In the fall, most days I want nothing more than a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. Once the temperature dips below the balm 80 degrees in Florida, I break out my jean jacket and my Starbucks app and get ready to go. This year, Starbucks brought back three of their classic fall drinks and introduced a totally new one, all with a new twist. I’ll be rating them all from my favorite to my least favorite. A quick note before I get started: I’m vegan so I replace milk with coconut milk in all my Starbucks drinks, and it does make a difference.
1. Salted Caramel Mocha
This guy right here is the reason for my existence in the fall. In past years, this drink had been super sweet to the point where I couldn’t even drink it. This year though something’s different. With a stronger taste of coffee and less caramel flavoring, this hot mocha drink hits the spot every. single. time. Fun fact though, the caramel is only a drizzle. The vanilla and toffee flavor syrups are what gives the actual drink its caramel flavor, so if you’re vegan like me you can ask for no caramel and not miss out on the iconic flavor!
2. Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte
So, I didn’t actually order this for myself as Starbucks Pumpkin Spice syrup isn’t vegan-friendly. However, I did take a sip when a friend ordered it at the Strozier library Starbucks. This brand-new drink is a mash-up of Starbucks wildly popular Pumpkin Spice and Chia Tea Lattes, and while I’m not a huge fan of either on their own, something magical happens when you put the two together. This warm, earthy flavor of chia balances out the sweetness that is in the pumpkin spice flavoring and somehow there isn’t a too overpowering flavor of spice like I thought there would be. Try it with coconut milk for an extra level of creaminess.
3. Pumpkin Spice Latte
This cult classic is the most controversial drink of the fall without a doubt. I haven’t had it in a year or so, but to me, the drink is an odd mixture of sweet and spicy that just doesn’t balance out right to me. I typically give it another go around every year, but as I said earlier Pumpkin Spice isn’t a vegan-friendly option at Starbucks. Unlike the Salted Caramel Mocha, by adding coconut milk, you can round out the flavor a bit better, but it still isn’t the ideal go-to for me.
4. Maple Pecan Latte
This is absolutely my least favorite drink in the fall lineup at Starbucks. Because it is another non-vegan friendly drink, I convinced my friends to buy it so I could try a sip. It’s overly sweet and when combined with coconut milk is super heavy. It doesn’t help that they add some sort of sugar topping straight to the foam on top of the latte. One sip was all I needed to know that I would never miss this drink, even if they did come out with a vegan-friendly version.
That’s it for the drinks, but let’s not forget to give the new fall menu a shout out! It includes the return of the pumpkin scone and blueberry muffin while featuring new items like the morning muffin, maple pecan muffin, apple cider donut and wise owl sugar cookie!
All images courtesy of Starbucks.