Justice for other fall flavors

Sara Moore

Science Editor

I love fall. As an October baby, fall has always held a special place in my heart. There are many things that make this time of year stand out above the rest: crisp, brightly colored leaves, the start of football season and Halloween. 

Although we have at least another month until it feels like fall in Northeast Ohio, there is one thing that signals the start of the Autumn season long before the first leaf falls: the arrival of pumpkin-flavored products.

Pumpkin has had a chokehold on consumers ever since Starbucks released their pumpkin spice latte in 2004. Since then, it is almost impossible to walk into a store or coffee shop in September and not see a pumpkin-flavored item. It is understandable why pumpkin was selected as the quintessential fall flavor. It has a distinct taste that can stand up to strong flavors like chai and coffee while also not overpowering more subtle flavors like marshmallow or white chocolate.

 Pumpkins are in season in October and their history of being carved by Celtic immigrants for the celebration of Samhain (which evolved into modern-day Halloween) cemented their place as the king of fall. Although I enjoy pumpkin-flavored products, I do wonder why companies have limited themselves to only celebrating one gourd. 

Fall is the season of the harvest and abundance. Many cultures across the northern hemisphere had festivals to mark the end of the growing season and the beginning of the harvest. 

Through the invention of the grocery store, we no longer have to worry about the seasonality of food, which may have led us to not fully appreciate the abundance of fall beyond the image of a cornucopia at Thanksgiving. This is most apparent in the fall menus of major coffee chains who only focus on pumpkin, or worse, feature flavors that would be more at home in a spring or summer menu. 

Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts both missed the mark with their fall offerings this year. In addition to pumpkin, Dunkin’s fall menu contains the redundant flavor of tiramisu and a berry clementine refresher. In past years, they have had apple-flavored drinks and donuts, but they continue to neglect this flavor profile in favor of unseasonable offerings (rest in peace apple cider donut. You are greatly missed). 

Starbucks’ fall menu has slightly better offerings with pumpkin and pecan flavors, although this is undermined by the inclusion of banana and the abomination that is their take on “chaider” (a drink typically made with chai and apple cider, Starbucks’ version omits the cider in favor of their strawberry acai refresher). 

Some smaller chains like Caribou Coffee and 7 Brew have fall menus that contain both apple and pumpkin drinks, but overall, there is no chain that has a strong variety of autumnal drinks this year.

Beyond pumpkin and apple, there is a large untapped market of fall flavors. Figs, blackberries, cranberries, pears, quince and sweet potatoes are all in season this time of year. The approach of longer nights makes this time of year perfect for bonfires, which I associate with s’mores and roasted marshmallows. Maple sap is typically harvested in the spring, but the warm, sweet flavor profile of maple syrup makes it a solid entry in any fall menu. Companies could even focus on the “spice” part of pumpkin spice and embrace the flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove on their own. 

It is unlikely that pumpkin products are going to disappear anytime soon; it has even become a joke online to poke fun at some of the absurd pumpkin products that arrive in stores this time of year. All I ask is that companies put a little more effort into the products they release and utilize some of the flavors that reflect the abundance of fall. 

I love pumpkin spice as much as the next person, but few people want to drink a pumpkin spice latte when it is 90 degrees outside. Let’s embrace apple September and leave the pumpkins for Halloween.