9 Places That Aren’t Starbucks To Get A Pumpkin-Spiced Latte Or Drink

ACROSS AMERICA — Starbucks claims rights to introducing Americans to Pumpkin Spice Lattes two decades ago — and working its competitors and a far-flung list of companies into a froth over ways to sneak the aromatic spice blend into products most people never thought they’d even want.

The first Pumpkin Spice Latte was whipped up at the Liquid Lab at Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters in 2003. Tested at 100 markets that year and launched nationwide the next, the seasonal drink contains espresso and steamed milk flavored with pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove and topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie species. It’s available hot, iced or blended.

Starbucks’ competitors have their own takes on what’s been unofficially dubbed as the “flavor of fall” — although a recent market research survey suggests pumpkin spice’s reign may be coming to an end. A majority of 2,000 U.S. adults surveyed think the flavor of fall should be something else, including cinnamon, apples and candy apples, or salted caramel.

If You Don’t Want To Go To Starbucks

But before diving into the always polarizing topic of pumpkin spice, below are some places to check out if you don’t want to go to Starbucks. There’s no need for apologies if you want the OG Pumpkin Spice Latte, but it’s not your only option.

Dunkin’, a close rival which sells more coffee than Starbucks but stands second to the chain in sales, added decadence to its Pumpkin Spice Signature Latte line, expanding the ready-to-drink spiked ice coffee and line with a Spiked Pumpkin Spice Iced Latte that is best served poured over ice and topped with whipped cream.

Caribou Coffee has a full line of pumpkin spice drinks, including its Pumpkin Latte, but also is featuring a new line of honey crisp apple drinks.

Dutch Bros coffee’s fall lineup includes fan favorites Caramel Pumpkin Brûlée and Sweater Weather, as well as a decaffeinated Pumpkin Pie Frost.

Krispy Kreme has ushered in the season with Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnuts and a line of pumpkin spice-flavored beverages, available hot, iced or frozen.

McDonald’s McCafé Pumpkin Spice Latte has hints of pumpkin and cinnamon in the espresso and steamed milk drink. Either whole or nonfat milk is available.

Panera Bread has a Cinnamon Crunch Latte made with espresso, steamed milk, cinnamon-flavored syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon crunch topping.

Peet’s has the Espresso Forte with steamed milk, pumpkin pie spice and flavored syrup topped with a sprinkling of baking spices. The coffee roaster also has sells pumpkin pie-spiced coffees by the pound online.

Scooter’s Coffee, one of the nation’s fastest-growing drive-through coffee chains, also has a seasonal latte with espresso, pumpkin flavor and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and others. It’s available hot with frothed milk, cold over ice, or blended.

Wendy’s brought back its Pumpkin Spice Frosty, a bright orange drink with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. The chain also has a wintry Peppermint Frosty on its menu.

• Related: Don’t Hate Me, I Never Heard Angels Sing When I Had A Frosty [Column]

7-Eleven is testing a Pumpkin Spice Slurpee in select stores, as well as Speedway stores in Texas, Ohio, California and New York, while supplies last. The convenience store chain also has fall line of pumpkin spice inspired cold and hot drinks.

Is America Getting Over Pumpkin Spice?

For some, pumpkin spice means hearth and home. For others, it’s an assault on good taste and an example of marketing run amok. A survey by Talker Research showed Americans may be over pumpkin spice, with 58 percent of them saying there are better “unsung heroes” of fall.

And 45 percent are weary of the basic pumpkin spice flavors, with 39 percent of respondents saying cinnamon is the flavor that should herald fall. Another 37 percent favor salted caramel, and 36 percent think candy apples are better representations of the season. Pumpkin spice came in with the support of 32 percent of Americans who said it’s their favorite fall flavor.

Almost a third (32 percent) of millennials said they are likely to get into heated debates about pumpkin spice, compared to 19 percent of GenXers.

Pumpkin spice lovers need not worry. As other companies try to mirror Starbucks’ success, pumpkin spice products are an autumn mainstay, Beverage Industry managing editor Lauren Sabetta wrote in recent column.

Last year, the value of the global pumpkin spice market was estimated at $1.1 billion and is expected to grow to $2.4 billion by 2031, according to a recent Coherent Market Insights report.

Driving that growth are changes in how consumers want to consume pumpkin spice — whether in a now-traditional coffee drink, sports or energy drinks, pumpkin spice-flavored teas and chais, or pumpkin beers and pumpkin-spice inspired cocktails and mocktails.

Among the latest non-drink entries in the pumpkin spice market are Chobani Pumpkin Spice Greek Yogurt and Chobani Pumpkin Spice Barista Oat milk, which join the company’s existing pumpkin offerings.

Pumpkin Spice TP? Really? No.

Little seems off limits when it comes to adding the fall flavor profile to foods. Increasingly, neither is anything else. Some non-edible pumpkin spice products include Breath Palette Pumpkin Spice Toothpaste, Pumpkin Pie Soap on a Rope, Native Pumpkin Spiced Latte Deodorant and Adam’s Pumpkin Spice Detail Spray.

Think you’ve heard it all? How about BKIND-brand pumpkin spice-scented nail polish in shimmering burnt orange; pumpkin spice beard oil from Fable Beard Co., Poo-Pouri Pumpkin Spice Toilet Spray; and Xero pumpkin spiced toothpicks.

There’s even pumpkin spice toilet paper, sold as a gag gift, some evidence the pumpkin spice craze has gotten out of hand. The scent is in the cardboard tube only, so your bum won’t smell like cinnamon and nutmeg.

In our informal survey of readers last year, several readers said pumpkin spice triggers warm memories.

“Pumpkin spice brings back a feeling of nostalgia,” a Concord (New Hampshire) Patch reader said. “Nutmeg and cinnamon, in conjunction with the changing leaves and emerging of Halloween decorations, are so cozy.”

“I love pumpkin spice flavor,” a Bradenton (Florida) Patch reader said. “There is something comforting about it. It just gives that remembrance of crisp, fall air, colored leaves and a vitality in the air.”

However, love was not universal.

An Astoria-Long Island City (New York) Patch reader said the spice blend doesn’t belong in anything that doesn’t include pumpkin, calling it “a blight on humanity and an assault on good taste.”

A Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Maryland) Patch reader who also would like to sleep through pumpkin spice season sees no redeeming value in pumpkin spice. “I hate it — the smell, the taste, the ubiquity,” the reader said.

• Related: Do People Really Like Pumpkin Spice? Patch Survey