Wow, Starbucks’ latest personalized Star Dash is definitely one for the addicted. My goal to complete the Star Dash? Make 30 purchases to get a bonus of 15 stars. 30 purchases from January 20 to February 19, 2015.
I don’t think the motto of “Shine on” is appropriate for this challenge. More like “Shake on” after consuming all that caffeine and/or sugar. I’ll concede this Star Dash right now thank you very much.
So from the Land Down Under, Starbucks North America gained the Flat White, newly featured on menus. Supposedly originating in Australia, this drink is all business with none of that fluffy, fatty stuff. In exchange for this coffee purist drink, Starbucks is giving Australia a taste of American indulgence with the Strawberry Cheesecake Frappuccino. Yes, while there is coffee in frappuccinos, this drink screams of uncoffee-like excess. Is it me or does this drink look like the strawberry sundaes you get from McD? You know you’d drink this before trying a Flat White, right.
What am I? From down under, I am old and white. From the green of the Northwest, I am new yet flat.
Yay! My second win from the Starbucks for Life contest is a free tall coffee. Seemingly, I’m behind the winning curve with others getting a variety of small goodies. With purchases and daily free codes, this is my second win in over 15 attempts.
For the next month, you can win Starbucks food or drinks for life if you can face they enemy known as “bah humbug.” I mean it’s really easy to enter the Win Starbucks for Life contest. Heck, you don’t even need to make a purchase to enter, but you do have to overcome your own lethargy.
Say you do make a purchase at Starbucks, don’t just walk away from the register after paying. Ask for your printed receipt that has a contest entry code at the bottom. That’s the only way to enter when making a transaction at Starbucks – the code on the receipt. With the receipt, you have to manually enter that 22-digit code at starbucks.com/play along with your email address and an increasingly challenging CAPTCHA code. Bah humbug!
Then you need to acknowledge the conditions of the contest and opt in/out of a Starbucks newsletter (each and everytime you enter). And I’m guessing with up to two entries per day, these codes expire each day, so you shouldn’t be lazy and check your codes tomorrow. Do it today. Bah humbug!
As of Starbucks iOS mobile app version 3.2, I can’t see a way to virtually retrieve codes found on the printed receipts. The codes can only be found on old school receipts that you remembered to ask for and didn’t throw away. Bah humbug!
But remember, you don’t have to purchase anything at Starbucks to enter the contest. You can get a free code online daily… if you’re willing to provide your first name, last name, email address, and mailing address each and every day. Then you may need to wait up to one hour for your code to arrive via email. Don’t let your full inbox make you forget about this code! Bah humbug!
But maybe, just maybe, you do win free food or drinks from Starbucks for the next 30 years. All is forgiven right? Bah humbug!
Yes, Starbucks is doing another free-coffee-refills-in-January tumbler, and yes, they are now available in Hawaii. There seemed to be a slight delay in Hawaii, but the special $30 tumblers did release over the Thanksgiving weekend. You may have to try different locations, but when you find them, you may find a lot of them.
The small location in Enchanted Lakes, Kailua, had an entire basket of these available. Check out the Starbucks Melody blog post about the restrictions and limitations of this tumbler.
After gagging on my first (icded) Starbucks Chestnut Praline Latte, my second experience with a hot CPL was much better. This drink is definitely better hot than cold. You can smell the spices and appreciate the scents accentuating the mild nutty flavors. And without a straw for this hot CPL, I wasn’t concerned about sucking up and gagging on a praline crumb sunken on the bottom of the drink.
So if you haven’t yet sampled the CPL, my suggestions is try it hot but still be wary of a wayward praline crumb. 🙂
Hey, who peeked?!? The boxes at Starbucks explicitly say no peeking until November 12. Today’s still Veterans Day, November 11.
But if your Starbucks did set up their Holiday display just a tad early, it may look like this…
Or you could go to starbucks.com/shop for a preview as well. You can say this much, Starbucks is going all out with its Dot Collection for 2014. I lost count on all the cups, tumblers, and travelers offered, but I am liking the Black Stripes tumbler.
Coffee-based items are mainstays on Pulpconnection’s annual Holiday Gift guides, and 2014 is no different with Arist, your personal barista. Arist is yet another Kickstarter innovation, blending technology with coffee. Can’t get better than that right? With an accompanying smartphone app, you can download various coffee drink recipes, and Arist will concoct that drink. That’s your personal barista right there. Watch this promotional video to learn more.
This holiday gift is going for a $299 Kickstarter pledge but later the price of the Arist goes to $349. Since we are talking Kickstarter, the product won’t be available immediately (read this holiday season). Funding goals have already been reached so that’s an excellent sign looking forward to the projected June 2015 launch date of Arist.
More suggestions from the Pulpconnection Holiday Gift Guide, 2014 edition.
Follow Gee Why’s board Holiday Gift Guide 2014 on Pinterest.
Sounds worse that it was, but it’s the truth. Upon my first sip of a cold Chestnut Praline Latte, I sucked in a praline crumb (which I wasn’t expecting) and coughed and hacked it out. I just wasn’t expecting a hard item in my CPL so it caught me off guard.
The drink itself isn’t bad. It’s very nutty and kinda vanilla-ish (to me but I guess that would be the caramelized chestnut and spice flavors). It seems like I’ve tasted a variation of this drink before in the past. Not overly sweet like the Pumpkin Spice Latte or the Salted Caramel Mocha. I haven’t tried the hot version and not all stores are selling the CPL before the official November 12 launch.
When you take your first sip of a CPL, watch out for them praline crumbs. 😉
October 2014 in Hawaii is becoming Oc-Clover with Starbucks finally making the Clover brewing system available on-island. Starting on Thursday, October 23, select Clover locations will fire up their machines (with trained personnel).
Whoa now, what’s this? Starbucks is expanding their locations featuring the Clover brewing system. Originally, this specialty brewer was only available at the new-ish Aina Haina location. But yes, though it’s there, the Clover is “out of commission” awaiting personnel training. So I’ve heard that training is indeed underway with a target date of October 23 as the Clover launch at Aina Haina and Koko Marina.
Say what?! Another east side Starbucks getting a Clover? That doesn’t seem fair. But wait, there’s more. How about Clovers in Kaneohe and in town? We’re talking Windward City and the Airport Trade Center locations.
Check out the official Starbucks map (as of October 15, 2014).
