Every year there is a time where everywhere I go I see pumpkin spice. It’s a classic fall flavor that many people enjoy. However I have heard people say that they hate it. So I decided to see if pumpkin spice really was as amazing as people said it was. 

For this review, I tried two things. An iced pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks and freshly made pumpkin spiced bread. If you want to make your own pumpkin spiced bread you can find the recipe here. You can also find pre-made mixes for this from grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, and Korger. For the purposes of this review I used a pre-made mix. 

Let’s begin with the iced pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. This is one of their very popular seasonal fall drinks and is a classic go to for many people. Going into this I was expecting not to like it, as I am not really a coffee drinker, and have not liked some of Starbucks other latte’s. However this drink completely blew me away. It has your classic pumpkin taste, but surprisingly, there was not that bitter after taste that you usually get from coffee. For people who do not like coffee, but like pumpkin spice, this is totally the drink for you. However I do think there are some issues with this drink. The pumpkin spice taste in it is really overpowering and the taste of it will stay in your mouth for a while. Overall I would recommend this drink to anyone who really likes pumpkin spice. I would rate this 1 9/10. 

The next thing I tried was the freshly made pumpkin spiced bread. Again as previously mentioned this was made from a mix. When I first heard of this I was skeptical. I didn’t think it would taste very good. However, yet again, the pumpkin spice blew me away. I would say that this was definitely something better served hot and fresh. It had a very nice texture to it, and almost fell apart in my mouth. It was incredibly soft and sort of was similar to a pound cake but a lot less heavy. I would definitely say that this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream would make a great pairing as the flavors really compliment each other. However, as always with something that is baked, it is very possible and easy to overbake or underbake this and it does not taste good. However, like with the latte, it has an extreme pumpkin flavor. If you are not the biggest fan of pumpkin spice, I would pair it with ice cream to dilute the taste of it, as this is definitely a must try. Overall, I rate this one a 10/10.

In conclusion, I do believe that pumpkin spice is very good and can be enjoyed in many different ways. It definitely lives up to what pumpkin spice fans say, and has an incredible unique taste.

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.