A taste of Christmas with Tully's mince pie latte

When it comes to Christmas foods that I miss from back home, there are two things that immediately come to mind – plum pudding (also known as Christmas pudding to some of you!) and mince pies. The latter consists of a “fruit mince” – basically a mix of fruits and spices in a pureed form – all housed in a delicious pie crust. Obviously since living here they’ve become much harder to come by, and getting my fix of them typically comes with significant scouring of international food stores like Kaldi Coffee Farm and Seijo Ishii.

There is one way at the moment to get a little taste of mince pies, albeit in a different format, and that’s at Tully’s Coffee stores across the country. They’ve currently got a Harry Potter Mince Pie Latte on their menu, and while Harry Potter might not conjure up festive season associations, the mince pies absolutely do.

The latte is based off their usual vanilla latte flavor, but with flavors of dried fruits and spices blended into it. It’s also topped with a mince pie flavored sauce and a little star-shaped shortbread cookie – overall, the taste and the presentation were really nice. It even comes in a Harry Potter themed cup, so it’s an added bonus if you’re a fan of the books/movies.

I also got a caramel roll cake which was served with a blueberry sauce. Initially I thought it was a weird flavor combo, but it worked!

Back to the latte – it only comes in one size (tall) and is priced at 695 yen, which is rather pricey for a single drink. In saying that, I do think if you’re after a little Christmas indulgence it’s worth the splurge. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you’re a fan of good ol’ mince pies!

There’s also a milk tea version if you’d prefer that over a coffee-based drink.

Have you tried mince pies before? If so, are you a fan of them? What’s the number one Christmas food from back home you miss and find difficult to obtain here?