Everyone's excited about the debut of Starbucks' holiday stuff

At least that's the impression I get from seeing photos and comments on Twitter. Andrew Isogai has posted photos of the various holiday products we'll see in Starbucks stores this season, including Christmas Blend VIA. Are you and your customers in the holiday mood yet?

Comments

[Aaron]

Holiday blend via?!

[Legendarily Lean]

Christmas Via is amazing. i stopped buying refular whole bean for the sake of Via. My eyes have finally seen the light!

Via wins after all! Howard For President!

[Sheldon Kotyk]

Canada SB messed with the cranberry bliss bar. Is it ruined down there too?

[ho ho ho]

Christmas Blend espresso beans too...

[Only 52 shopping days until Christmas]

Canada has their decorations up already? We started red cups today but don't decorate until the 16th...

[LT]

As a customer, I was excited to see the Red Cups. But then bummed to find out that the website advertised on the side of the cup wasn't kicking off until the 16th. By then I'll be bored with the red cup!

[Sheik]

1. There's a Xmas blend and a Xmas espresso roast? .......K. Like THAT won't confuse people.

2. Don't see any advent calendars??

3. No small bottles of Vanilla and Peppermint syrup? :-( Hrmmph!

[Siberiabux]

The reason there are no advent calendars is because every year each store marks down and the marksout dozens of them. Even when thy are on sale, they don't sell.

[myfax]

Jeez, its already started.

[Marcus]

How can Starbucks help me get my holiday shopping done in time for Christmas, including those impossible-to-shop-for family and friends? You know the ones I mean. Does Starbucks offer something for everyone? One more question: can Starbucks make holiday shopping fun?

[Jim romenesko]

Marcus -- stop in a Starbucks and see for yourself.

[Justin]

Noticed the red cups today.. but I am still in the mood for Halloween. Xmas is not really on my radar yet but I do always love seeing Starbucks decorated :D

[Presto!]

At least the christmas music hasn't started yet.

[spence]

I'm loving the colors and the cups. It's going to be a pretty Christmas at Starbucks.
Oh, and the Thanksgiving Blend is the best I've had in years.

[rachee]

ummm christmas music has started every where else I have been!

[Doppio Con Karma]

I'm not sure about the purple bag for the Christmas Espresso, but man if that fox isn't adorable!

[BB]

really? Advent calendars usually sell out the first few days in my area. Guess they just weren't popular elsewhere.

[Waltie]

I've also never worked at a store where advent calendars don't fly off the shelves.

But the reason they aren't out yet is because the full holiday set up isn't for another couple of weeks.

[Daniel]

Not digging the red cups just yet. Give me two weeks, once Thanksgiving is looming down our necks and I'll be good. And because I live in GA, it's still about 70 degrees. Cooler temps (30s and 40s) are predicted for the lows next week, so that could also help.

[cafenoir]

I haven't been enjoying the trend where starbucks just ships out magnetic clings to put on the chalkboards instead of getting to draw cups on them. Just lettering to go with the photo cut-outs. I liked getting to be creative. I'll miss it. I have a feeling that it's going to be like that for a long, long time. After all, individualism isn't very lean, and I suppose that taking the time to draw isn't either. Perhaps this is a "better way?" I respect starbucks needing to run their business the way they want to, but I still will miss the personalized chalkboards. However, if cutout carbon copies is what they want, who am I to complain? They sign my paycheck and I still enjoy the job.

[spence]

Cafenoir, You are obviously a better artist than most. I'm loving the cutouts because I can't draw and neither can anyone in my store.
Now, if I could draw. . . that would be a different story.

[Mary]

Don't like the red cups this year as much to be honest. When I saw them yesterday I asked my barista what she thought of the design and we both agreed that the amount of white space on the cups takes away from the richness of the red. Each size has a slightly different design, which is interesting, and we both liked the venti design of all of them. It's a silly thing to care about of course but Christmas cups are a tradition!

[areyoualwaysthischeerful]

the espresso roast isn't confusing. If you want to be neagative, I guess it's easy to be so.

[Hipsterdufus]

cafenoir: we don't have cutouts for the holiday drinks where I am.

Also, my dm and region don't care if we use the cut outs or draw the things ourselves.

[Melody]

@cafenoir - I'm with you. I sigh every time I see the cut outs and I miss the barista chalk art. I'd rather see terrible chalk art than those cut outs. It's one of the things that does give a store some personality and uniqueness. I assume (?) that the cut outs save labor/time because it's probably much faster than a barista drawing the holiday chalk art. (link in name goes to some barista art).

[TESOL Certification]

I just love their mixture of peppermint during the Christmas season! Their new blend is surely a must try!

