We have all heard of pumpkin spice. It is a seasonal, once a year special that people go crazy for in the fall. It’s spicy, flavorful, and tasty. But does everyone think the same?  Do you think that pumpkin spice flavor is worth the hype? 

During the fall season, people tend to talk about all of the fun festivities that go along with the season of fall. For instance, we have noticed lots of talk  about pumpkin spice drinks. Whether it is a pumpkin coffee or pumpkin teas, we were wondering what all of the hype was about. 

To answer all our questions, we went on a quick trip to Newburyport to taste some of the most popular fall drinks. Along with that, we interviewed some people at our school to get their opinions  about pumpkin spice.  

First, we interviewed Isabella Hernandez, a sophmore here at Pentucket. Immediately she said that pumpkin spice is delicious because “it is seasonal and not as abused.” She stated that her favorite pumpkin drink is a Pumpkin Chai Latte from Starbucks, yet she still prefers Dunkin’ because “it is less expensive and much easier to customize.”

We also asked Blanca Degrenier, a Spanish teacher, about her opinions on the flavor of pumpkin spice. Señora had not yet tried some of the more popular drinks at either Starbucks or Dunkin’, but she did say, “The pumpkin spice tea from Trader Joes is my favorite.” Although she has never tried pumpkin drinks from Starbucks or Dunkin’, she prefers Dunkin’ because it is faster and less expensive.  

Alexandra Gagnon, a junior at Pentucket, gave a different opinion on pumpkin spice. Gagnon believes that this seasonal fall flavor is not worth the hype it has because she feels like it is too expensive. Gagnon thinks that it is way too overhyped and should not be as popular as it is.

Morgan Gallant, who is also a junior, gave her own opinions on pumpkin spice. After being asked, Gallant immediately said that she loves pumpkin spice. We also asked what her favorite drink is: “The Signature Latte from Dunkin’ Donuts because it’s classic and simple.” She prefers Dunkin’ over Starbucks because she thinks that Starbucks coffee tastes burnt. “Dunkin’ is also cheaper.”

After trying these drinks ourselves, we came up with our own opinions and conclusions on if these pumpkin drinks are really worth the hype they bring every year.

The first place we went to was Starbucks. We ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte, an Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai and a Pumpkin Spice Cream Frappe. Supposedly these three are pretty popular.

Starbucks drinks:

Pumpkin Spice Latte: 

Right off the bat, the drink looked very tasty. When we tried it there was not a lot of pumpkin flavor, although we would both still drink it because it had a nice flavor and it had just the right amount of sweetness. 

Looks- 7

Taste- 7.5

Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai:

The drink looked light in color and had a delicious and fall-like smell. When we tried the drink, it had a nice pumpkin spiced flavor, more spice than pumpkin, and sweet cream cold foam on top. We agreed that we would go back for it and that it would also taste nice if hot. 

Looks  – 8

Taste – 8

Pumpkin Cream Frappe: 

This frappe had a very bright orange color and it also looked very yummy. After trying it, we concluded that it was not as sweet as we thought it would be. It had a very rich pumpkin flavor, but at the same time  it was not too overpowering.

Looks– 8

Taste–  8.5

Dunkin’ drinks:

Pumpkin Spiced Signature Latte:

The signature latte looked very pleasing to the eye, with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon sugar on top. The drink itself was a sweet coffee with a nice pumpkin flavor, more artificial than the Starbucks latte. 

Looks –8

Taste- 6.5

Iced Pumpkin Chai:

This chai was slightly different to the Starbucks one, it was slightly more on the sweet side than spicy side. It also had no cold foam on top, but it had a similar taste to the Starbucks one.

Looks– 8

Taste– 8

Pumpkin Iced Coffee:

The Pumpkin Iced Coffee looked pretty ordinary. It  had a strong coffee flavor with only a hint of pumpkin spice. The coffee also was not very sweet.

Looks– 7.5

Taste– 4

Conclusions

Overall we concluded that pumpkin spice flavored drinks vary in taste and size. The Starbucks drinks were smaller and more expensive, while Dunkin’ gave us a larger amount for less. Dunkin’ also had a nicer coffee flavor than Starbucks,although Starbucks did have more pumpkin spice flavor in general. Overall, this was a very fun experience and we think that pumpkin spice drinks are worth the hype, despite what others might think.