Costa has unveiled its festive food and drink menu for 2023, and it’s absolutely packed full of indulgent goodies to get you properly get you in the Christmas spirit.
The popular coffee shop chain is known and loved for its limited-edition seasonal menus each year, and now, with the countdown to the big day officially on, Costa has given fans what they’ve been waiting for as it’s unveiled its festive food and drink offering for 2023 – with a whole host of brand-new treats, as well as some returning fan favourites on the lineup.
This year, the star of the show this year has to be the Sticky Toffee Latte, which is inspired by the nation’s favourite pudding and turns it into a winter-warming drink.
Also available as an iced version, the Sticky Toffee Latte features a yummy sticky toffee-flavoured sauce, topped with Light Whip, drizzled with even more sauce, and finished with a sprinkling of bronze shimmery angel-like dusting.
Costa has unveiled its Christmas food and drink menu for 2023 / Credit: Costa
Also new to the festive drinks offering this year is the Roasted Hazel Latte and Roasted Hazel Hot Chocolate, which are both made with flavourful roasted hazelnut syrup, topped with Light Whip, and completed with a beautiful bronzed shimmer and mini gold stars.
Other festive drinks on the menu this year include the comebacks of the much-loved Black Forest Hot Chocolate, and the Gingerbread & Cream Latte, which are both Costa classics at this point, and are set to be on the menu a little earlier than the rest to usher in the seasonal spirit.
The Terry’s Chocolate Orange Hot Chocolate is also making a return by popular demand.
The coffee shop chain is known and loved for its limited-edition seasonal menus each year / Credit: Costa
If you fancy tucking into a hearty festive feast to go along with your limited-edition drinks, then this year’s new food range includes the Pigs and Blankets Toastie, which features succulent pork sausage and maple cured bacon, with caramelised onion chutney, all in tempting garlic, onion and sage crumbed cheese-topped bread, and the Honey Roast Ham and Wensleydale Ciabatta with British Honey roast ham and Wensleydale cheese, mature Cheddar and honey, and béchamel sauce, all packed into a cranberry ciabatta.
For a quick snack lunch, there’s also Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, and a new festive-themed Sausage Roll – which has seasoned pork sausage meat, pulled pork, and divine Bramley apples in an all-butter puff pastry, topped with a wonderful festive pastry star.
And then, back for another year is the Brie Bacon and Cranberry Panini, the Brie and Cranberry Toastie, the Turkey and Trimmings Toastie, and the Turkey Feast Sandwich.
For the plant-based and vegan customers, there’s a new Vegan Turkey and Trimmings Toastie made up of vegan turkey with stuffing, yummy cranberry sauce, vegan mayonnaise, vegan gravy, all in toasted white bread.
There’s sticky toffee pudding lattes, pigs in blankets toasties, and loads of returning festive favourites / Credit: Costa
For those with a sweet tooth, there’s some new indulgent cakes and biscuits too, including the Belgian Chocolate Ganache Cake, the Sticky Toffee Loaf Cake, the Christmas Cake Slice – which is suitable for vegans – and to finish off, the Polar Bear Gingerbread Biscuit and Christmas Tree Shortcake Biscuit.
Of course, there’s a bunch of returning treats too, such as the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Muffin, and the Gingerbread Muffin, to accompany your drinks, as well as the White Chocolate Trillionaire’s Slice, and the Crispy Festive Wreath.
On top of that, both the All Butter Mince Pie, and the Gluten-Free Vegan Mince Tarts, are back for another year too.
The 2023 Christmas menu will be available at all Costa branches and Costa self-serve machines nationwide, and will begin its roll-out from Thursday 2 November.
Featured Image – Costa
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A sneak peek at the first pour: Greater Manchester celebrates the return of Boddingtons
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has every reason to drink and jubilate this Friday and toast the perfect excuse for an early dart as the first fresh pours in a new chapter for Boddingtons beer have been sunk.
And by’eck if ain’t still bloody gorgeous.
