Review: Starbucks' New Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate Misses The Target

Starbucks is known for the festive flavors of its holiday menu. As the last leaves fall from the trees, the limited-time flavors signal the start of the holiday season. So when Starbucks announced a new Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate, just in time for peak holiday shopping, it sounded like a natural hit. The twist this time, though, is a collaboration with Target. The chain houses Starbucks cafés in many of its stores and has turned the drink into a retail-exclusive experiment. If you have doubts about the drink's frosty concept, you should know that even Cher has famously professed her love for a good frozen hot chocolate.

The Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate takes the basic blueprint of a Frappuccino, blending mocha, milk, and ice into a smooth, frosty base. That mixture gets poured onto a cushion of peppermint-infused whipped cream dotted with festive red and green candy sprinkles. The whole thing is then crowned with another peppermint-whipped swirl and an extra dusting of holiday-colored sprinkles. Despite the promising concept and seasonal charm, Starbucks' latest creation doesn't quite live up to its own ambitions.

The Starbucks Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate will be offered exclusively at Starbucks locations inside Target stores, making it a limited-access item that you can pair with your shopping experience. While Target may no longer have food courts, this collaboration is positioned as the next best thing: a way to sip while you shop and keep the holiday spirit flowing while you amble from aisle to aisle searching for gifts.

The official release date is November 18, but there's a perk for loyal shoppers. Members of Target Circle 360 will be able to try the drink a full day in advance on November 17, giving them first dibs on this chilled peppermint-chocolate blend. The drink will be available through the holiday season while supplies last, at participating Target stores across the country. As for pricing, Starbucks hasn't yet revealed the exact cost of the Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate. Similar grande-size holiday beverages typically cost between $5.75 and $7.45, depending on location, so customers can expect this drink to fall within a comparable bracket.

Starbucks' new Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate arrives looking the part of a festive treat. The Christmas-coded drink is heaped with a mountain of peppermint-flavored whipped cream topped with little red and green sprinkles that shout holiday cheer. But once you get past the toppings, the drink doesn't quite live up to its promise. 

If you're the type who thinks the true spirit of the season is maintaining a sugar rush from November through New Year's, then this might be right up your alley. Others may find it a syrupy glucose bomb. The peppermint flavor could've been an opportunity to really make this drink unique, but it appears only faintly.

As a frozen hot chocolate, it leans more slushy than smooth — the wintry mix of the Starbucks holiday menu. Once it begins to melt, it becomes thin and watery, losing whatever richness it started with. The peppermint whipped cream is the best part of the drink. It's rich and velvety, almost like homemade whipped cream, and it has just enough brightness from the mint to cut through the milky sweetness. If Starbucks served just the cream, I'd buy it.

In the end, this limited-edition Frozen Peppermint Hot Chocolate feels like a missed opportunity. The biggest mistake is simple and surprising: It just wasn't minty enough. A peppermint beverage that skimps on peppermint is destined to feel incomplete, and this one never fully commits to the cool, refreshing bite that makes the classic flavor so beloved. It lands closer to an ultra-sweet imitation that tastes like a weaker, frostier riff on the famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity 3 in New York, notably lacking the signature richness that gives the original its cult status.

That said, the drink isn't without an audience, especially at Target. Some shoppers will be happy to load up on sugar to fuel a Christmas shopping marathon. But for anyone seeking bold flavors, a balanced peppermint profile, or a true sense of holiday magic in a cup, this drink doesn't deliver. Starbucks aimed for a playful collaboration-worthy treat, but the result tastes more like a novelty for novelty's sake, rather than a new seasonal staple. Starbucks teamed up with Target, but it missed the target.