Sorry Starbucks Fans: I Tried The Holiday Eggnog Latte And Cold Foam, And It's A Mixed Bag

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (almost) and with the start of a holiday season comes a flurry of festive holiday drinks. While we already reviewed some newcomers on Starbucks' 2025 Winter Menu, two more seasonal additions are joining the pack.

This holiday season, Starbucks is bringing back the Eggnog Latte (which was discontinued in 2021) and introducing a brand-new Eggnog Cold Foam. Both items feature authentic eggnog, offering that cozy, nostalgic flavor right in your morning coffee. But how do these eggnog-infused additions measure up against long-standing Starbucks drinks like the Chai Latte or iconic cold foam flavors like the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam? To find out, Food Republic got a first look at both items at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York City. Here's everything you need to know about Starbucks' Eggnog Latte and Eggnog Cold Foam before they hit menus across the country.

The Eggnog Latte and new Eggnog Cold Foam will launch nationwide at Starbucks locations on December 2 and will be available for a limited-time. Customers can add Eggnog Cold Foam to their drink of choice for an additional $1.25 (the standard cost of cold foam).

When it comes to ordering warm drinks, I pretty much stick to Chai Lattes and, well, that's about it. So it's safe to say I probably wasn't the target audience for a hot Eggnog Latte. But, surprisingly, it was something I really enjoyed. The eggnog flavor was subtle yet present, with a nostalgic warmth that felt perfectly suited for the holiday season.

The Eggnog Latte is infused with real eggnog — and it shows. Sure it isn't as bold and rich of an eggnog flavor as you would get in a traditional eggnog you whipped up yourself at home, but most of us don't want to start our morning with a glass full of eggnog anyway (no judgment if you do, of course). The nutmeg topping also added a nice, aromatic (and aesthetically-pleasing) touch to the drink (you may not see it under the to-go lid, but you'll know in your heart at least that it looked beautiful). And perhaps I'm biased since the New York City sky was raining up a storm outside the Starbucks Reserve that day, but it really did feel like this was the perfect drink for a rainy day. Overall, this drink is something that even a cold-coffee-lover like myself could get behind. In fact, I may even consider ordering it over my beloved Chai Latte (at least once in a while).

From the Starbucks' mid-summer debut of three Strato Frappuccinos (which incorporated layers of cold foam throughout) to the launch of Protein Cold Foam (which contains an impressive amount of macros), it's clear the chain has been heavily investing in developing new cold foam flavors. Many of these flavors have been hits, with customers coming up with even the most unexpected of combinations (like matcha cold foam on a pink drink). But as a longtime fan of the sweet topping (which is different from whipped cream by the way), the Eggnog Cold Foam seemed to strike out.

Boasting a mildly sweet flavor, the cold foam wasn't bad by any means but the eggnog flavor barely came through. Some flavors just might be too nuanced to translate into cold foam — and, for me, this was one of them. I tried sip after sip to really catch the eggnog but to no avail. My take? If you have a hankering for eggnog, save your money and buy some ingredients to make some at home instead. But if you're really craving both eggnog and Starbucks, I'd recommend going for the eggnog latte. It packs a stronger eggnog flavor and will save you the $1.25 cold foam surcharge.

When it comes to Starbucks' Eggnog-infused product line, I'd say one was a swing and the other a bit of a miss. Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this one (after all, I've probably had eggnog exactly one time in my life) or perhaps the Eggnog Cold Foam simply isn't one of the brands strongest cold foam offerings. Still, the return of the Eggnog Latte more than makes up for it.

Fans have been waiting a full four years for its comeback (talk about a Christmas miracle), and it's easy to understand why. The Eggnog Latte is nostalgic, cozy, and boasts a completely different flavor profile from other Starbucks holiday heavy-hitters like the Peppermint Mocha or Caramel Brulée Latte. So whether you're a longtime Eggnog Latte fan or a newcomer tasting it for the very first time, its return is certainly something that makes this holiday season worth savoring. Perhaps those Change.org petitions really do work after all.