It is here, the holiday season, and so are the many things that come along with it. Besides the presents, or even the jolly man in the red suit, a new sign that the holidays are around the corner are the yummy specialty drinks almost every coffee shop offers during this time.

Every holiday season we are able to see the different coffee shops around the campus present their buyers with a new and improved holiday list of festive drinks. The bright, red and green pictures of drinks toppling over with whipped cream are quite appealing to the eyes.

Java City at Sacramento State offers a variety of drinks that are sure to boost up the holiday season. It began serving holiday drinks on the first of November up until the end of December.

Graigh Dutton, one of Java City’s baristas, said that the coffee shop’s drink called the “merrimint mocha,” is one of its most popular holiday drinks. Dutton said the coffee shop sells about 10-16 of those hot drinks a day.

Merrimint white mocha consists of espresso blended with peppermint syrup, milk and whipped cream on top. How many calories are in this fabulous drink? There are 265 calories in a 12-ounce drink served with whole milk.

Java also offers the gingerbread latte this holiday season, which Dutton says is not as good as the merrimint.

“Gingerbread latte is too cookie-flavored. The ‘cookiness’ is too much,” Dutton said.

However, Dutton said that the drinks are great for Java.

“The various drinks of the month add interest to the store for customers,” he said.

Starbucks is notorious for offering a colorful blend of holiday drinks. This holiday season, some of the drinks include the gingerbread latte, peppermint mocha twist, and the espresso truffle. All these drinks make me think of the delicious desserts of the holiday season!

The gingerbread latte has baked gingerbread flavor with steamed milk, topped off with whipped cream and crystallized ginger. Sounds delicious, right?

There are 340 calories in a grande (medium) with 2 percent milk.

The espresso truffle consists of cocoa blend signature hot chocolate, steamed milk, and is topped off with whipped cream and chocolate powder.

The drink has – get ready – 460 calories in a grande size. That is pretty much a whole meal.

Brittney Rector, a barista at a Starbucks on Arden Way, said that the coffee shop sells about 40 to 50 peppermint mocha twists a day.

“We are actually one of the slower stores, so for us to sell that many really says something about the drink. It is really popular,” Rector said.

The peppermint mocha twist has espresso with chocolate peppermint flavor, milk and is topped with peppermint whipped cream covered with dark chocolate flakes.

This popular drink has 400 calories when it is made with 2 percent milk; but it’s the holiday, so splurge!

Starbucks’ holiday drinks go from Nov. 27 through the first week in January.

Peet’s Coffee, located at 3100 Folsom St., has four popular seasonal drinks: the peppermint mocha, eggnog latte, gingerbread latte and the pumpkin spice latte.

Barista Amber Lee said that one of Peet’s most popular drinks of the season is the pumpkin spice latte.

“It tastes like pumpkin pie, so we sell a lot. Who doesn’t like pumpkin pie during the holiday season?” Lee said.

The pumpkin spice latte packs almost as many calories as the real deal. With 230 calories, the drink consists of a regular latte mixed with pumpkin spice flavoring, to make sure that the drink tastes like the pumpkin pie that we all love.

The peppermint mocha, another holiday classic from Starbucks, is an espresso with rich chocolate and peppermint syrup. This drink has 286 calories.

“It is super chocolate-y and sweet; (it’s) made with a hint of peppermint,” Lee said.

Junior psychology major Alex Shaposhnikov said that he likes all of the seasonal drinks but is more of a hot chocolate kind of guy.

“All these peppermint and sugar drinks are just too much. Whatever happened to the traditional hot chocolate?” Shaposhnikov said.

Hot chocolate, a holiday favorite, can not only be found at Java City, Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee, but also Caffino as well.

Other drink lovers take a different approach to these holiday drinks.

Junior communications major Nicki Kollehner said that she loves all the holiday spirit that is taking place through these colorful drinks.

“They may have a lot of calories with these drinks, but they are so good. It is only during the holidays; just enjoy it while you can,” Kollehner said.

So yes, the holidays are here. It is a time to celebrate and, apparently, drink as many calories as you can!

Vanessa Johnson can be reached at [email protected]