Starbucks' famous fall drink is back behind the bar as of Tuesday, signaling the beginning of fall—for the rest of the country, at least.
The PSL is indeed on the menu at LA Starbucks locations today, perfectly timed for some unbelievably hot weather. In the past, we've made fun of ordering an iced pumpkin spice latte as a silly way that Angelenos pretend it's fall, but because Starbucks has made some big changes to the drink this year (i.e. using real pumpkin), we decided to order a flight.
"Hot or iced?"
The barista was way ahead of us when we asked for a pumpkin spice latte.
"One of each, please, and a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino." We had to order all three formats of Pumpkin Spice Latte to properly research this post.
The verdict? The Frappucino is predictably sweet—a "gateway" drink, one of our editors said. The iced PSL is the most coffee-forward of the three, and the hot latte, the OG #PSL, actually made me wish for a wool sweater and temperatures in the mid-50s. Or maybe it was because I took a sip in the middle of sweaty, steamy Downtown, with temperatures in the mid-90s.