The Discontinued Starbucks Holiday Drink We Wish Would Return

Starbucks has hit paydirt with recurring holiday drinks like the Peppermint Mocha and the Gingerbread Latte. They even pull hesitant customers through the doors to treat themselves to something seasonal, and of course there is more on that holiday menu than a couple solid favorites. Every year Starbucks rolls out a whole line-up of holiday drinks, and in 2013 that list included a sweet and chocolatey drink that we wish would have stuck around longer, the Cherries Jubilee Mocha.

It was a drink based on the classic dessert, cherries jubilee, made by cooking cherries with brandy and serving them over ice cream. It was a mocha with a dose of cherry syrup, served hot, topped with a whole lot of whipped cream, dusted with cocoa espresso powder, and then garnished with a reddish drizzle of cherry port sauce. It was tested in just a few stores in 2013 alongside the Chestnut Praline Latte as Starbucks prepared to release its first new holiday drink in five years. The Cherries Jubilee Mocha failed to impress, and the Chestnut Praline Latte was released instead.

The Starbucks Cherries Jubilee Mocha could be more accurately called a tribute to cherries jubilee. One sip of this drink would deliver one strong ingredient that isn't in the classic recipe — chocolate, and a lot of it. The dessert generally does not include chocolate in any form, as a drizzle or otherwise. So, Starbucks took a big chance in its first step creating the drink by using a mocha as a base for a cherries jubilee-inspired creation. It also did not make it out of test markets, so it ended up not reaching that many customers. One Redditor who tried it said the cherry flavor was not very strong and that it did not do much except for balance out the "chalky" mocha flavor.

Since the drink is discontinued, you cannot just walk into Starbucks and order a Cherries Jubilee Mocha. You can recreate the flavors of the drink, though, by using this ordering hack with Starbucks new cherry cold foam. You won't get the exact version of the 2013 Cherries Jubilee Mocha — for one thing it'll be an iced drink instead of hot — but you will be able to experience the combination of chocolatey espresso, light vanilla, and cherries.