Refresher. I don’t really like cranberry because of how bitter it is, but thankfully, the orange provided a bit of sweetness to the drink. Granted, it still tasted mostly sour since this one is flavored with water, but I still enjoyed the drink. Even though it’s iced, it still felt seasonal to me, and the combination of cranberry and orange screamed December. Overall, not my favorite, but I didn’t hate it either.

I tried the Cran-Merry Orange Lemonade Refresher next, and I was most excited about this one since it sounded the tastiest. And I’d say it was my favorite. Like I mentioned, I’m not a huge fan of bitter flavors, and while the orange didn’t put too much work into sweetening the drink, the lemonade certainly did. I could still taste bitter notes of cranberry, but combined with the sweetness of lemons as well. Although relatively tasty, this drink doesn’t feel holiday-esque to me. Adding lemonade makes it feel more summery, and if you want something to get you in the holiday mood, I would try the first refresher.

Lastly, rounding out the refreshers was the Cran-Merry Drink. The coconut milk drinks are always a hit or miss for me. While I enjoy their Pink Drink and Paradise Drink, I’m not too fond of the Dragon Drink. Ultimately, it comes down to how well the coconut milk compliments the fruit flavors. And unfortunately, I don’t think the Cran-Merry Drink did it for me. While cranberry and milk seems like an okay combination, the same cannot be said for orange and milk. The best way I could describe the flavor was awkward. The drink felt like a cocktail of things that shouldn’t go together. In addition, the drink didn’t scream holiday to me. In fact, I’m not sure what season I’d drink this refresher in. So if you’re looking for just one of these drinks to try, I’d stay away from this one.

Of course, what are Starbucks refreshers without the inclusions? I always ask for none of the fruit bits — so I might be biased — but I tried each of the drinks with the cranberries in them. Personally, not a fan, but that was to be expected. I avoided eating the cranberries when I could but they still left little bits in the drink (kind of like pulp). That part grossed me out, but I know some people enjoy them.

Overall, I’d say the Cran-Merry Orange refreshers are just okay. I probably wouldn’t order them by choice, but maybe I’ll be craving the lemonade version later. And personally, I don’t like to drink cold drinks during the holidays. But maybe this is how people in the Southern Hemisphere feel about summer drinks in their winter.

Dark Toffee Bundt

Fun fact: before trying it, I’ve never actually had bundt cake. I’m sure I could find something better quality outside of Starbucks, but I was excited to try the new item — and bundt cake for the first time.

For some reason, before trying the pastry, I assumed it was dark chocolate-flavored, not dark toffee. So, when I found out it was toffee-flavored at the register, I was hesitant to try it. I wasn’t sure I’d like it, and for $4.25 on top of a drink, I feel like that’s a reasonable hesitation. Still, I was curious, so I bit the bullet and went through with the transaction. Honestly… I really liked it.

I’m not sure what dark toffee is supposed to taste like (as opposed to regular toffee), but I didn’t think it would be that bundt cake. The best way I can describe its flavor is as a slightly less sweet — and much harder — glazed donut. Even though it looks nothing like one, and doesn’t share many ingredients (besides lots of sugar), it was very similar to another pastry I enjoy. The red and green sprinkles added a nice holiday touch as well. I will say, though, that it was kind of dry. I know bundt cakes are supposed to be soft and moist, but this one was dry and hard. Despite that, I still enjoyed the Dark Toffee Bundt.

Unlike the refreshers, the Dark Toffee Bundt actually felt like a holiday item. First off, it’s not cold, and second, it actually looks like you’d eat it for a holiday dessert. Still, I’m not sure if it’d be my first pick of Starbucks pastries. I’d still enjoy a good lemon loaf or coffee cake over the bundt, but if anyone’s remotely curious about trying it, I’d say it’s worth it.

Overall, Starbucks’ new holiday items were pretty good, but not my favorite. They also released a Penguin Cookie, but it tastes the same as their other cookies, so there would be nothing new to report on. While I might indulge in another sip of a cranberry refresher or another bite of the bundt cake, I can’t say I’ll be sad when they leave the menu in January. Regardless, I’m only one person, so anyone truly curious should try each item for themselves.