Holiday drinks are the new front in the Starbucks and McDonald’s race
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Starbucks launched its 2026 holiday menu on Nov. 5, leading with tiramisu-flavored drinks and a new Apple Pomegranate Refresher. The launch lands days after McDonald’s rolled out its own set of festive drinks and an $8 meal deal, setting up a seasonal contest between a coffeehouse chain and a burger chain.
The new Starbucks line-up includes a Tiramisu Velvet Latte and a Tiramisu Velvet Cold Brew, both topped with Velvet Mascarpone Cold Foam and cocoa powder. The Apple Pomegranate Refresher comes with pomegranate-flavored pearls, and a Snowy Apple Drink is made with a coconut milk or lemonade base. On the food side, the chain has added a Bearista Cake Pop and a Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese, and refreshed its Turkey & Stuffing Sandwich.
McDonald’s moved first. Its $8 Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, with medium fries and a drink, started on Nov. 2 at participating restaurants. It followed with 5 limited-time holiday drinks on Nov. 3 in select cities, including a Frosted Cranberry Splash made with Sprite, a Red Bull Frosted Cranberry Energizer, and 2 Cookie Butter Frappés. The McRib is also back for a limited time.
Press coverage has framed the McDonald’s drinks as a direct challenge to Starbucks. That framing says a lot about where quick-service beverage competition now sits.
Holiday drinks have become a traffic driver, not a side menu
For years, holiday drinks were most closely associated with Starbucks. Its red cups and the Peppermint Mocha turned launch day into an annual ritual. Now holiday launches arrive in a cluster across coffee chains and burger chains alike, each promising a reason to visit during a short window. Dunkin’ has also launched its holiday offer, wrapping its cups and donut boxes in nutcracker-inspired “Donutcracker” packaging.
The appeal for operators is clear. Limited-time drinks give regular customers a reason to come back and give lapsed ones a reason to try again, without the chain having to overhaul its core menu.
McDonald’s line-up shows how far the burger chain has moved into specialty drinks. Cold foam toppings, energy drink mixes, and frappé flavors are now standard parts of its seasonal play.
Starbucks is leaning on familiarity as much as novelty
For all the new launches, much of Starbucks’ holiday menu is built on returning favorites. The Caramel Brûlée Latte, Gingerbread Chai, Peppermint Mocha, and Sugar Cookie Latte are all back, along with the Cranberry Bliss Bar, the Snowman Cookie, and the Sugar Plum Cheese Danish. Cookie Butter coffees and several white chocolate and matcha drinks have also returned.
The balance looks deliberate, as returning items give loyal customers something they already know they like, while the tiramisu drinks and the Refresher provide the talking points.
Flavor choices across both menus point in the same direction. Dessert-inspired profiles such as tiramisu, cookie butter, and cake pop dominate, alongside fruit-forward cold drinks for customers who want something festive without a hot, heavy latte.
Merchandise is part of the offer too. Starbucks has released holiday cups, tumblers, mugs, snow globes, and ornaments, and its original cold Bearista cup will return to select coffeehouses on Dec. 1. That second date gives the chain a reason to bring customers back mid-season.
The real test is whether the visits last beyond December
Seasonal menus are good at creating a short spike in visits, but what operators want is a lasting habit. For McDonald’s, the question is whether customers who come in for a holiday drink or an $8 meal keep visiting once the limited-time items disappear. For Starbucks, it is whether a familiar holiday ritual is still enough to hold customers who now have festive drinks on offer at the drive-thru down the road.
Overlapping menus also raise operational questions. More specialty drinks mean more steps behind the counter, and holiday weeks are already among the busiest of the year for staff.
How each chain balances novelty, speed, and price over the rest of the season will show which approach to holiday beverages is working, and whether burger chains can keep eating into territory that coffeehouses once had to themselves.
Source
ABC News
