There’s nothing quite like the calming aroma of fall spices or the crispy crunch of jumping in a pile of freshly-raked leaves. Weather plays a role, but fall is an atmosphere; it’s Noah Kahan and pumpkins and scary movies and costumes and tests and football games. But arguably most importantly to caffeine addicts, it’s the season of the infamous pumpkin spice latte, which Starbucks, Dunkin’, and other coffee chains and local stores released in August for the 2024 fall season.
This year, Starbucks packed their menu with flavorful favorites, including the notorious pumpkin spice latte, along with elaborate new drinks, such as the iced apple crisp non-dairy cream chai. They also displayed a new vanilla cake pop with a raccoon design. Many other well-received drinks from last year returned to the menu, including the apple crisp oat milk macchiato, the iced apple oat milk shaken espresso, the pumpkin cold brew and the iced pumpkin cream chai. Along with these are classic Starbucks fall treats, including the baked apple croissant, the pumpkin & pepita loaf, and the pumpkin cream cheese muffin. In the name of exclusivity, Starbucks is also offering two drinks only on their mobile app: the iced caramel apple cream latte, and the iced honey apple almond milk flat white.
Dunkin’, who released their autumn menu 12 days later than last year, has been praised as innovative. The coffee megachain, which has been teasing their new menu on social media for weeks, has released a novel new beverage, the Dunkalatte; a combination of espresso and coffee milk. Coffee milk, which is a popular Rhode Island favorite made by mixing coffee extract and milk, is making its debut on the Dunkin’ menu and receiving tons of press. The pumpkin spice latte is also returning, along with maple sugar bacon, the apple cider donut, and the pumpkin donut.
If you’ve looked up from your textbooks in the past two months, it’s clear that these drinks have been immensely popular among high school students, who often pick them up before school, during lunch, and even after school. Whether it’s utilizing the caffeine to bypass midweek drowsiness or employing the sugary blend of syrups to make learning more bearable, these drinks have become a staple of high school life.