Last week, Starbucks launched the Cinnamon Shortbread Latte and Frappuccino, making it its first new drink release of the year.

The latte is made with a brown butter shortbread syrup, shots of espresso, steamed milk and topped with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Meanwhile, the frappuccino is made with Starbucks frap roast, vanilla and brown butter shortbread syrup. The frappuccino both sits on and is topped off whipped cream with a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. The drink also has layers of shortbread syrup on both top and bottom.

I decided I wanted to see if these new beverages were able to live up to the hype. I wasn't surprised to find that the latte wasn't as sweet as the frappuccino, but was surprised that the frozen beverage wasn't too sweet. Don't get me wrong, it was sweet, however, in comparison to other flavors, this one is more subtle, and you could actually taste the coffee.

As a barista at Starbucks, I know that newer drinks are usually on the sweeter side, especially fraps, and often mask the coffee taste. This results in the beverage taste more like syrup and less like coffee.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the latte wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be. The brown butter syrup gives the latte a subtle buttery vanilla cookie flavor while the cinnamon and nutmeg topping give it that added spice. To me, it tastes like a Snickerdoodle except in liquid form and with coffee.

The frappuccino taste is very similar, the only differences being that the whipped cream gives it an added creaminess, and the brown butter shortbread syrup has a more pronounced flavor overall. You still get that Snickerdoodle goodness and are able to taste the coffee without the syrup overpowering the rest of the drink.

I highly recommend giving these drinks a try. When customers come in and are having trouble deciding what they want, I've been suggesting they give it a try. I tell them modifications can be made, and while the syrup is thick and sweet, the final product isn't.

If you're adventurous or looking for a new combination, I suggest adding the syrup to a white hot chocolate. Since you're combining two flavors that are already pretty sweet on their own, I would do half the pumps of both syrups and top it off with Cinnamon Dolce powder. If you're not a coffee drinker, Starbucks also offers both a crème (no coffee) and steamer (no coffee) version of the cinnamon drink.