The Sensation Is Back

Laura Sommers
Alpha Xi Delta

It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not referring to sweater wearing, changing leaves, or the start of yoga pant season. While those are all great things, I mean it’s this brief portion of the year that Starbucks offers their Pumpkin Spice drinks. Most Starbucks flavored drinks are tasty to me, but I only get them on a rarity, to catch up with friends, a treat for getting through a stressful week and what not. You better believe this all changes once fall comes around, and the pumpkin spice makes its beautiful debut back into my life. There’s just something about the sweet aroma, the mix of spices and the warm drink on a brisk fall day that makes it a popular hit all around. Starbucks’ website even boasts that the drink is a,

“Signature espresso blended with the unmistakable spices of fall- cinnamon, nutmeg and clove- smooth with steamed milk and topped with delectably sweetened whipped cream.”

How does that not make you want to stop what you’re doing and find the nearest Starbucks for a little cup of heaven?

My own Pumpkin Spice story began quite a few years back and was, in fact, a spur of the moment decision to order it. I was with my mom at a Target store in St. Joseph, Missouri and decided to go order something from the Starbucks located inside while my mom was in line checking out. I looked at the menu, saw my usual, a coffee or vanilla bean frappuchino, and then there it was; a sign colored in oranges, reds and greens boasted the Pumpkin Spice frappuchino, and I decided to give it a try. I wasn’t even sure if I liked pumpkin flavor too much, much less that I wanted to drink it, but the cute sign and memories of fall finally convinced me. About two sips in, both my mom and I decided that it was a keeper. Forget the coffee frappucchino, it was nothing compared to Pumpkin Spice. Sadly, my mom and I found out the hard way that it was a seasonal drink when we went in hopes of the pumpkiny goodness later that year in the spring. What. A. Bummer. It was the longest few months to get to fall again.

This year, in anticipation for the drink’s return, Starbucks even held a contest on their Facebook page where cities across the United States and Canada competed to have the infamous Pumpkin Spice brought to their city one week earlier than the usual release date. The contest featured three point-based activities that could be done daily- city shout-outs, solving a daily challenge and making a daily creation. An example of a daily challenge is watching a short video and answering trivia questions about it. Similarly, for a daily creation, participants might have to do something like creating and sharing a postcard of their city. The contest ran from August 22-26, with the winning city receiving the drink on August 30. Courtney Crowder of the Chicago Tribune noted that this year’s winning city was in fact the windy city, Chicago, with a whopping 10.6 million points, beating out Seattle, home of Starbucks’ headquarters, by 342,000 points.

At $4.25 a pop for a grande Pumpkin Spice, I’m either going to need to re-evaluate my Starbucks fund for the fall, especially since it has already started to get cold or ask for more gift certificates. If you’re not looking to break the bank from your Pumpkin Spice addiction, here is an easy copycat recipe, which can be made from your own home for just a fraction of the cost that it would be at Starbucks. Enjoy your own Pumpkin Spice latte or iced coffee as often as you want this fall, or summer, or spring…whenever!

Laura is a sophomore studying English and secondary education. You may contact her at lsommers@ksu.edu.