[cafenoir]

Spence--I totally understand that the cutouts really simplify things at stores where there aren't any people who are especially good at drawing. Though it seemed like the siren's eye always provided stencils for that very reason.
I have to wonder though--if they are making life easier with the cutouts, why they don't provide the words too? Neat lettering can be really time consuming. And I've been in some stores where it looks like the words were just scrawled on in a hurry--starting out big and then being cramped to fit all in one line!

Not saying one way or the other is wrong or right, I'm just wondering, if they want everything to look the same, why don't they bypass the chalkboard altogether in favor of another printed signage panel?

Melody--I too like to see hand drawn signs. I think that's something that's really cool about the store Trader Joe's--the signage is different in every store because it's all hand drawn. (they have special people who do that though.) Having the cutouts makes life easier, for sure--but a little less fun. :)

Hipsterdufus--why do you think it is that in someplaces you have to use the cutout but not in others? is it the us to canada discrepancy (i'm in us)? Or is it just a district preference?

It's weird that starbucks wants consistency so much, but it seems like nothing is consistent.

[cafenoir]

Doppio Con Karma--I agree! That little fox just makes me want to squeal!

I haven't gotten to try the xmas espresso yet but I am curious as to how it tastes.

Speaking of whole bean coffees, in our district we are supposed to sell out of Thanksgiving by next Friday. We even had a sign up sheet for reservations, and of course, no one signed up. Of course, my store sells very, very little whole bean. We are a big time store for the super sugary drinks, though!! I once made a 12 (yes 12) raw sugar caramel macchiato! We also had a girl complain that her 10 pump venti vanilla iced coffee was not sweet enough. It used to shock me how much sugar people wanted. Now I'm shocked when anyone under 50 orders black coffee.

[baristamclane]

I enjoyed doing the art for the Daily Offerings board and for the COW signage (back when we still had the Coffee of the Week program). It was my favorite part about closing on Sunday nights. Admittedly though, it could be really time consuming, and it kinda sucks putting so much effort into a sign, only to have it wiped clean within a week.

[starbucksfan]

Happy to see red cups...love me a gingerbread latte! I don't think this years design of the red cup is the prettiest though. More snowflakes, please! I prefer chalk art, amateur artists are fine! The only thing this customer asks is for consistency in the way the drinks are made no matter who is making the drink. Thank you to all the many dedicated baristas who still care about the quality of the beverages they serve.

[Coffee Soldier]

It is refreshing to see someone like Starbucksfan post on here! Yippie for a non negative poster!!

I'm excited for the earnings call today! 29.99 stock for today's high already...let's hope it breaks that 30 dollar mark! Novemenr 17th should make for some nice profits for some partners when the $8. something grants gain another year of vesting!

[Kandi]

Did anyone else notice that there is no Siren on the holiday cups? Makes it a pain to measure for mistos and chai lattes.

[otterinthewater]

Anyone else having a hard time reading cup markings in the Holiday cups? Could just be me, but peeking over to see what milk I need to be prepared to steam has become impossible, because the cup design is so busy that the markings become lost in the mayhem.

[ncsm]

This year's holiday cups DO make it difficult to read the markings! Just another example of the corporate higher ups completely disconnected from the reality in the stores--and whats worst, not really caring about it in the first place!

[baristamclane]

Starbucksfan, it was refreshing to see your post after a really rough day at work. Thank you!

I have yet to mark one of this years red cups, but my trick in years past is to use a green (or blue, though it's not as festive) marker during the holidays to improve visibility. Yes, I know the standard is to use black ink, but I've been using colored pens for about four years, and have never had a manager or customer complain about it.

Did anyone else notice that the drink boxes on the cups are on the same side of the seam?

I appreciate the contemporary design on this year's cups, but I haven't made up my mind if I actually like it.

[Waltie]

"Did anyone else notice that the drink boxes on the cups are on the same side of the seam? "

Yes! And it's completely annoying! Get on that, cup people.

[Waltie]

"It's weird that starbucks wants consistency so much, but it seems like nothing is consistent. "

Except for, like, the billion things that *are* consistent. Not having hand drawn signs in every store hardly means "nothing is consistent."

[baristamclane]

"Not having hand drawn signs in every store hardly means 'nothing is consistent.'"

It just means that Starbucks wants to save time, labor, and money for art's sake...

[BoldPassion]

Omg, I'm almost ashamed to be a fellow barista. Some of you are just here to complain. Yea the cups are a pain but it's part of the job. If it's that big of a deal than quit. And be unemployed. And let me tell you now is a great time to be job less!!! Our economy is just booming!!! Is it that hard for you and your fellow partners to communicate? Do the different color sharpie thing. I use purple. It doesn't agree with the red but I just try to stay in the box. The seam is a pain but it's not that big of a deal. Just talk to your partners.
I'm just blow away by how some of you act on here. I can't beleive you were even hired at sbux. You're rude, have little or no respect for other people and I'm ashamed to know we work for the same company. I really hope that's not how you run your store!

