One of the last people in New York to taste a PSL shares his unscientific thoughts.
I ’ve never really been a capitulation enthusiast . My love for thegiant Home Depot skeleton in the cupboard aside , I ’ve always been someone who clings to the last dregs of summertime . I ’m still two weeks out from my final beach vacation of the season , and I do n’t think I ’ve worn long pants since Memorial Day . I do love Halloween , but more in a barely - invest - gay way than a parky - and - nervous way .
I ’ve also never traditionally been a java or espresso drinker . In fact , I had tried chocolate twice in the first 28 year of my spirit . It was n’t until my coffee - loving Paraguayan boyfriend forced me to sit down with a homemade latte of late last year that I finally turn the recession and embraced all things espresso . As talk turned to the ever - foresee income tax return of Pumpkin Spice Latte season , it take place to me that this would be the first one I could participate in — at the ripe age of 29 . Was I actually the last person in New York who had never try one ? My coworkers for certain seemed to recall so .
As I set out to shlep across Hell ’s Kitchen the morning of September 1 in shorts and a tank top , fall was n’t on the dot the first thing on my mind . Labor Day was still a few daytime out , and the daily high in midtown Manhattan hovered just south of 80 degree . Still , I figured if I blasted the AC in my flat and wrapped myself up in a cover , I could get a bumpy estimate of the spooky time of year mind-set I require to try a drink that ’s gone through more meme cycles than I can enumerate .
Oksana Mizina/Shutterstock
For rationality that are related to both the average PSL lover ’s experience and proximity to my apartment , I decided to get classic Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks and Dunkin ' as well as tri - state chain Gregorys Coffee . Here are my exceedingly non - expert findings .
Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
The first sip of my first PSL had to go to Starbucks , the brand that has done more than any other to elevate the swallow to meme status . Upon first taste , I have to say I was a fiddling underwhelmed . This is what y' all have been trying to cut summer short for ? Could n’t be me .
That being said , the latte was undoubtedly enjoyable . Nice and redolent , it gave me a hint of autumnal humour despite the summer hotness . It has a subtle taste of cinnamon and pumpkin that tarry after the sip , although not nearly as firm of a flavor as I expected . It ’s more like a microdose of dusk than a full - blown , jumper - in - a - pile - of - leaves minute . Still , the quick , nutty taste serve me set about to understand the fandom of the PSL .
Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Latte
If Starbucks run low for pernicious , Dunkin ' tried to nail a jack - group O - lantern over my unsuspicious cranium . Both sweet and more virulent upfront , the Dunkin ' PSL has a flavor that lingers far longer on the palate . In this lawsuit , that was n’t super pleasant . At decimal point , I felt like I had accidentally inhale the weed from a declension - perfumed dollar bill store standard candle . I definitely got much more robust notation of dusk flavors like autumn pumpkin , Cinnamomum zeylanicum , and Malus pumila compare to its Starbucks counterpart , but it was all a act much . My excuse to Ben Affleck , but this one really did n’t do it for me .
Gregorys Coffee Pumpkin Spice Latte
After drinking two full caffe latte within about 15 minutes , both my boyfriend and our computed tomography were originate to grow interested about my progressively quicksilver heebie-jeebies . Still , what was my illustrious journalism degree useful for if I could n’t see my PSL quest through to the stopping point line ?
Gregorys hit a dainty balance , with a solid autumnal flavor roof of the mouth that was less cinnamon - frontwards than its national mountain chain competitor . It is definitely the most pumpkin - taste of the bunch , but however was more subdued and felt more like a regular caffe latte than the others . If I call up Starbucks was a surrender microdose , Gregorys feel like a nanodose . Perhaps because of that understanding , it felt the most potable to me , both in the moment and on an imagine day - to - day basis as the NYC weather start up to cool off . Maybe I did n’t require a skittish season rape on my tastebuds after all . Perhaps I just needed a tickling .
Final Takeaways
It took me far too long to discover my love of caffe latte , but I ca n’t say the same feeling extend to their pumpkin spice diversity . A footling more piquance in the air may have put me in a different mind-set , but overall I just think there are other relish I prefer . My first PSL fall may feature an occasional foray into one of these basiqué seasonal beverages , but the experience hardly made me aChristian Girl Autumnconvert .
Photo by Chris Mench for Thrillist
