Holiday drink season has arrived with cafes and restaurants across the country now serving peppermint, gingerbread and cookie-flavored beverages in "red cups." Why it matters: Businesses are capitalizing on holiday cheer to create a buzz and drive sales.

Starbucks is really hard launching the holidays. They're giving away free reusable red holiday cups and have a bunch of new drinks. Wohoo! They really didn't waste any time getting to their holiday menu either as they basically released them right after Halloween. In fact, we'll see a hint of Halloween in their holiday menu. You'll see.

Gong Cha, an international bubble tea franchise with hundreds of locations scattered across the U.S., debuted its own version, and it appears to offer a similar flavor profile to the Starbucks recipes (just sans coffee).