This Festive Cold Brew is an international Starbucks holiday drink that you can make at home no matter where you are in the world.

Some links found in this post are affiliate links, meaning we may receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Click here to jump to the recipe.

Here at CoffeeSphere, we’re based in the US where it’s so normal to see a Starbucks cafe all over the country. But I find it fascinating when I travel and see Starbucks in other countries.

Did you know there are some Starbucks drinks that are exclusively made for international markets?

This means Starbucks creates drinks specifically for other countries, sometimes depending on the ingredients found in the country or just with flavors that gear towards the majority of the population’s taste.

What’s a Starbucks Festive Cold Brew?

I love the holidays when Starbucks brings back drinks like the seasonal Peppermint Mocha or Toasted White Chocolate Mocha. This season, I came across an article on Starbucks’ official website about holiday beverages around the world.

Yes, there are more Starbucks holiday drinks than the ones we have in the US! There are some interesting ones like the Japanese Santa Boots Chocolate Frappuccino, which has… potato chips! And then of course the one we’re recreating here, the Festive Cold Brew (both of which I’d love to try at a Starbucks overseas!)

For now, I can make the Festive Cold Brew at home.

Here are the only details I was able to find about the Festive Cold Brew:

Europe, Middle East and North Africa: Starbucks Cold Brew with notes of Christmas spice and finished with orange and cranberry pieces.

So we know it’s available just in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. And it’s cold brew coffee that’s flavored with spices and from photos, it looks like there’s ice, slices of orange and whole cranberries.

I used this one sentence as a guide to creating my own version of the Festive Cold Brew. Here it is – it’s very simple, you’ll just need some time to make cold brew coffee.

Festive Cold Brew Ingredients

1 cup coarsely ground coffee (I used Stone Cold Jo)
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
6-8 cranberries
3 orange slices
6-8 ice cubes

Tips for Making Festive Cold Brew

The Cold Brew Coffee

What exactly is cold brew coffee? Cold brew coffee is made when steeping coarsely ground coffee in water for around 12-14 hours. Unlike other coffee brewing methods, the water is never hot.

It requires little to no effort, just time. You can make cold brew coffee using several methods. You can read our full guide to making cold brew coffee here.

But in summary, you can use a cold brew coffee maker, a French press (my favorite method!) or any empty jar.

I’ll run through how to make cold brew coffee using a French press:

Coarsely ground your coffee beans of choice (I used a Capresso Grinder.) You can buy coarse preground coffee, but for the freshest coffee possible, I recommend grinding whole beans yourself once you’re ready to make the cold brew coffee.
Place coarsely ground coffee in the French press.
Pour filtered water. I use the 1:3 ratio for my cold brew coffee, which would be 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee to 3 cups of water. This creates a concentrate so I can always dilute it with some water if I feel like having my coffee lighter on certain days.
Place French press lid on, but this is very important – do not press the filter down.
Let the coffee beans steep for 12-14 hours.
Press filter down, pour the cold brew into a glass to enjoy immediately or place in a mason jar and store for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Spices

The Starbucks description mentioned ‘notes of Christmas spice’. I decided to use cinnamon.

However, you can use a mixture of any of your favorite spices that remind you of Christmas. For example, you could use a blend of nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Or just use cinnamon like I did.

You’ll find most spices do not mix and dissolve into coffee. So my method to adding the notes of spices to the cold brew coffee is by simply mixing in the spices with the coarsely ground coffee and letting the spices steep with the ground coffee.

Fruit

‘Orange and cranberry pieces’ was the description for the toppings. And from the photos, I could tell that Starbucks used orange slices and whole cranberries.

I did not actually intend to eat the cranberries so I just washed a handful of raw cranberries and placed it on my cold brew.

How to Make Festive Cold Brew

Coarsely grind coffee beans (I used a Capresso Grinder.) Place in a French press.
Add ground cinnamon or spice(s) of choice.
Pour filtered water and mix. Put the lid on the French press but do not press the filter down. Wait 12-14 hours. Then press the filter down.
Put ice cubes in a glass. Pour cold brew concentrate (dilute with water if desired.)
Cut orange slices. Top the cold brew coffee with orange slices and cranberries.

In pictures…