Sip Happens: The Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Latte Taste Test

Before we go into our testing process, let's go into a brief history of the iconic drink. It's been 22 years since 100 Starbucks stores across Vancouver and Washington State initially launched what we now know as the Pumpkin Spice Latte, or, PSL. Starbucks had released the Peppermint Mocha Latte a few years prior and were ready to release another seasonal beverage to recapture their previous success. Little did they know what was to come. In the initial ideation phases, many drink flavours were conceptualized, including chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, and pumpkin. Though, surprisingly, pumpkin was met with mixed opinions as it was a unique and new flavour. Peter Duke, leader to the Starbucks espresso beverage team at the time, fought for the flavour option to be tested. For the PSL, this involved the testing team trying bites of pumpkin pie followed by shots of espresso. What flavours really complimented the coffee were noted down, and can be seen in your modern day Pumpkin spice recipe. PSL’s have really found a cultural fanbase in the last 22 years, stereotypically among a predominantly white and female audience, though the drink is enjoyed by all fall lovers.

Now for our initial thoughts, upon purchasing our white girl fall drinks, we put on our autumnal sweaters and seasonal scarves and got to work. To preface, we bought a medium (grande :( ) Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and McDonalds and compared them head to head. When assessing the appearance of the OG PSL, from Starbucks, it was very bright orange, just like a ripe pumpkin. Whereas the other two latte’s were far more of a muted colour, closer to a chai or regular latte. The Tims latte had the remnants of spices on the sides of the cup, though a far more muted colour to the Starbucks drink. Overall, the McDonalds drink looked ugly in comparison. It was really milky and there was no spice or orange hue to be seen (Not very seasonal McDonalds…). As for smell it was unanimous that the McDonalds drink smelled the best, contrary to the previous opinions of it.

Alongside the three lattes we also ordered a pumpkin spice muffin from both Starbucks and Tims, but not McDonalds because they didn’t have any autumnal snacks (That’s two strikes Mcdonalds). Our reviews of these snacks began again with appearance. Eloise and Zoe noted that the Tims muffin had better colour and muffin surface, with a crispy/crackly crust. As for the starbucks muffin, there was a higher seed content, but the cream cheese was visible. This was ideally an upgrade, though as we did not get the muffin heated, the cream cheese had a more matte and thicker finish. After eating both muffins, it was unanimously decided that the starbucks muffin was superior. The seeds added the crunch finish it was lacking, and it had a more pumpkin pie, spice filled flavour. The Tims Muffin was lacking in both pumpkin and seeds, and the seeds that were included were thicker and harder to eat, overpowering the muffin. This made Eloise and Zoe decide that Starbucks’ muffin was by far superior.

But now, for the moment you have all been waiting for, this is our final findings for our Perfect Sassy Llama, wait no, Pumpkin Spice Latte, sorry wrong script. Eloise and Zoe decided to rank the drinks based on Pumpkin, Spice, and Latte individually, leading to an overall score based on majority.