With the arrival of autumn, the necessary traditions must commence. Be it long walks to admire the coloured leaves; collecting conkers with friends; wearing the cosiest knit jumpers and fluffy socks; or enjoying a hot pumpkin spiced latte. But is this daring drink actually as good as it sounds, or is it merely part of the coffee shops’ marketing scheme and not a coffee connoisseur’s choice?

 

Most commonly connected to Starbucks, the nostalgic flavours of the drink have built up a stir since when they first introduced it during the autumn season of 2003. It did so well initially in its first few stores, that the company struggled to keep up with so high a demand. Evidently, the beverage has become a household name and has brought huge success for its business.  

 

But today, are people still ordering it? Has it lost its mojo? I spoke to my local Starbucks barista to find out:

M. Jory said that the ‘PSL’ is regularly ordered every day and when I asked her the typical age range this applied to, she said that mainly middle-aged individuals were ordering the latte, but that younger people were subject to their pumpkin spiced Frappuccino. Out of interest, I asked her if it was easy to make, as far as the Starbucks drinks go and she said that yes, in comparison to their newest ‘Sour Apple Frappuccino’, it doesn’t take her long  to compile, needing only to add the syrup to the regular latte. Finally, I asked her how often she drinks it, but for her, it wasn’t a frequent indulgence due to her dislike in the taste of coffee. However, her colleague kindly chipped in and said that she makes herself one at least once every two days! 

 

The seasonal favourite contains a calorific content of 347Kcal (medium sized) and is currently priced at £5.45. Included is a double shot of espresso, milk, four pumps of pumpkin spice sauce, whipped cream and the pumpkin spice topping to round it off. Before, the signature syrup was all artificially made up. However, in 2015, the recipe was altered and today contains real pumpkin purée in its make-up, a welcome that was positively received by the public.

 

This year the ‘PSL’ returned on the 30th of August. Personally, I love the first initial sips, enjoying the familiar flavours, but beyond that point I find it too sweet and sickly. But in terms of other seasonal drinks, for me, this still exceeds all others and I look forward to the creation of even better seasonal flavours in the future!