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Friday, 8 December 2017

Festive Costa 2017 | Blogmas #8

Hey guys! You may have noticed on my Instagram story today, that I went to Costa! Apart from my trip to Liverpool on Wednesday to see Steps and Vengaboys, I haven't really been out of my house for a while and as much as I'd prefer to stay home most of the time, it was starting to bother me a little that I hadn't done much outside of blogging and spending my life watching TV shows and movies, so when I was going to sleep last night, I thought why not have a walk to the local Costa and treat myself and my mom to festive drink? So that's what I did this afternoon, headed out to get my first Christmas Costa drink to the year and I thought I'd share a little post about it for Blogmas Day 8. Last year, I reviewed two of their festive drinks (and mentioned what my mom thought of the ones she tried), which you can read about here if you want :) This year there's some new additions to their menu so I'm going to talk about one of those in my post today. Enjoy! 

Christmas Costa Drinks

I really enjoy trying out new hot drinks, because there are so many delicious varieties and I have a major sweet tooth! Costa always bring out such intriguing flavours at Christmastime and it's hard for me to resist trying at least one, after living on a university campus for three years that had a Costa onsite. I developed a need for caramel lattes in my life to get through studying, haha! And also a desire to collect the Christmas cups, which I've manage to stop myself  from doing this year, even though they are so pretty! I just have an excuse now to buy a drink of at least every size so I can take those obligatory coffee cup shots for social media instead :D 

So what's on the Christmas menu at Costa this year? There's a new Billionaire's range, including a hot chocolate, a latte and a latte frostino ice-drink thingie. All of them based on those 'millionaire's slice' desserts, you know the ones with the caramel and shortbread layers, topped with chocolate? They are one of my favourite desserts ever! There's a gingerbread latte as always, and if you have it with whipped cream they put the cutest little gingerbread man on top! I still have never tried a proper gingerbread latte and I really need to! There's also a Black Forest hot chocolate that can be topped with sour cherry sauce and special chocolate sprinkles, which you can also get as a frostino drink. I don't like Black Forest gateau though so I'm not going to try that one myself! If you're a fan or you've tried it, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments :) And lastly, there's a mint hot chocolate. 

Keep scrolling to find out which one I picked... 

Christmas Costa Drink

I love when I get hot drinks served in one of these tall glasses! It makes me feel so fancy and I don't know why because I've had them quite a few times now, but the novelty never seems to disappear for me! I'm just like wow! everytime I see my finished drink in one :) Is anyone else the same? Or am I the only one that still looks at things with a childlike wonder? So have you guessed what it is yet? ...

IT'S THE BILLIONAIRE'S HOT CHOCOLATE, of course! This was the latest Costa drink that I was so looking forward to trying because as I've mentioned I love the dessert and I love caramel lattes so it will be no surprise that another caramel flavour caught my attention! I really didn't like the salted caramel one that they had last year all that much, so I was ever so slightly apprehensive that I was going to spend my money on it and then not enjoy it! I was not left disappointed though so yayyy! 

Festive Costa Drink Billionaire's Hot Chocolate

Doesn't the chocolate snowflake look so pretty!? It almost makes me not wanna spoil it, but it doesn't take me to long to get tempted by the whipped cream because I absolutely adore the frothy mix that hot milk and melting whipped cream makes! *nom nom* Writing about this is just making me crave another hot chocolate now, haha. I thought that the Billionaire's hot chocolate overall was really nice. I've had a caramel hot chocolate in the past, one that you make up yourself at home, and it tasted very similar to that, but with a hint of a biscuity taste. It's hard to explain if you've never had a caramel or toffee hot chocolate before, but it was delicious and definitely a drink for people who like sweet things, because it really was sweet. Almost sickly sweet, but I'm not complaining about that. 