That’s right, in case you didn’t hear the latest news about ‘Cream of Manchester’, we can now officially and ever-so gladly confirm that Boddingtons Bitter is properly back on draught in the region.
With the iconic cask ale making a glorious return decades on from its glory days in the 1990s, the new and improved Boddies beer is flowing from the taps – just in time for the weekend, no less.
Yes, with local brewery and pub chain J.W. Lees taking over the manufacturing and distribution, leaving the Budweiser Group to take over the licensing, the updated recipe Boddingtons – which clocks in at a 4.0% ABV – is about to be rolled out across the 10 boroughs.
Better yet, with five native pubs having already reinstalled honey yellow and black pumps, and with Lees looking to deliver it to the ale-loving masses across the North West, this could be the biggest Manc comeback since, well, those two lads from Burnage…
Speaking of: we were invited along to Founder’s Hall on Albert Square (formerly Duttons and now home to every one of the brand’s beers, not to mention serving as a tribute to John Lees himself), for a special ceremony to celebrate the inaugural public pints of Boddies being poured.
Let’s just say we were honoured to be part of the grand resurrection.
Obviously, there have been some holdouts hanging onto the classic Mancunian brew, and we certainly had fun trying to track them down over the past couple of years, but we’re just glad we don’t have to do as much work to find one now.
Managing Director of JW Lees, William Lees-Jones, said on the relaunch: “When I joined JW Lees in 1994, Boddingtons was ‘The Cream of Manchester’ and we were in awe of their position in leading the cask beer revolution.
“We’re proud to bring it back home, starting with Founder’s Hall, and we’re planning to restore Boddington’s as one of the UK’s leading premium cask beers, particularly here in the North West.” Well said, sir.
Available from Founder’s Hall, The Black Friar in Salford, Stables Tavern; Sams Chop House, The Circus Tavern, Oxford Road Tap, Piccadilly Tap and Victoria Tap from today, as well as Corbières and Stockport pubs like The Crown and The White Lion, we can’t wait to see Boddingtons take over the nation.
In the meantime, why not look back at the storied history behind one of our finest exports?
Subway launches make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ across UK
Emily Sergeant
Subway is finally launching its viral make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ at all its restaurants in the UK.
That’s right – you can now walk into any Greater Manchester Subway and order a jacket potato instead of a sandwich, and you get to choose exactly what goes on top of it.
Britain has always been a nation of ‘jacket fanatics’, with almost half of Brits claiming the spud to be a British cultural icon, but according to new research by Subway, it’s been found that nearly a quarter (23%) of us have argued with family and friends over how to prepare or serve one.
So it’s fair to say that, yes, us Brits do love ourselves a jacket potato, and this is why ‘Spudway’ is launching nationwide.
The UK-wide rollout of Spudway comes after it was trailed in select sites earlier this year, and then proved so popular that the trail was extended to include more locations.
Now, those fluffy jacket potatoes are available everywhere.
You can choose topping options like the simple Cheese & Beans or Tuna Mayo, or you can opt for Subway specialities like Meatball Marinara, and Chicken Tikka, but the beauty of Spudaway is it’s all fully customisable.
This means you can pick, quite simply, from whatever you fancy at the protein and salad counters, and finish it with your choice of Subway’s wide selection of signature sauces.
“The nation’s love of Jacket Potatoes is unparalleled,” commented Cathy Goodwin, who is the Interim Director of Culinary & Innovation Subway EMEA.
Subway has finally launched its make-your-own jacket potato concept ‘Spudway’ all across the UK / Credit: Subway
“The enthusiasm we’ve seen on social media and the strong demand from our guests throughout the trial made it clear that Spudway deserved a permanent place on our menu.
“Made with British potatoes, Irish salted butter, a double portion of cheese, and fully customisable with any of our many toppings, Spudway is the perfect freshly-made, high-quality lunch choice.”
Spudway jacket potatoes are freshly baked in-store daily and can be enjoyed on their own, or as part of a meal deal – which includes a spud, drink, plus crisps or a cookie.
Emily Sergeant -
27th October 2023 
