Review: Starbucks's Winter Menu Gives Cortado Lovers What They've Longed For

Unless you live in the 300 square feet of America that inexplicably isn't served by a Starbucks, you're likely ordering from the coffee chain often. And being that you're already familiar with menu, chances are you enjoy the Bucks' limited-time offerings that are newly introduced each season. However, one item has been conspicuously missing from the menu in years past and current, and that's a cortado. Now, the wait is over. 

I won't reproduce quite so colorfully, or indeed so zealously, what a friend once said about Starbucks's earlier try at the popular Spanish-style coffee (but, "an espresso shot with whipped cream" was the thrust of her complaint). When she and other fans heard that the wait was nearly over for the real deal Starbucks cortado, the excitement was palpable. Sure enough, Starbucks is releasing a new line of cortado offerings to go along with its late-winter menu line.

Yours truly visited Starbucks in Manhattan's NoMad district to sample the new cortados, along with nearly everything else arriving on Starbucks's winter menu this January. As such, I've got some recommendations along with some useful info for ordering everything you'll see this new season.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by Starbucks.

For its winter menu, Starbucks is finally debuting a true cortado. It is sold at U.S. and Canadian Starbucks year-round, after having tested among Miami consumers, where the three ristretto shots of espresso and steamed milk are almost as popular as Cuban coffee. In fact, the coffee chain isn't stopping there, adding a second, sweeter cortado that uses oat milk and brown sugar syrup along with cinnamon powder.

Two pistachio drinks will also appear on the menu, though this is more of a return, since we've seen them before: the pistachio latte and the pistachio cold brew. For the pistachio avoidant, Starbucks has also slightly modified how it makes the pistachio matcha latte. It's now airier, and if so desired, not as sweet.

Finally, there's brand new food items to order. One is a Spicy Falafel Pocket with hummus, red pepper, pickled onions, and a spicy herb sauce. Though we didn't get to try them, you can also keep your eyes peeled for a new Vanilla Bean Custard Danish and a Valentine's Cake Pop.

All items are available nationwide and in Canada, with the cortados being year-round offerings and the rest going as supplies last. Priced at $4.45 to $5.45, location depending, the cortado clocks in at 90 calories, with 4½ grams of fat, 8 grams of carbohydrates — of which 6 grams are sugar — and a surprising 5 grams of protein. 

Meanwhile, the Brown Sugar Oatmilk Cortado costs $4.95 to $5.95 and serves up 130 calories, with 30 grams of fat, 14 grams of sugar within 24 grams of carbohydrates total, and a single gram of protein. Both cortado drinks contain 230 milligrams of caffeine from their three ristretto shots.

The pistachio latte ($5.75 to $7.25), using 2 percent milk, clocks in at 320 calories, with 9 grams of fat and 48 grams of carbohydrates: mainly sugars, comprising 45 grams. For protein, you're looking at 12 grams. It's moderately caffeinated at 150 milligrams. Meanwhile the Pistachio Cream Cold Brew ($5.25 to $5.95) is 250 calories, with 13 grams of fat, 32 grams of sugar (33 total carbohydrates), and 2 units of protein. 

The updated iced matcha green tea latte hasn't changed in nutritional value: 190 calories, containing 5 grams of total fat, 27 grams of carbs (mostly sugar at 25 grams) and 9 grams of protein. As for the food, a Spicy Falafel Pocket contains 230 calories, with just one gram of saturated fat among its 7 total grams. It contains 28 grams of carbohydrates, only four of which are sugar, and offers 8 grams of protein. It will run you $4.25 to $5.25, market depending.

Starbucks not only resolved to add a true cortado to its menu, but preserved it as the rare drink you can't modify. Well, technically ... you can, but then you're not getting a cortado, and it might ring up differently. As the cortado stands, you get three ristretto shots of espresso and steamed whole milk (or alternative of your choice; Starbucks is not going to freeze out vegans here). It's expertly swirled into creation. The milk sugars, blonde roast, and speedy ristretto process all combine to make an exceedingly sweet drink you'll have trouble believing doesn't contain any added sugar. It's subtle and nice, and I was an instant fan.

I'd order this, as it scratches both my latte itch and the probably inadvisable tolerance for caffeine I've built up. It's creamy, yet light, with chocolatey and nutty characteristics that, again, feel soft. This drink suggests a lot of heavy tones without burdening you in their weight, perhaps because of how the milk is integrated. Starbucks tested both of its cortado shots in Miami, perhaps the cortado capital of the country, to ensure discerning tastebuds felt it was up to snuff. While I'm not a lifelong cortado expert, I know what I like, and I'd take this over a lot of other formulations.

Speaking of vegan-friendly, the other cortado comes standard with steamed oat milk atop the three ristretto shots, then sprinkles the foam with cinnamon powder. Unlike the by-the-book cortado, this wild card is sweetened with brown sugar syrup. Order both and cast them in your all-food, tabletop reproduction of "Lethal Weapon."

