Ring in the holidays with flavorful beveragesRing in the holidays with flavorful beverages

The pumpkin spice latte is on a nice run. But a race is underway to develop new holiday beverages that rival the fall phenomenon in mass appeal and staying power.

Greeting adventurous consumers today are a growing number of holiday coffees, teas and hot chocolates with intriguing salty-sweet and sweet-spicy sensations. Also in play are fragrant mugs of rosemary-infused honey latte, chai tea eggnog and espresso enlivened with ginger and chili.

For Caribou Coffee, a Minneapolis-based specialty coffee chain with more than 400 U.S. locations, the holidays are a time to bring back popular legacy beverages as well as launch new specialties.

Debuting in November are two new creations that riff on chai, the Indian-inspired spiced tea beverage. Chai...