Fall is finally here, bringing us many new opportunities to participate in fall-festivities and try fall-themed drinks, one of the most popular being the pumpkin spice latte. Starting late August to early September, cafes near Berkley, such as Monarch Cafe, Coffee & Bark, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Biggby all offer pumpkin spice lattes and other fun fall drinks. We all have many different preferences when it comes to the way we like our fall beverages. The question is, which one would be the best choice for you? Here is a fair scoring of all of the drinks that those cafes offer, along with their features that may determine if a drink is right for you or not.
Starting with Dunkin’ Donuts, Dunkin’ released their specialty fall menu on Aug. 28, with a variety of pumpkin-filled drinks and some breakfast items that fit the fall-like weather. Their iced pumpkin spice latte is offered with whip cream and caramel, and has a nice balance of sweetness. Indicated by a measurement on the cup, there is a good amount of ice that fills up the cup to keep it cool. Although there is a nice balance of coffee and pumpkin spice flavoring in this drink, there isn’t a super strong taste of pumpkin spice. Overall, I would give it seven pumpkins out of ten for the lack of spices, but it is a good drink to get if you don’t love pumpkin but want a little fall addition to your everyday coffee. Junior Charlie Pearlman shared, “I’d say it was pretty good, though it was too sweet. I prefer the one from Starbucks. Overall, I’d give it a seven out of ten”
Next, Starbucks has a similar sized fall menu that was released on Aug. 22nd. It has a bigger variety of flavors that aren’t only focused on pumpkin, but more pumpkin pastries that pair perfectly with your drink, hot or cold. In this iced pumpkin spice latte, the pumpkin flavor isn’t as obvious to detect, as the coffee flavor is stronger. It doesn’t have a lot of spice in it, and the sweetness level is pretty low. Fortunately, there isn’t a lot of ice in the tall size so it isn’t watered down. If you don’t have a strong sweet tooth, this drink would be perfect for you. This drink gets six and a half out of ten pumpkins because it isn’t very sweet and doesn’t have the strong pumpkin flavor that most people search for when ordering a pumpkin spice latte, but it is still a good coffee and you can simply add whip cream to it for that missing sweetness. According to junior Theresa Solomon, “I would give it a 6 because I don’t usually like hot coffee, but other than that it was pretty good.”
Biggby has a smaller fall menu, offering six different fall drinks and three snacks to pair them with. Offered with whip cream and caramel, this iced pumpkin spice latte doesn’t have much ice in it but enough to keep it cool. In terms of flavor, the pumpkin flavor is clearly there, but it might be overpowering the coffee. You can taste a lot of spices, but it isn’t very sweet, so there is more of a spice aftertaste. If you tend to like your drinks super sweet, I would try a different one on the new fall menu. My overall rating is eight pumpkins out of ten. According to senior Lily Larson-Wolbrink, “I would give it a five out of ten. It wasn’t horrible, but also didn’t taste like true pumpkin spice, a little too spicy and not sweet enough.”
Coffee & Bark’s fall menu released Sept. 2, with only a couple new fall options. This light drink is refreshing with the perfect amount of spice to top it off, but it’s a bit watered down compared to the rest because there is a bit more ice put in. There isn’t as much pumpkin flavor, indicated by the light color of the drink, but it has a nice sweetness to it that isn’t too much. I would have to give this one a six pumpkins out of ten. The drink is sweet but the main ingredient seems to be milk, and it is overpowering the traditional pumpkin flavoring.
Finally, Monarch Cafe announced their arrival of September drink specials on Sept. 3, with six new sweet drinks to enjoy while welcoming the new season. This cold pumpkin spice latte is full of natural pumpkin flavor, mainly masking the coffee taste. It’s thick and pretty sweet, and has a lot of strong spices to complement the pumpkin, but it is a little too strong. This sweet pumpkin spice drink gets five and a half pumpkins out of ten for flavor, and the high level on the spice scale. If you want a spicy pumpkin spice latte, this drink could fulfill your fall craving. Senior Riley Melville shared, “I wasn’t a fan. The flavor wasn’t like other pumpkin spice lattes I have had and it was a little off. I’d give it a two out of ten.”
Overall, Biggby’s iced pumpkin spice latte is the sweetest and has the most pumpkin, therefore winning the battle of the pumpkin spice lattes. Dunkin’, Starbucks, and Coffee & Bark also have good latte’s, but they were a bit more watered down and had very little sweetness. If you prefer them to be less sweet and strong, then that is the way to go. Biggby has a nice balance of sweetness, with strong but not overpowering spices, so they would win the battle of the pumpkin spice lattes this fall. Better yet, these are all close to Berkley High School, so stop by on your way for an early morning pick up while these limited drinks are still available.
