Review: Starbucks - Toffee Mocha

Starbucks' Toffee Mocha is a new seasonal fall/winter drink that recently debuted on the menu. It features espresso, steamed milk, milk chocolate toffee sauce, milk foam, and a dusting of cocoa powder. A 12-ounce Tall, hot or iced will run you $3.75 and a Frappuccino version is 20 cents more at $3.95.

So what's up with the picture and my partially filled cup? Let me explain. Even though the temperature is still in the 80s here in California, I ordered a Tall Toffee Mocha hot (because it's fall/winter drink dammit!). The barista asked me if I wanted whipped cream; I thought "sure, why not?" and said, "Please." To make room for the whipped cream, he pour less milk. Whipped cream being whipped cream, it dissolves in the hot coffee, loses a lot of volume (whipped cream has quite a bit of air), and "Voila!" by the time I get home, partially-filled cup of Toffee Mocha.

I tasted it, it was very sweet and not that hot. I guess between the toffee mocha syrup and the whipped cream, it cooled quite a bit. I stirred it a bit in case the syrup pooled at the bottom:

Not to worry though. I am nothing if not resourceful and have at my disposal an espresso machine. I steamed up some nice micro-foamed milk and poured me some not-so-good latte art:

The Toffee Mocha was still really sweet, even after the added milk. It exhibits a very rich, buttery toffee flavor with a hint of milk chocolate at the tail end. I didn't really taste much coffee, if any, over the toffee notes, but that usually seems the case with flavored drinks.

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Nutritional Info - Grande Toffee Mocha with 2% Milk (16oz)
Calories - 250 (from Fat - 60)
Fat - 6g (Saturated Fat - 4g)
Sodium - 135mg
Carbs - 36g (Sugar - 34g)
Protein - 12g
Caffeine - 150mg