Starbucks Iconic Fall Drinks: Ranked and Exposed
Barely even into September and Starbucks has already rolled out their fall menu. This year they introduced two new drinks, the hot and iced Apple Crisp Macchiato along with continuing the Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Cream Cold brew, and Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. Each of these drinks have a unique taste, whether delicious or distasteful. This is why below you will find a ranking of the fall menu from ‘must-trys’ to ‘must-dies’.
1. Pumpkin Spice Latte
The classic Pumpkin Spice Latte (better known as PSL) remains at the top of Starbucks most iconic drinks. Creamy foam tied in with the spicy notes of cinnamon, it is the best fall drink that Starbucks branded. The drink itself is based off of a pumpkin pie all while tasting nothing like a pumpkin pie. The aesthetic makes up for it though as thoughts of drinking a PSL while walking through an autumn-colored park with the leaves crunching below your feet is a top tier fantasy.
2. Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
The infamous old cold brew finds a new home in Starbucks, their version of the chilled coffee is sold in almost every grocery store for a good reason. It is delicious. The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is the perfect drink for a busy work day in the depths of autumn. As the leaves change colors, so do our busy schedules and this drink is easy to fit into our minimal breaks. The drink itself is Starbucks original cold brew topped with vanilla notes and a pumpkin cream cold foam. The cold foam is the highlight of the drink but it’s definitely an acquired taste. Coffee lovers, this drink is for you.
3. Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Sweetness overload should be the new name for this rendition. While the concept of the drink is delicious, it’s filled to the brim with sugar just like other frappuccinos. The pumpkin flavor makes an appearance through the color but, otherwise it’s a little lost in the drink. If you like milk featuring coffee this drink may be for you but it’s much more of a dessert. In the morning, if you start your days with one of these, you will be cracked through the morning and crashed in the evening.
4. Hot Apple Crisp Macchiato
The Hot Apple Crisp Macchiato only takes superiority over the iced version because hot drinks are more fit for the fall chill. On the contrary, the flavor and drink itself is not a cute taste. The apple flavoring isn’t apple at all but more of a mix between caramel and plastic, plastimel if you will. The idea is there for sure but the execution is lacking. The hot espresso and steamed milk does manage to cover some of this plastic-like flavor but in the end, it doesn’t seem worth the six dollars.
5. Iced Apple Crisp Macchiato
Right below its other half, the iced version of the Apple Crisp Macchiato just brings out the intensely weird flavors of the drink itself. As described in it’s biography, it’s traditional coffee but filled with a ‘gooey apple swirl’. In reality this ‘apple swirl’ sits at the bottom of the cup, waiting for you to get down to the depths of the mediocre coffee to hit you with a thousand grams of sugar. Even though it’s technically a fall drink, it definitely sits at the bottom of Starbucks fall drink menu.
Class of 2023
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