Seasonal drinks are no new thing. Stores and shops all over the US capitalize on the winter holidays and people’s love for them. Nearly every item these days is themed in some sort, specifically coffee. Starbucks is notorious for its varied drinks, from the Pink Drink to the Pumpkin Spice Latte. However, Starbucks isn’t the only shop in Lexington with seasonal coffee.

When tasting different coffees around Lexington I graded them on a 50 point scale to get a sense of which I’d recommend the most. Professional coffee tasting criteria inspired this table, but instead of rating on the traditional scale of 100, I changed it to 50 to better suit my novice tasting abilities, along with changing some of the criteria that was only applicable to tasting large batches of coffee. Since I only tasted one drink from each place, the commonplace “flavor uniformity” and “defects” categories were changed to Appeal of Flavor. (Spirit Animal Coffee) Overall, I tasted coffee from Lex Co, Pronto, Starbucks, and Dunkin’.

At the Lexington Coffee Shop, located on Washington St., I ordered a Dirty Chai Latte with whole milk. It was a normal chai latte but it had a shot of espresso. It scored 44/50, with its lowest score being the appeal of flavor. This particular Chai Latte had many other notes, some of which were not my favorite, but it had a high score of fragrance, due to the cup’s delicious aroma that surrounded it. Lex Co.’s Dirty Chai Latte had an overall score of 88 percent.

When I went to Pronto on Main St., the employee suggested their Cremespresso, which is an ice cream and espresso crossover. The Cremespresso scored 47/50. Its lowest score was fragrance due to its very faint aroma, and its highest scores were strength of flavor, aftertaste, and appeal of flavor. The Cremespresso was personally the best-tasting coffee. The Cremespresso scored 94 percent overall.

Next to North Lee Highway, close to RCHS, is a Starbucks. When I went there, there was a sign displaying their top seasonal drinks, from which I ordered their Peppermint Mocha. It scored pretty high on the flavor side of grading with its even peppermint flavor that didn’t overpower the mocha. Its lowest score was fragrance simply because it didn’t have one. Its score was 44/50, or 80 percent.

For the final coffee, I went to Dunkin’, which is right next to Chick-fil-A and across from RCHS. I ordered their Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte. It scored a perfect 10/10 on Appearance, with its large cup full to the brim with whipped cream and drizzle. However, because it featured no peppermint flavor, it scored low on the tasting sections, leading to its 29/50 score, or 58 percent.

Overall, Lexington has some really good coffee. I was pleasantly surprised at how well most of the coffees tasted. However, after consulting the table, I concur that Pronto’s Cremespresso was the best seasonal drink I tasted.