Pumpkin Spice Lattes Back At Starbucks Earlier Than Usual

If you’re one of those people who thinks pumpkin spice is an acquired taste best saved for pies and the occasional loaf of bread, it’s going to be a long couple of months. Starbucks said Tuesday it is putting its wildly popular Pumpkin Spice Latte back on the menu board earlier than usual this year — on Aug. 28.

That’s almost a month before fall officially begins (the fall equinox is on Sept. 22, if you're wondering). In many parts of the country, it’s still blistering hot. How does Pumpkin Spice Latte taste on the rocks? You’ll soon find out, as the Seattle-based chain is offering Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte as one of the options, along with traditional Pumpkin Spice Latte topped with cold foam and Blended Pumpkin Spice Lattes

One thing’s for sure: Starbucks will be overly over-the-top this year, the 15th anniversary for the gateway drug of the pumpkin spice craze. Soon, with Starbucks decision to kick things off early, it's going to be pumpkin spice this or that all day long, every blessed day.

(Obligatory warning: If you’re not part of this generation of coffee drinkers who think drinking plain, old Folgers makes them boring and uncool, stifle the urge to wring the joy out of the season for others. Failure to do so comes at serious risk being branded with the “orange letter” of an infidel. You'll be called a bad person. Just suck it up and bear it.)

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The popular drink, known by its initials PSL, was developed in a research and development laboratory by tasters who alternated between bites of pumpkin pie and sips of espresso, Starbucks said. The first PSLs, which were almost called the Fall Harvest Latte, were introduced in 100 stores in Washington, D.C., and Vancouver in 2003. The drink was introduced nationwide the following year, and real pumpkin was added to the recipe in 2015.

People are already giddy over the announcement on Twitter: