Starbucks is stealing the joy of the holiday season for some coffee lovers. As the beloved coffee chain welcomes back its line of holiday drinks this week, it isn’t spreading the joy to some customers ready to take a sip of their favorite beverage. The 2021 Starbucks holiday menu lineup is notably missing one fan-favorite drink: the Eggnog Latte.
The chain confirmed on Wednesday, just a day before the debut of its holiday lineup and the return of the iconic red cups, that the Eggnog Latte will not be available during the 2021 holiday season. The news was first shared by one Starbucks customer who wrote that they had been “informed by one of your stores that you will not be getting eggnog this year.” Rather than it being a rumor, however, Starbucks confirmed it was true, sharing, “the Eggnog latte is not returning to this year.”
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The Eggnog Latte has been a staple of Starbucks’ holiday menu for decades now. Featuring richly steamed eggnog and Starbucks’ signature espresso and topped with a dusting of nutmeg, the drink was the original Starbucks holiday handcrafted beverage. It was created by Dave Olsen, who in 1986 steamed up a pitcher of eggnog and milk to make the first Eggnog Latte behind the espresso bar at Il Giornale, which merged with Starbucks in 1987. The recipe remained the same in the more than 30 years that followed as Starbucks expanded its holiday offerings, making the loss of Eggnog Latte on this year’s menu a bitter pill for many fans to swallow.
Starbucks has instead recommended that fans of the Eggnog Latte try the newest addition to the holiday drink lineup, the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte. The first non-dairy iced holiday coffee beverage, the Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte is inspired by spritz cookies and made with sugar cookie flavored syrup, combined with Starbucks Blonde Espresso, almond milk, and topped with red and green cookie sprinkles. Fans of the Eggnog Latte aren’t too happy with the suggestion, though, with one person writing, “we aren’t looking for nostalgic flavor. We are looking for the drinks we actually like.”
In addition to the new Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte, this year’s holiday drink menu includes a few fan-favorites, with the Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulee Latte, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, and the Irish Cream Cold Brew all returning. Starbucks debuted its 2021 holiday menu in the U.S. and Canada today, Thursday, Nov. 4, alongside its four new red cup designs.
