I like free stuff and I cannot lie. That’s why I use the Starbucks app whenever I buy a drink (or a bacon-gouda sandwich) from the chain, because every 12th purchase leads to one free item.

For the first time since becoming a gold card member, however, I received something in addition to my dozen-star freebie: A package in the mail.

It was a little cardboard package, roughly the size of a business envelope and three times as thick, with the cryptic message, “Consider this a real-time reward” on the outside. Inside was a single-serving sample of Starbucks Via Instant Latte’s latest flavor, White Chocolate Mocha, along with a $1 off coupon to buy a full pack in stores.

White Chocolate Mocha used to be my go-to drink, and the note inside — “We think you’ll love it. But there’s only one way to find out” — made me wonder if early on I’d listed WCM as my beverage of choice, especially since Pumpkin Spice Latte fans have recently been getting knitted PSL-cup sleeves and were inducted into the “Orange Sleeve Society.”

I’m not sure whether Starbucks has always sporadically gifted members with these “real-time rewards,” as the package called them, or if they’re a new initiative, but either way, the small gesture made me smile.