Starbucks Christmas + 2014 Planners

It’s always the most anticipated, and the waiting is over! Starbucks Philippines unveils its Christmas campaign starting tomorrow, November 2. And I’m lucky to be one of those invited to get a sneak peek at what’s in store at Starbucks this holiday season.

Of course, when you talk about Christmas at Starbucks, the first thing — rather, things that come to mind are its seasonal beverages. Just like last year, there’s Toffee Nut Latte (forever the favorite) and Peppermint Mocha. But the third drink this year is something that’s making a comeback after a long time: Gingerbread Latte.

If you like the cookie butter taste in everything, then you must grab the Gingerbread Latte. Anyways, the 3 Christmas beverages come in hot, cold, and Frappuccino. These are available in stores until January 8, 2014.

Next are the yummy food items:

There’s also something new in the merchandise:

The rightmost tumbler is the most interesting for me, as it has a “secret opening procedure”. Hehe!

The leather card carriers are available in limited quantities. They come in black, magenta, brown, and yellow (some kinda ochre). To get any of these babies, you either activate or load your Starbucks Card with PHP1,500 from November 4 to 6, 2013. I’m not sure if they’re selling it separately as an on-shelf merchandise so better load up by Wednesday next week.

Of course, the much-awaited item of the season: the Starbucks 2014 Planners.

They have leather covers with embossed details, plus bookmarks unique to each (coffee bean for yellow, a house for brown, a vinta for magenta, and a Starbucks cup for black). The colors of the planners were based from the roast profiles of Starbucks’ whole bean coffees. Notice the packaging of each roast: yellow for Blonde Roast, brown for Medium Roast, magenta for Dark Roast, and black for the Reserve Coffees (the exotic ones). Starbucks used those colors for next year’s planner.

When before, you had to collect 17 stickers, you’d need 18 stickers this year — 9 Christmas beverages and 9 core beverages (except bottled ones). But if you get the sticker card (with a beverage purchase, of course) on November 2 and you’re among the first 300 (per branch) to do so, you get 1 sticker free! That means you only need to collect 17 stickers during the duration of the campaign until January 8 next year.

BUT BUT BUT! If you don’t feel like collecting stickers, you can still get a Starbucks 2014 Planner. All you have to do is activate or load your Starbucks Card with PHP5,000 (single transaction) and you get a planner — plus load to be able to use your card for purchase of any Starbucks drink, food, or merchandise.

One more thing: they’re also having a Christmas Kick-off Party tomorrow, November 2, at Robinsons Place Manila Activity Center from 5 to 8 PM. Treats and surprises await guests, so be sure to drop by this Saturday.

Indeed, Starbucks is truly sharing the joy this Christmas. So if I were you, I’d head to the nearest Starbucks branch and enjoy all their holiday offerings.