Something that was a little... not disappointing, I don't know if annoying is the right word either, but anyhow the hot chocolate was too strong and this seems to be a common thing with Costa hot chocolates. At least it is everytime me or my mom have bought one. I usually get a latte but even the smallest amount of coffee can irritate my IBS and because I'm going out tomorrow to spend time with my friends, I decided that I was going to avoid coffee, as such as I wanted that Billionaire's latte T_T  I don't usually get the hot chocolate options so it was a bit of a shame that it was so strong. I mean, you can always get more milk but due to my social anxiety, I usually just put up with things rather than going to ask for something.

Oh, and make sure that you give your hot chocolate a good stir because all of the caramel settles at the bottom of the glass/mug. It was still really yummy though and I would recommend it :) 

Christmas Costa Hot Chocolate

My mom just decided to get a standard latte today but she ever so kindly asked for it in a festive cup so that I could take a photograph! The perks of going anywhere with a blogger, haha :D I really like the cup design this year, it's very traditional festive style, especially with the nutcracker and the colour scheme. The nutcracker is definitely my favourite, but maybe I'll change my mind when I've seen them all in person. Do you guys have a favourite? You can check them out here on the Costa website. 

We both got the medium drink, which I'm glad about now since it was too strong and made me feel too full to function after drinking it. I was going to get a large but apparently they don't do them anymore? I don't know if that's just my local Costa because it's at a motorway services, or just regarding hot chocolates specifically, or whether this is a store-wide change... does anyone know? I usually always get myself a Millionaire's shortbread when I'm at Costa because they make such fantastic ones! However, since my drink was all about those flavours, I decided to try their brownie! It was so soft and yummy, its a 10/10 from me! 

I hope you enjoyed reading all about my little trip to Costa today and about my first Christmas Costa drink of the year :) Let me know in the comments if you have a favourite go-to for Christmas hot drinks each year? I've never tried any of the Starbucks ones so maybe I'll do that next!


Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Which of the flavours I've mentioned today sounds most appealing to you?

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Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Festive Drinks at Costa #2

Today, I made another trip to the local Costa to try out some more of the Christmas drinks, and as promised here is another review post all about what I thought of them. Have any of you tried the Christmas drinks for yourself yet? Let me know which and whether you enjoyed it in the comments! I hope you all enjoy this post :) 

Costa Christmas Drinks

The Christmas drinks range at Costa includes gingerbread latte, salted caramel cappuccino, toasted marshmallow hot chocolate, honeycomb latte, lindt hot chocolate, mint hot chocolate and black forest hot chocolate. So many flavours that sound delicious! Last month, I got myself a honeycomb latte and tried the black forest hot chocolate too, since my mum was with me and that's the flavour she decided on. You can read all about them what we thought of them here. Today, I opted for the salted caramel cappuccino since I've been drinking a lot of hot chocolate this month haha! My mum chose the mint hot choccie. 

Costa Christmas Drinks

I was intrigued about how this cappuccino would taste, whether it would be reminiscent of the caramel latte, which is my personal favourite hot drink, or not. I'm not actually a huge fan of salted caramel, not that I dislike it, I just wouldn't usually choose to eat something of this flavour, however I was curious about the drink. The Costa website describes the Salted Caramel Cappuccino as 'the frothiest of coffees with a dash of salted caramel syrup, topped with shimmery salted caramel fudge crumb'. 

I always really enjoy the froth of my cappuccinos, it's delicious especially when topped with chocolate. I don't know if my local Costa had the 'salted caramel fudge crumb available because my mum ordered our drinks whilst I found us a table, and when asked what topping she would like, she just asked for chocolate. However, it would been good if the crumb was still added before the chocolate, but nevermind! The Salted Caramel Cappuccino itself was great, although it had a lot more of a bitter taste than I usually go for. If you are a fan of strong, bitter coffee, then I think you'll definitely enjoy this Christmas flavour. 

Costa Christmas Drinks

I would have liked to order the mint hot chocolate for myself but I tend to avoid mint flavoured things whilst I'm out because they often irritate my IBS, which sucks. Costa state on their website, 'Costa Hot Chocolate with a dash of mint syrup, topped with freshly whipped cream and served with an elf-sized candy cane'. 

