A Not-So-Basic Creation of the Basic Fall Beverage: The PSL

When you step into the doors as the emerald siren greets you, smell coffee brewing, and hear the chatter of students and professors, alike, lining up for their morning fix, you know you are at Starbucks. If you know anything at all about Starbucks, then you have undoubtedly heard of the brand’s iconic Fall beverage, the Pumpkin spice latte. If you aren’t a fan of the Fall staple, you might at least consider the vast and quite crazy popularity of the drink, with more than 200 million orders since 2011 and averaging approximately 3,000 related tweets a day, according to the Seattle Met. With the price ranging from $5.45 to $5.95 for a cup of this autumnal coffee, before tax, it's easy to see just how dedicated fans are to this seasonal beverage. To understand the Starbucks origins of the PSL, we must look into the classic fall spice blend itself, and the planning that brought the drink to life.

Pumpkin Spice: a classic Fall spice blend of ground nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and occasionally, allspice. Food&Wine.com claims that the blend is most commonly used in pumpkin pie and that the blend was first manufactured in 1930 by popular companies such as McCormick and Thompson and Taylor Spice Co. Both have different blends of spices, paving the way for future pumpkin products to come.

Now that we are familiar with the blend of spices that started it all, let’s get into how the drink came to be the star that it is. Starting from humble beginnings, the pumpkin-flavored drink wasn’t even in the top rankings of a customer survey held in the initial stages of new, seasonal product development. The initial idea started in comparison to the popular winter beverages, as Starbucks wanted to expand on their seasonal menu options during the rest of the year. While first only available in certain stores, Food&Wine.com says that the PSL is now the most popular seasonal fan favorite. Pumpkin puree wasn't even included in the drink until 6 years after its release in 2015. Despite its speedy growth at the popular coffee chain, the concept of a pumpkin beverage originated in Indiana at a place called J.L. Hufford Coffee and Tea Company. However, the Indiana company did not release their drink using espresso, but coffee instead, so Starbucks takes the cake, or should I say pie, on that one. 

Soon after the hypothetical idea became closer to reality, the beverage was up against about 20 other possible flavors, including a chocolate caramel drink, an orange spice coffee, and the cinnamon dolce latte. The Seattle Met credits Peter Dukes as the employee who started it all, back in 2003, as a former product manager in the espresso division at Starbucks. Soon after the survey and a fair amount of convincing by Dukes, the PSL began its early testing stages. Employees gathered around with different variations of pumpkin pie and several espresso shots to pour over the pies and sample as a group. They all had the same goal in mind, to get the perfect ratio of pumpkin to spice. Testing came to a close and it was decided that a sauce, with an even ratio of pumpkin to spice, mimicked a homemade pumpkin pie better than any syrup could, and so it became a reality.

This drink’s popularity inspired the crazy products flavored with pumpkin spice we see on shelves today. Have you ever seen a pumpkin spice trash bag? Even if you’re not part of the millions of PSL fanatics, there is a lot to learn about product development and consumer preferences or patterns. The creation of this drink is a perfect example of how new, bold ideas are not something to shy away from, but potential opportunities that may skyrocket into something unimaginable. Make sure to get your hands on the PSL before the seasonal drinks change to the good, but far less popular, winter beverages.