Delicious Pairing of Starbucks, Sam’s Club, and a few Veterans

Life has been just a tad bit extra busy these last few weeks. We moved into a new home, I’ve had some highly time consuming school assignments, my daughter’s 2nd birthday, and oh yeah… unpacking our entire life with two toddlers going bananas from being so out of their element. Being able to drink coffee has been the best part of my day lately.

I’m not going to classify myself as a coffee lover, because frankly I don’t really enjoy regular coffee. But I most definitely am a Starbucks lover. On average I go about 10-20x per month and my drinks usually amount to about $5, that’s some serious coffee cash I’m spending.

So, I was SUPER excited when I went to Sam’s Club last weekend and saw that they have huge, 28oz, bags of Starbucks Limited Edition Holiday Blend bagged coffee. I’ve had their holiday blend in the past and have always loved it, so I quickly scooped up a nice big bag.

I love to bake and I’d normally prepare my own sweets for my coffee but my baking goodies are still packed away from our move. Luckily, Sam’s Club has an amazing Artisan Fresh bakery and I was able to find some yummy gourmet mini-cinnamon rolls for my coffee.

Drinking coffee midday kind of throws off my schedule, so I couldn’t wait for the next morning to come and I could brew a nice big pot of coffee. It just so happens that it was Veteran’s Day and my brother, a former Marine, was in the area so I decided to share some of that big pot with him and my boyfriend, a Navy Reservist.

The coffee was SO good. I normally dislike the harsh and bitter taste of brewed-at-home coffee but the Starbucks Limited Edition Holiday Blend wasn’t bitter at all. I’m a huge fan of holiday flavored coffee and have been frequently sampling the different holiday lattes at Starbucks so I was pleasantly surprised at how prominent the pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors were in this holiday blend.

I like my coffee with a lot of sweetness so after sampling it I decided to top it with some hazelnut whipped cream and cinnamon-sugar. Then I started dipping! I didn’t notice until after I had one, or two, or… four that the cinnamon roll package says ‘best-served warm’ so I popped a few in the microwave and wow. They managed to taste even better! The cinnamon yumminess in the roll and the cinnamon in the coffee was a perfect compliment. Talk about #DeliciousPairings!

I tried a second cup of the coffee after I had my fair share of the rolls and I found that the coffee still had that spicy holiday zest to it but it was nice and sweet now too. Did you notice the tagline on the bag? “Spicy & sweet with hints of comfort and joy” how cute and appropriate.  Oh, and I wasn’t the only one who was loving it. 

Josh (Former Marine), on the left, broke his foot a few days prior to this so I decided to be a good little sister and share some of my coffee and cinnamon rolls with him.

Sent Josh home with half of my Starbucks coffee, a bunch of cinnamon rolls, and one of my freezer-dinner dishes.

I made sure to save enough for Davi (Navy Reservist) to have some more, though. There are 32 in a box so I had PLENTY to share. They both agreed that the coffee was pretty delicious and they’re both huge Starbucks lovers.

Did I mention my family is full of Starbucks lovers…? I even served the coffee to them in some Starbucks mugs, surely that boosted the flavor even more. My family is also full of current or former military members. Between friends and family I’m surrounded by people who have served our country and I would like to thank them all for their service.

Left to Right. Davi, Navy. Brother Jason, Army Soldier. Brother Joshua, Marine. Brother Jeffrey, Navy.

I know what kind of coffee will be in my thermos next week when I’m battling the crowds on Black Friday! And for all you fellow crazies that will be out there with me, don’t forget that Sam’s Club will open at 7am on Black Friday and will greet members with free Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee and Artisan Fresh pastries (while supplies last). Can you say, yum?

Stay in the loop with news and events by following @Starbucks and @SamsClub on Twitter. You’ll want to “like” them, Starbucks & Sam’s Club, on Facebook, too. Be sure to stay in the loop by checking out the #DeliciousPairings hashtag on Twitter!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.