Sugar and spice and (almost) everything nice Putting fall tradition of lattes with squash seasonings to the test By: Eva Wasney and Jen Zoratti Posted: 6:15 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023

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This article was published 03/10/2023 (1012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been 20 years since Starbucks unleashed its pumpkin spice latte on the world, forever altering the autumnal cultural zeitgeist and turning seasonal change into a consumer holiday.

Today, pumpkin spice has permeated everything from beer and ice cream to candles and Spam.

To mark the PSL anniversary, Eva Wasney and Jen Zoratti went back to basics and sampled some of the sweet, foamy seasonal beverages on offer at a handful of major chains. The results were wildly mixed and highly caffeinated.

Jen Zoratti: First of all, are you into pumpkin-spice lattes?

Eva Wasney: I’m into pumpkin spice as a concept. I like pumpkin pie, I like Sargent Sundae’s pumpkin pie ice cream and I like all of the warm spices associated with the flavour. But I don’t buy pumpkin-spice lattes; it’s not a fall pilgrimage for me.

JZ: Love a clove, love nutmeg — as an aside, that’s what people are talking about when they say, “I love pumpkin.” No you don’t. You love the spices.

EW: Yeah, nobody likes jack-o’-lantern-flavoured beverages. That would not sell. Are you a fan of the lattes?

JZ: I feel like I used to be more into them. Now I’m with you; I prefer a pumpkin dessert.

EW: Let’s talk about Starbucks and just how much this specific beverage has influenced this idea of fall.

JZ: It has not only influenced the idea of fall, but influenced the idea we have of a specific kind of Instagram woman for whom fall is an identity, a woman who loves a giant scarf, who loves apple picking, who has seasonal decor up in August. Close your eyes. What’s in her hand? A PSL. It’s foundational to this whole image.

EW: Let the record show that I wore a giant, chunky knit scarf to get into the right mindset for this taste test.

Starbucks, $7 for a grande

EW: OK, let’s start with Starbucks as a control.

JZ: It smells good. I’m getting a lot of those pumpkin-pie spices. It doesn’t taste how it smells.

EW: It tastes like a latte with a hint of warm seasonings. It’s more coffee-forward than spice-forward.

JZ: I find it cloyingly sweet.

EW: Which is what I was expecting from all of these. My standard is just coffee with oat milk in the morning. This is not a beverage I would usually buy, but I don’t dislike it. The flavour really is lingering, though.

 

A&W, $5.81 for a medium

EW: So everyone is getting into pumpkin-spice lattes these days and everyone has a cold version of the PSL, so we’ve included one of those to see what it’s like. The next one is from A&W, which I only associate with root beer beverages. I’ve never had a coffee from there.

JZ: I also have no idea what their coffee is like. This looks like an iced cappuccino and it smells like coffee ice cream; there’s nothing to suggest it’s pumpkin.

EW: There’s no hint of fake orange colouring or anything like that. And it doesn’t taste pumpkin-y at all.

JZ: It tastes like eggnog to me, actually.

EW: It’s creamier than I expected it to be, you’re definitely right about the ice cream comparison.

JZ: It’s not bad, but it’s not pumpkin.

EW: I do think that the iced trend with pumpkin-spice lattes is interesting, because we’re getting into a colder season and you’d think the hot beverages would be more popular.

JZ: I will add: Do not sleep on the Starbucks pumpkin-spice cold brew. It’s quite good if you don’t want something as sweet.

 

McDonald’s, $4.92 for a medium

EW: I generally like McDonald’s coffee. I think they’re one of the better drive-thru options.

JZ: I agree and this one just looks like a coffee, but with really strong pumpkin pie spices.

EW: Hoo boy, that smells like nutmeg up the wazoo. And oh my God, I’m only tasting nutmeg — a little bit of nutmeg goes a long way and this is too much. This is weird.

JZ: That’s so interesting — I’m getting full-on cinnamon hearts. It’s really aggressive on the palate.

EW: I imagine it’s a syrup they’re using to flavour this and I wonder if it was over-administered. I wouldn’t enjoy a pumpkin pie that tasted like this. I feel like I just had a mouthful of dry spices from the pantry.

 

Tim Hortons, $4.80 for a medium

JZ: Oh my, that is real orange, and it looks like there’s some oil sitting on top.

EW: I think that used to be whipped cream.

JZ: It is the colour of cream-of-chicken soup and it smells bad. Is this a cup of soup?

EW: It smells savoury, like a yellow Thai curry. [sip] Holy crap, what in the world is that supposed to be?

JZ: It’s oddly coconutty. It tastes like it’s gone off, like a pumpkin pie that’s maybe been hanging out in the fridge too long.

EW: Oh man. This one is just syrup and steamed milk through and through. The sweetness is almost bubblegum-y. There’s no coffee element to it, so it’s kind of deceiving to call this one a latte.

JZ: That is a DNF: do not finish.

 

EW: Final verdicts? I wasn’t expecting these to taste so different. I thought they would all kind of follow a similar flavour profile, but I guess in the world of pumpkin spice these companies have to differentiate themselves.

JZ: Neither was I; it’s actually astonishing. It’s like how everyone’s pumpkin pie is slightly different. But I think Starbucks is king for a reason. It’s much more balanced and the spices are smooth on the tongue. The McDonald’s one has grown on me after trying them all. I think my ranking goes: Starbucks, McDonald’s, A&W, Tim Hortons.

EW: I mostly agree. It’s Starbucks, A&W, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons for me. Any closing remarks? Do you think the cultural hatred of pumpkin spice is warranted?

JZ: I think because it’s synonymous with “basic bitch,” people are snobby about it. But it’s like the Nickelback of coffee. People secretly like it.

EW: It’s been around for 20 years; people clearly like it.

 

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

jen.zoratti@winnipegfreepress.com