[MasterSellingDF]

Hi! This is such a great article and I am sure a lot of coffee lovers are going to be excited of this. I have been giving advice like these to many up and coming business people and have been successful so far. I am Donald Brownlie Fleming, an Australian Entrepreneur, ebook author (Master Selling by Donald Brownlie Fleming) and a Philanthropist. If you have time, maybe you can visit me too:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_ATM

[Kandi]

Actually, BoldPadssion, if you think about it; by randomly painting us all with the same brush, you are just as bad as the people you are complaining about.

Just saying...pot calling kettle black?

[BoldPassion]

Ok master seller dude, that has nothing to do with starbucks. I'm starting to think I don't like this forum anymore :( I just want to find a place where other partners who like their jobs and customers who enjoy our drinks can come together and talk about something we are passionate about!!! Caffine!!! Whose with me!?!?!?? Maybe I'll just stop typing and enjoy my awesome ps b/s bold misto!!! Yum!! And I sooooo can't wait to try the new Xmas espresso!! And I want a polar bear cookie!!!

[hmpht]

anyone else think the venti reindeer is a close resemblance to the 'bou? SBUX is #2 in the MN market and now we are looking like our competition? Carmel Cooler anyone?

[BoldPassion]

I'm not painting anything I just think there are more important things in life than argueing with other people on a website. Why us everyone so negative? Can't you just be happy you have jobs or that you weren't one of many baristas to be laid off?

[baristamclane]

BoldPassion, I'm curious to know how long you have been with the company. If you're a recent hire, you have no place to criticize, because many of the posters have been partners for several years, and have been through a lot of painful streamlining and restructuring, and as far as I'm concerned, if they've been with Starbucks long enough to receive their five-year pin/pen (whatever it is now), they have earned the right to complain about anything remotely related to this company.

I have a great deal of respect for my peers, and for most of the partners who post on here. I appreciate skepticism, because it usually means (to me, at least) that they are paying attention to the goings on of our employer. You'd be surprised how many of the partners and customers who post on here are passionate about coffee. You'd also be surprised how many of my coworkers (as much as I love working with them) refuse to drink coffee, nor can they accurately describe the beans in our core lineup.

Don't let your feelings get hurt, just because one partner or customer says that they don't like Thanksgiving Blend, or that the red cup from holiday 2005 was better looking than holiday 2010. They are after all, just opinions.

[baristamclane]

BTW, if you're looking for a delicious holiday drink, and aren't afraid of clogging your arteries, you should try adding a pump or two of white mocha and an extra shot of espresso to an eggnog latte.

Question, because my memory is awful. I noticed that the drink for for the Chai Eggnog Latte is CHEG again. Did that just happen this year? Don't judge, but that delights my heart!

[slaw275]

anybody notice that the job aides list the cup marking for Eggnog Frappuccino as "EF"? Isn't that the drink ID for an Espresso Frappuccino?

[ncsm]

@BoldPassion-I too am curious as to just how long you've worked for Starbucks. I would suggest that in future postings, you try to show a little more humility. Yes, the economy is terrible, and yes, those of us who are fortunate enough to be employed should be grateful for that fact. But being a Starbucks partner doesn't mean that you can never question the decisions (or even the motivations)of the company. In fact, partners are encouraged to show "leadership courage" and speak out when they feel the need to. Truly great companies are not afraid of employee criticism--quite the opposite. So take a deep breath, and know that MANY partners beside you care about and are loyal to Starbucks.

[BoldPassion]

I've been with starbucks for several years. But that's besides the point. Were all here to voice our opinions as we've all done, including me. I just think there are more important things to complain about than holiday cups. Like the fact that were giving our name and partner number out to everyone. I'd rather we all get along. But some people have nothing better to do. Take a deep breathe? Lol do you think my life revolves around this? I'm just looking for a place where I as a barista can talk to other baristas without losing their heads. Which I'm not cause it's not that big of a deal. And unfortunatly no one can hear the tone I'd be speaking in if I were speaking and not typing so maybe you should take a deep breathe. Just sayin…

[BoldPassion]

And I cNt do eggnog. Everytime I steam some I feel like it's gonna turn into scrambled eggs. The smell is too much for me. But I'll suggest that to my partners. I'm a psl and cbl Kinda girl myself. And I love caramel sauce white mocha sds!!! Anything to get rid of that headache at 5:30 am!! Ugh just thinking about eggnog grosses me out. Goodnight!!!!