Is the pumpkin spice latte foidslop?
A latte with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove that comes out in late August and sells out anyway.
The pumpkin spice latte is espresso and steamed milk with a syrup that tastes like pie spice. For most of its history it didn't contain any pumpkin. Starbucks added a little pumpkin purée to the recipe in 2015 after years of people pointing that out.
Every year it comes back earlier, usually in late August when it's still hot outside, and every year people complain about that and buy it on launch day. It's been around since 2003 and the jokes about it are almost as old.
Starbucks developed the drink in 2003, and it tested well enough that it went national the next year. It became the company's most popular seasonal drink, and its success is a big reason so many other brands now sell a fall flavor. The early launch has turned into an annual event, with a countdown, a news cycle and a second wave of jokes about it being 90 degrees outside.
Pumpkin spice itself is just the mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves that's been going into pumpkin pie for a long time. What the latte did was turn that spice mix into a flavor you could put on anything. There are pumpkin spice cereals, creamers, candles, and at various points a pumpkin spice potato chip and dog treat. That spread is a lot of why people mock it, and a lot of why it sells.
Yes, because
- It kicked off the whole flavor-of-the-season thing
- There are pumpkin spice candles, cereals and dog treats now
- People count down to its release
No, because
- It's a latte with cinnamon in it, which is hardly a scandal
- A lot of men order it and just don't mention it
- Lots of coffee drinkers who'd never call themselves basic order it every fall
New to the word? Here's what foidslop means. More like this in foidslop food and drinks.