Do you judge people who obsess over pumpkin spice? (1 Viewer)

Do you judge people who obsess over pumpkin spice?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 15 20.5%

  • Of course.

    Votes: 41 56.2%

  • Tacoes (which means yes in this instance)

    Votes: 17 23.3%
  • Total voters
    73
Previous Next
Last month was Earth’s hottest month on record, but pumpkin-flavored coffee has arrived as if the air is crisp and leaves are on the ground.

As summers grow longer because of climate change, and major companies release their pumpkin spice treats earlier and earlier, the two phenomena are moving further apart.

Starbucks’s Pumpkin Spice Latte was launched 20 years ago, and over time has moved its release from September to August. Dunkin’ usually releases its menu earlier than Starbucks. Many major companies end their fall menus at the end of October.

This year, Dunkin’ released its fall menu Aug. 16th. Starbucks has not yet announced its release date for 2023. 7-Eleven released its pumpkin spice beverages on Aug. 1, and Krispy Kreme released a new pumpkin spice collection Aug. 7.

Pumpkin spice products are a major moneymaker. According to data from 2022, they accounted for more than $200 million in sales over the course of a year.

Local coffee shops are often the exception. Lost Sock Roasters in the Takoma neighborhood of D.C. will be releasing its fall menu closer to the end of September.
If you prefer to pair your fall drinks with fall weather, you may be waiting a while...........


 
This was an interesting article. I was in the test market when it was launched and don’t remember a thing about it

It just seemed that one day there were a million pumpkin flavored things

====================
The seasonal drink that made pumpkin spice a star is turning 20. And unlike the autumn days it celebrates, there seems to be no chill in customer demand.

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale Thursday in the U.S. and Canada, as it does each year when the nights start getting longer and the fall winds gather.

It’s the coffee giant’s most popular seasonal beverage, with hundreds of millions sold since its launch in 2003. And it has produced a huge — and growing — industry of imitators flecked with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

In the year ending July 29, U.S. sales of pumpkin-flavored products reached $802.5 million, according to Nielsen. That’s up 42% from the same period in 2019. There are pumpkin spice Oreos, protein drinks, craft beers, cereals and even Spam.

A search of “pumpkin spice” on Walmart’s website brings up more than 1,000 products. A thousand products that smell or taste like, well, pumpkin pie.

For better — and, some might say, for worse — the phenomenon has moved beyond coffee shops and groceries and into the larger world.

Great Wolf Lodge is featuring a Pumpkin Spice Suite at five of its resorts this fall, decked out with potpourri, pumpkin throw pillows and bottomless pumpkin spice lattes.

It has also spawned a vocal group of detractors — and become an easy target for parodies. Comedian John Oliver once called pumpkin spice lattes “the coffee that tastes like a candle.” There’s a Facebook group called “I Hate Pumpkin Spice” and T-shirts with slogans like “Ain’t no pumpkin spice in my mug.”

The haters, though, appear to be in the minority. Last year, Starbucks said sales of its pumpkin spice drinks — including newer offerings like Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew — were up 17% in the July-September period.

And in a 2022 study of 20,000 Twitter and Instagram posts mentioning pumpkin spice, just 8% were negative, according to researchers at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

It wasn’t always this way.
Canned pumpkin and pie spices were relegated to the baking aisle when Starbucks began experimenting with an autumn drink that would replicate the success of the Peppermint Mocha, which took the winter holidays by storm in 2002.

Customer surveys suggested chocolate or caramel drinks, but Starbucks noticed that pumpkin scored high for “uniqueness.” That would turn out to be prescient.

In the spring of 2003, a team gathered in a lab in Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters, bringing fall decorations to set the mood. They sipped espresso between bites of pumpkin pie, figuring out which spices most complemented the coffee. After three months, they offered taste tests; pumpkin spice beat out chocolate and caramel drinks.

Starbucks tested the Pumpkin Spice Latte in 100 stores in Washington, D.C., and Vancouver, British Columbia, that fall. The company quickly realized it had a winner and rolled it out across the United States and Canada the following fall.

And in 2015, a watershed: The company added real pumpkin to the recipe.……

apnews.com

Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte turns 20, whether you like it or not

The seasonal drink that made pumpkin spice a star is marking two decades in the world. And unlike the autumn days it celebrates, there seems to be no chill in customer demand.
apnews.com apnews.com
 
Last night at my crib:

Me: “Sweetheart, what are you drinking?”
Wife: “Nothing, babe. Just some decaf.”
Me: “Good evening weather for it.” - we live right outside of Canton, OH now and it was 57 degrees.
I stared at her. I know that look.
Me: “Just decaf, huh? Infidel!! - you’re in bed with pumpkin spice!”
Wife: “Stop judging me!”

:hihi:
 
If I can track down some pumpkin spice candy corn, which thread do I put it in?
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Register

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Previous Next

Users who are viewing this thread

    Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

    Share this page

     

    Twitter

    Back
    Top Bottom