As the summer season slips away and the fall season takes its place, pumpkin spice has returned with all the rage! Pumpkin spice is a mixture of different spices, originally made to season pumpkin pie. Unknown to many, it also doesn’t contain any pumpkin. Despite the absence of pumpkin, it’s one of the most beloved flavors of fall. To understand the hype over the spice, students were asked for their opinion on it.
A poll was conducted and sent out to students in order to gather information on their love for pumpkin spice, the types of pumpkin treats that are enjoyed, and where students buy their treats. Many students rated the spice a 10/10, with the overall percentage being 21.2% of all 222 votes. Other popular answers included a 5/10 (14.9%) and an 8/10 (13.1%). The ratings for the spice are slightly more positive. After, students elaborated on the types of treats they look forward to the most. Popular answers were coffee, chai, muffins, doughnuts, and pie. Finally, they were asked where they typically go for their pumpkin spice fix. Unsurprisingly, Starbucks and Scooters were the most popular answers.
Students who participated in the poll were then further questioned about the spice. Senior Morgan Vincent rated the spice a 7/10 and said her favorite fall treat would be a pumpkin chai. She later said that, although she loved the pumpkin flavor and would have liked to have it year-round, it made more sense for it to remain exclusive to the fall season. Many students shared the same opinion. Senior Evan Bradburn said that it should stay exclusive to fall because, “It’s a more fall thing, I mean, pumpkins are harvested in the fall, so it makes sense for it to stay in the fall,” while Junior Cyara Marrero simply said, “You’re going to get tired of it!” With this information in mind, our Newspaper staff felt it was appropriate to review the spice ourselves.
Our staff bought some of the most popular treats mentioned in the poll from Starbucks. These items included a pumpkin cream chai, a pumpkin cold brew, and a pumpkin cream cheese muffin. We divided them up among ourselves, then formed groups of two to collect as many opinions as possible.
The first drink we tried was the pumpkin cream chai, one of the most popular and mentioned drinks of the fall. The results were very positive.
“I like it a lot,” senior August Yancey said, “You can really taste the pumpkin.”
The rest of the crew had similar opinions, with senior Tristan Mattingly saying, “Tastes a lot like pumpkin pie,” and senior Spencer Wickwire saying, “I liked it, it definitely tasted like pumpkin, but it was really sweet.”
The only negative review was from senior Adalyn Jensen, who said, “It was really sweet. I don’t do sweet.”
The next thing we tried was the pumpkin cold brew, which did not share the same optimistic reviews as the last drink.
As the cold brew was being reviewed, many people physically cringed at the bitter taste of the coffee, some of them washing the taste down with the chai. Senior Spencer Wickwire said, “It was hard to taste the pumpkin, and honestly, it tasted a lot more like plain coffee.”
Senior Jamison Hanway shared the same opinion, saying, “It kind of just tasted like black coffee.”
The majority of our staff did not like the cold brew and rated it low. The only positive review was from senior Adalyn Jensen, who said she “Liked it a lot,” and “It tasted like pumpkin without being too sweet.”
Our final item that we reviewed was the pumpkin cream cheese muffin. Similar to the pumpkin cream chai, the staff thoroughly enjoyed the sweet treat.
“It was really good, it tasted like pumpkin,” junior Halle Hinton said. “I liked how yummy and soft the muffin was.”
Junior Regina Ho said something similar, saying, “It was great! It had a good nutty flavor and pumpkin flavor, and I liked the nuts around the top.”
With our staff’s review, it was now clear to us as to why pumpkin spice is so popular among students. The nutty spices are the perfect treat for fall!
