Starbucks Crème Brulée Cold Brew ( @welcomebreak @StarbucksUK ) By @Cinabar

I do not go to Starbucks as much as I used to; I guess working from home more has contributed, but I thought it was time to see what they had new for the summer. We were on our way back from a long journey on Sunday evening, and we stopped on the M40 at Welcome Break services and popped into Starbucks. The first impression wasn’t great. The setting could have been pleasant; there was a mix of comfy chairs and proper seats, and there was a big window looking over the carpark. The place was untidy; there were old cardboard boxes piled up on a couple of tables, and the tables were all untidy and not very clean. I ordered a small Crème Brulée Cold Brew, and Spectre, a man of tradition, had a cup of tea. Somehow, these two drinks came to nearly £9. 

We waited for the person to make the drinks, and he knocked the plastic lid off mine onto the floor, then used it anyway to put it on top of my drink. Spectre went to get milk, and one jug had dried milk stains up and down it, so he chose the other option as the most clean. We found the cleanest-looking table, but it still had a drink rim mark on it, and then we had our drinks. I took off the lid and used a plastic straw because I’d seen the lid bounce on the floor. 

The drink itself was lovely. The coffee part was cold, dark, and refreshing, with a good, strong coffee base. The topping was yummy, sweet, creamy, and loaded with vanilla; it was a delight. I very much enjoyed the drink. It is a lovely summer treat, not too sweet, and a nice twist on an iced coffee with a good contrast of the two flavours. It is a little pricey, especially given the rest of the visit, which really made me not want to go back. I didn’t enjoy the Starbucks experience at all; they really were letting down the service station by being so untidy and not cleaning up.