Aug. 24 marked the first day of the fall season, at least for those who drink Starbucks coffee.
The Pumpkin Spice Latte has returned once again. This time, for the second decade. Like every year, Starbucks has celebrated the fall season with a special menu of drink flavors that represents autumn. From Apple Crisp to Pumpkin Cream, the flavors vary every season. Yet, one reappears consistently: The Pumpkin Spice Latte.
The drink first started as a test in 2003. According to Starbucks, the seasonal drink was tested in 100 different stores in Washington, D.C. and Vancouver, Canada. By 2004, the beverage soon became a popular order and was added to the menu of every store. Eventually, Starbucks added the pumpkin spice flavor into scones, chai and the list goes on.
There was an “immediate excitement” over the latte from customers and store workers, Peter Dukes, one of the original PSL creators, reported. Starbucks claims that there was a limited number of pumpkin products available before the latte hit the market. So, some could say they were the reason for the success of the flavor.
Fans quickly turned to social media to express their love for the drink, and twenty years later, the #PSL posts are still the most engaging posts on all of Starbucks’ accounts.
This year’s PSL announcement on Starbucks’ X, formerly Twitter, received over 15,000 reposts and 41,000 likes. This kind of engagement has not been seen since last year’s PSL announcement.
So, what makes this drink stick around year after year? Well, fans tend to say the taste reminds them of Thanksgiving, Halloween and all things fall. For some Starbucks lovers, the Pumpkin Spice Latte marks the official-unofficial start to the fall season. Having this drink come out at the end of summer and start to fall lets all coffee drinkers know that the cool weather is near.
Larger companies have also used the trendiness of the PSL in their own content, due to its large success on social media every year. Not only have corporations taken Starbucks’ PSL marketing tactics, but also the flavor itself.
The amount of customers this beverage brings in every year is large, but the profits are even larger. According to Forbes Magazine, Starbucks sells around 20 million PSL’s every fall and brings in around $100 million in profit from just one drink.
Brands like McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts rapidly hopped on the trend and have mimicked the flavor of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. The flavor even had a large success in products besides coffee. By the early 2010s, there were pumpkin spice candles, tea, pancakes, cookies, almond milk, oat milk, etc.
The social following had grown to thousands by 2012. Fan accounts and memes would be made all directed towards one drink. The media, including morning talk show hosts to late-night comedians, also gained the attention of the pumpkin spice phenomenon.
The warm and cozy feeling people get from the PSL and other pumpkin spice flavors is what makes the drink popular. Without Starbucks, it is safe to say the pumpkin spice flavor would not have gotten this much attention for many years to come.
“It’s a fleeting time period where you get the fall leaves turning colors, the weather turning, football is back, kids are back in school … [The PSL] packages all of that in a cup,” Dukes said.
