Starbucks first released the Pumpkin Spice Latte in fall of 2003, and it was immediately a global sensation. Since it was introduced on the menu, over 600 million drinks have been sold. With the fall season approaching this year, the seasonal drinks take the spotlight at our favorite coffee locations. Here are the autumn items that are available this year, and the ones that I would recommend.

Starting with the most popular and classic, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Although it is the most recognizable drink on the list, it wasn’t my favorite. It has a strong taste of sweet pumpkin and is topped with whip cream. If you want something that tastes more like coffee, I don’t recommend it, but for a sweeter drink this is a wonderful choice. My overall rating is an 8/10.

When the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew was released in 2019, it took the Starbucks community by storm. I certainly think that this is the best item on the fall 2021 menu and it deserves all of the praise it receives. The delicious pumpkin flavor, cold brew, and cold foam lead me to rating it a 10/10. If you have never had this drink before, you are missing out on the perfect taste of fall.

A drink that was brand new last year is the Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato. I ordered this drink with lots of excitement to try it for the first time but was quickly disappointed. I am not exaggerating when I say that all I could taste was the overpowering brown sugar and apple syrup at the bottom of the cup. The oat milk tasted extremely thick and I had to force myself to drink a few sips before I threw the rest of it away. This was not up to par at all, so sadly, I have to give it a 1/10.

“It’s not the best but it’s not terrible,” Emma Tuveson said. She ended up rating the macchiato a 6/10. “It has no coffee flavor whatsoever but the apple crisp part of it tastes good.”

The final drink I tested was the Iced Chai Latte with Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the flavor of chai and pumpkin mixed together. It’s how I would imagine a crisp fall walk to taste like. It wasn’t anything crazy so my final rating is a 9/10.

Starbucks has two different food items this year, one of them being the Pumpkin Scone. I really wanted this to be decent since it looked like a pumpkin patch turned into a pastry but unfortunately, that was wishful thinking. It wasn’t nearly as disgusting as the macchiato was, but the frosting that coated the top of the scone was very solid and tasted like plastic. The actual pumpkin bread, however, tasted rather good so I am deciding to rate this a 5/10. It could be better, but it could be a lot worse.

The final item I tried was the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin. This is my second favorite fall item this year because there are perfect portions of cream cheese frosting in the middle of the muffin. The actual muffin part is very fluffy and moist. This is great for a quick and easy snack, or for a breakfast treat. Since this didn’t taste like plastic, I am giving it a 9/10.