Today we are taking a deep dive into the Starbucks fall menu. Which is better, pumpkin, apple, or pecan? Many customers sprint to Starbucks excited for when the fall menu comes out each year. To test which is better we went to Starbucks and ordered 4 drinks: an Iced Pumpkin Chai, an Iced Pumpkin Latte, an Iced Pecan Latte, and an Iced Crisp Apple sugar shaken espresso. We are rating them out of 3 categories: look, apple / pecan / pumpkin taste, and chai / coffee taste.
First let’s see what Starbucks says about these drinks:
Iced Apple Crisp Sugar Shaken Espresso: Starbucks® Blonde espresso combined with notes of apple, cinnamon and brown sugar, shaken together to blend, and topped with oat milk for a perfectly balanced flavor and an energizing fall treat.
Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte: Our signature espresso and milk—with the celebrated flavor 
combination of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove—served over ice. Enjoy it topped with whipped cream and real pumpkin-pie spices.
Iced Pumpkin Chai: A rich and creamy Iced Chai––our blend of black tea infused with cinnamon, other warming spices and milk, topped with a sweet pumpkin cream cold foam and a dusting of pumpkin spice topping.
Iced Pecan Crunch Oat Milk Latte: Made with Starbucks® Blonde Espresso Roast and oat milk. Nutty flavors of pecan, rich brown-buttery notes and holiday baking spices come together for a smooth and delicious treat. Topped with vanilla sweet cream cold foam and a crunchy pecan-flavored sugar. Beverage includes dairy.
First, we tried the Iced Apple Crisp Sugar Shaken Espresso, based on looks it received an average rating of 3.8/10 from us. Being a basic solid brown color and not resembling what was advertised on the website, there wasn’t much else going on with the drink looks wise. We felt that for a drink from the fall menu it could’ve looked more aesthetically pleasing. For apple flavor we rated this drink a 3/10, the apple flavor reminded us of “apple cheerios” and did not have a nice aftertaste. On coffee or espresso flavor in the drink we rated it a 7/10, remarking that “the coffee flavor was really strong” but did not complement the apple. Overall, this drink disappointed us and we would not purchase it again. To improve the drink, we felt that adding cold foam, different types of apple flavor and some cinnamon would improve this drink.
Second, we tried the Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte, for appearance we rated it a 8.5/10. It was super aesthetically pleasing and the whipped cream with the dome lid was appealing. The pumpkin spice flavoring was sunk at the bottom of the lid so we did have to be sure to mix it up before drinking to make sure all the flavors are evenly combined. For the pumpkin flavor we gave it a 4/10, we tasted the pumpkin flavor, but it wasn’t very strong. The drink was extremely creamy; we think that the creaminess may have diluted some of the other flavoring though. For the coffee rating we gave it a 6/10, it had a nice balance and we could taste it but not as much flavor as we would have wanted, “It could have used a little bit more coffee”. We think this drink would have been prefect with a little less milk since, “Its very milky”. In general it was a nice fun fall drink.
The third drink we tried was the Iced Pumpkin Chai, which was the overall best out of all the drinks we tried. Based off of initial looks we gave the pumpkin chai a 9.5/10. The orange pumpkin cold foam was pretty and looked good with the chai. Similar to the Pecan Crunch Oat Milk Latte the cold foam leaked down through the chai creating an ombre. Although the only pumpkin aspect in the chai is the cold foam, we rated it a 9.5/10. The pumpkin taste overall is strong, and you can taste it in every sip. The chai tasted like a normal chai. We said that “it could have been better if there was pumpkin in the chai and also the cold foam”. There wasn’t anything special about it but overall, the chai taste was great, so we gave it a 9/10. We all concluded that “the flavor of the pumpkin and the chai weren’t overwhelming” and tasted well together. Overall, this drink is a staple to the Starbucks fall menu and is a comfort drink that you can rely on that gives the perfect taste of fall.
Lastly, we all tasted the Iced Pecan Crunch Oat Milk Latte and on our overall looks and appearance rating we gave it a 9/10.It had a very nice ombre and the cold foam had sprinkles as the crunch factor which was very enjoyable. It looked like the picture displayed besides the coffee was a lot lighter in color compared to the image of the drink on the website. For the pecan flavor we rated it 10/10 it was very strong and bold flavor wise. We felt it “tastes like a candle” in the fact that the pecan was so strong and overpowered all the other elements of the drink, “It’s a good taste it just needs less”. It took away from everything else in the drink, especially the coffee flavor. For the coffee flavor rating we gave it a 2/10, we could hardly taste the coffee “There could be more coffee and a little less of the pecan”. Overall, I think this drink would be so enjoyable if that was the case because the pecan flavor took away from the rest of the drink.
Overall, if you are going to Starbucks for a fall flavor get the Pumpkin Chai! Out of every fall flavor pumpkin is reliably good and elevates the Starbucks fall menu. The fall menu ends soon so go get your favorite drink.