Although the description says a dash of mint, the mint flavouring in this drink was actually really strong. My mum said she enjoyed it very much as she loves anything mint chocolate, although it was very strong and because of this, the after-taste was a little too much. It was almost like too much syrup had been added. I had a little sip of the hot chocolate, and definitely agree, way too much mint haha I think it was very cute that they added a little candy cane! The barista even gave me a candy cane, too :)

Costa Christmas Drinks


I love Costa and I will definitely be going back to try a Christmas hot chocolate before they are no longer available. I'm very much looking forward to it! I might also see what the gingerbread latte is like because I've never tried a gingerbread flavoured hot drink before. What do you think of gingerbread lattes?

Thankyou for reading!

 ♥

What's your favourite hot drink? Which of the popular coffee shops is your go-to for hot drinks? 

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Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Festive Drinks at Costa #1

If you follow me over on instagram, you may have seen that on Tuesday, I decided to take a trip to Costa in hopes of getting my first Christmas hot drink of the year. Luckily, the Costa not too far from my house was serving the festive drinks, unlike the little Costa I went to at the local hospital a few weeks ago. There were so many drinks to choose from but I was feeling in the mood for coffee VS hot chocolate. I decided to get myself a Honeycomb Latte and since my mum was there, she chose a Black Forest Hot Chocolate. 

As you read this post, I'll be spending the day having a little best friend date. We were supposed to be going to see Melanie Martinez in Manchester this evening, but unfortunately the lovely Melanie is poorly and has had to cancel the rest of her tour :( So instead, me & my best friend have gone to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, followed by a trip of Frankie & Benny's. So I'll just be sharing a short post today, of my thoughts on the Honeycomb Latte :) I hope you enjoy reading!

Costa Christmas Drinks

Can I just start off by saying how awesome and pretty the festive cups are at Costa this year!? I love them, especially the medium cup which is a gorgeous shade of wintery blue with super cute snowmen on :) Fellow hot drink lovers... which is your favourite design of the current Costa cups? I'd love to know.

For those of you who have a serious sweet tooth like me, I'm sure you'll love the Honeycomb Latte. It was lovely but very sweet, so if you don't like your drinks tasting like liquid sugar, then maybe choose another of the festive drinks on offer. I absolutely loved this drink though :) I would definitely get it again. The costa website describes the Honeycomb Latte as 'A smooth and creamy latte with a dash of honeycomb syrup topped with freshly whipped cream and pieces of chocolate coated honeycomb'. 

The Honeycomb Latte reminded me a lot of my favourite flavour of latte, which is Caramel. It has a very similar taste but was much more sweet. The drink is a lot more resembling of caramel, with a lovely golden colour, vs an actual caramel latte from Costa. My latte came with whipped cream on top, but I didn't get any honeycomb pieces which is shame :( I'm going to give this drink a 7/10 altogether and I would recommend all my coffee fan readers to try it.

Costa Christmas Drinks

My mum opted for the Black Forest Hot Chocolate, which she really enjoyed. She usually finds Costa hot chocolates a little too strong and sickly for her, however she thought this festive hot choc was lovely and said she'd  get it again :) I'm not personally a fan of actual Black Forest gateau, but I had a sip of my mum's hot chocolate and thought it tasted good. However, it's still not my tea of cup. It tasted very much like an ordinary hot chocolate but with a subtle berry taste, which matches up with the information about the drink on the Costa website: 'Costa Hot Chocolate with a dash of Black Forest syrup, topped with freshly whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a real cherry'. I don't remember my mum's drink having any chocolate sauce on but she was given a cherry on top of her cup as you can see in the photos. If you like fruity flavours, then I recommend this festive drink for you!

Costa Christmas Drinks


I'll be going back to Costa very soon to try some of their other Christmas drinks. As well as the two flavours I mentioned today, they also have available a Gingerbread Latte, a Salted Caramel Cappuccino, a Lindt Hot Chocolate, a Mint Hot Chocolate and a Toasted Marshmallow Hot Chocolate. Chocolate overload! The sound of these drinks make me happy and I can't wait to taste them.

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Have you tried any of the festive drinks at Costa yet? If so, tell me what you think. 

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