Cinnamon Dolce Latte

I'll be honest - I didn't want to order this drink. First of all, it was 6:30 in the morning and I was driving my son to his Grandmothers for the day. Second, It's a Monday and Third, I needed some strong coffee.
But, I was in the drive thru and I didn't want to order something I've already had and I saw this on the menu so I figured I'd give it a go. I just knew it was going to be syrupy sweet. Cinnamon is well, cinnamon, and dolce is Italian for sweet.

I was pleasantly surprised. It's a Latte, which is steamed milk and espresso and usually my go to drink. But they added some kind of flavor - which Starbucks calls "Cinnamon Dolce syrup". Then they top it off with some whipped cream and sprinkle cinnamon on top. It had the potential, with all that syrup and whipped cream, to be a very sweet drink. But I think the cinnamon gives it just enough kick to offset some of that sweetness. And I really really liked it. My first hesitant sip I actually said out loud, "Wow, that's really good!" to my one year old who agreed by stuffing cheerios in his mouth.

This could be a new go to drink. I'm typically a Skinny Vanilla Latte girl, but Cinnamon Dolce is a good substitue for when I'm not wanting to be particularly careful about my calorie intake. :)

Caffe Mocha

I love the smell of coffee. I grabbed this drink while going through the drive thru and the smell of coffee when I got up to the window just hit me and it was wonderful. Coffee smell alone is probably enough to wake me up out of a coma.
Today I was feeling chocolatey so I thought I'd try a Mocha. It's basically espresso with chocolate sauce added and topped off with whipped cream. It's like a grown up version of hot chocolate.
Only, I don't know if this particular Starbucks didn't make it right or maybe I was expecting something different, but this was just too chocolatey to me. It tasted like I had poured myself a cup of coffee and then dumped a bunch of Hershey's chocolate syrup in it.
Maybe that's how it's supposed to taste, but I was expecting something a little creamier. I always prefer to make my hot chocolate with warm milk instead of water so maybe that's why this didn't exactly suit me. If I wanted hot chocolate - I'll just order a hot chocolate. If I wanted coffee, I'll just order coffee. This didn't seem to do either drink justice.
But I might not be a chocolate in my coffee kind of girl. Which is weird, because I LOVE coffee, and I LOVE chocolate, and I really love chocolate covered coffee beans.
Oh well. I'm going to chalk this one up to a bad mix and try again to see if I get the same results.
If you like chocolate more than you like the taste of coffee- you'll probably like this drink.

Caramel Macchiato

This is the drink everyone orders in movies and TV shows. It seems to be one of Starbucks more popular drinks. Yet, I've never had one.
I didn't even know what a macchiato was. (It's Italian for "stained - or marked - milk") But what I've learned is that with a macchiato the espresso is added to the milk (instead of the other way around - like when you add cream to your coffee.. this is like adding coffee to your cream). A macchiato also has much more foam than other espresso drinks like lattes.
So in this aspect it's a milkier beverage, but not super creamy.
I can see why this is a go to drink for many people. It has enough of a coffee flavor to give it some strength but not overpowering. And is has enough milk and foam to give it some sweetness, but not too syrupy. It falls nicely in the middle between an espresso and a white mocha.
The caramel part refers to the caramel drizzle on top of the foam. I was afraid this would make the drink too sweet, but it's actually not. The caramel isn't overpowering, giving it a little bit of buttery-ness to the drink.
The only downfall is that this drink has a little bit of a sugary aftertaste.
My conclusion - good. Mild and a little frothy. But not too sweet.

Espresso

Where else to start my journey into coffee than with the base of most coffee drinks - Espresso. And please, do not add an x in there. I cringe when I hear people call it eXpresso.
I've had this drink before, many times. I actually enjoy espresso by itself from time to time but usually with a biscotti dunked in it. For this experiment I went with no biscotti and a simple solo espresso. A quick internet search shows that espresso is defined as "a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans". In other words - a shot of coffee.

It's very tiny - comes in its own little cup (which is half the fun of ordering one!) and doesn't last long unless you are trying to savor it like I usually do. I generally have to be in the mood to order espresso alone. Like when I'm needing to really get that coffee flavor or just want a shot of caffeine but without all the extra liquid.

For those new to the coffee experience, espresso is VERY strong. You probably won't like it. It's basically super condensed black coffee so unless that appeals to you - try a lighter, sweeter drink first like a mocha.

My conclusion - Good for when I'm in the mood for something strong and small - but next time I'll get the biscotti with it.