So, here's a funny thing: I'm not big on sweet drinks. I seldom have soda when not getting paid to rank every root beer under the sun, and even then I'm a Sprecher loyalist unless someone wants to put 1919 in my hands. But, this sweet Starbucks cortado satisfied! I could honestly see myself ordering it over the standard, since it brings enough sweetness without going overboard. This is also something I found to be true in Starbucks's energy drinks this summer. 

I'm also usually bummed by oatmilk, despite keeping a mostly vegan kitchen at home and even making my own plant milks. Commercial brands are just too earthy sweet, and Starbucks's victorious employments of it thus far has seemed to be artfully concealing that fact.

Here, though, it's incorporated. The overall taste of this cortado will remind you of a slice of buttered raisin toast, between the oat flavor, the cinnamon, and the sweetness of the brown sugar. Who doesn't love that on a cold day? No idea yet whether this cortado would pair beautifully with cream cheese and honey, like real cinnamon raisin toast does, but I know that this writer has found his sugary oat drink. 

I'll tell you up front, this is the get. Frothy, fatty, earthy, nutty in two ways, and overall delicious. It has a lovely, toasty undertone once you get past the delightful brown butter salt sprinkled atop the foam, which plays marvelously with the sweetness underneath. While the brown sugar oatmilk cortado is deftly saccharine in a bold way, the pistachio latte is less forward about it, making its sweet advances in a much more alluring than outright manner.

At the first sip, my eyebrows popped up to my hairline. Yes, as noted, I'm a latte-swilling easy mark, but it's still something great to taste pistachio twice at fore and aft, with a delicious balance of sweet and bitter in the middle. If I were only going to get one drink in the new lineup, and as much as I enjoy the new permanent cortado additions, this limited-time offering would be my first choice while it's here.

Both of the pistachio drinks are making their return, so it's reasonable to expect them in future rotations, but nothing's guaranteed in this world. You might want to grab this one while it's around. The Pistachio Cold Brew comes across a little lighter in both fattiness and coffee intensity, despite being the one of the two that has vanilla syrup and an erstwhile hit of Starbucks cold foam. It also features the salted brown butter sprinkling, so you won't have to miss out on those just because you've opted for a cold version over a hot one. 

Starbucks is also releasing a vanilla bean custard danish and a valentine cake pop well in advance of Valentine's Day, both of which ought to pair well with these two pistachio drinks, but weren't in hand yet for me to sample and say for myself. Both beverages are available through the winter, for as long as supplies last.

The matcha latte has been around for a while, but the sweetener usually came standard in the matcha powder. With a lot of people looking to alter the sweetness, Starbucks has adjusted the powder so that it's now unsweetened, with three pumps of syrup added to the standard edition once it's a liquid. This allows you the Starbucks customer to request less or even no sweetness, as well as more if a particular tooth is poignantly pulling.

The coffee chain has also changed how matcha lattes get blended, using a Vitamix aero disc instead of a shaker for more air incorporation. The differences aren't dramatic, but definitely push it forward in both satiety and customizability. I'm an avowed fan of both matcha and lattes, so this was right up my alley. I'd probably try it on my own dime with the sweetness taken down, just to let the tea shine through clearer. If you've had this drink before, you know what to expect flavor-wise, and I wouldn't say the texture is dramatically different. Revisit it for customization unless it's your go-to anyway.

The one food item I did get to try and that's hitting menus this January is the spicy falafel pocket, a lavash flatbread filled with smashed falafel, hummus, roasted red bell peppers, and pickled onions in a spicy herb sauce. It's available for either lunch or breakfast, and adds a Levantine chord to the growing vegan options at Starbucks.

To be honest, this one could have performed better for me. I love a crispy falafel. Somewhere in the mashing, this lost its crunch, which could have really stood out against the softness of the lavash and smoothness of the hummus. The pickled onion adds pop, and the sauce flavor is on point, but the overall eating experience is a little homogeneous. Think almost like a pureed filling rather than various ingredients offsetting each other's textures and flavors. I would cop the combination to try, but don't stress if you leave Starbucks forgetting to buy one. Likely, a nearby Middle Eastern deli or food cart can hit these notes better.

Overall, it's a strong showing from Starbucks — especially if you're one of these folks who favors sweeter and lighter tastes that still hit hard on the caffeine front. (If not, let the matcha latte embrace you.) If you're a seldom visitor to Starbucks and you don't have nut allergies, I say go for the pistachio latte as a winter warmer. The pistachio cold brew is good, and you might want to seize it before it goes away, but it rings a bit more of spring. For cafe regulars, you might consider sampling it after the cortados. Both are worth trying and worthy, permanent additions to the Starbucks menu.

The matcha latte's improvements are more of a use case, and don't change enough to provoke the completists. If you've had it, you already know what sugary flavor you're in for. If you've held off on matcha in the past but for sweetness, then the shift to unsweetened powder will provide the grassy notes you crave.

And that falafel pocket? Leave it on read. It's too close to school cafeteria grade to drop money on, but we can revisit it if Starbucks revises it next year to be less of a uniform mush. Everything else you can hazard the purchase price without fear of remorse. And if you're still craving some Starbucks novelty, swing by your nearest Starbucks Reserve; we have it on good authority that a secret ingredient seeing a lot of consumer heat these days will be making its way into some new concoctions this year.