'You have to have this': The latte Americans wait for every fall

Spice flavors and holiday nostalgia define 'the taste of fall'

Starbucks latte launched in 2003 leads the trend

Spread to Europe fuels growth in global market

The Pumpkin Spice Latte offered at Starbucks in the United States [Starbucks website]

Unlike in Korea, Starbucks in the United States brings back one menu item every fall without fail: the Pumpkin Spice Latte, or PSL. In the US, "pumpkin spice" has grown beyond a flavor description into a full-blown cultural touchstone.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte, which Starbucks releases annually, has become the drink that signals the start of autumn for Americans. Since its debut in 2003, it has cemented its place as the country's defining fall beverage.

The drink was born at Starbucks' Seattle headquarters. According to the company's website, a member of the development team took a bite of pumpkin pie and then a sip of espresso — and found the combination so natural that the team turned it into a menu item. Starbucks rolled out the drink across the United States and Canada the following year and has since sold hundreds of millions of cups over more than two decades.

The Starbucks US website introducing the Pumpkin Spice Latte [Starbucks website]

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is made with pumpkin puree, espresso, milk, whipped cream and a blend of spices — cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove. As the word "spice" in the name suggests, those spices are the key to the drink's flavor.

Ko Eun-ji, an official at the New York office of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation, said pumpkin spice in America "is less about the taste of pumpkin itself and more about the taste of autumn — a combination of spice aromas and memories of harvest season and the holidays."

Pumpkin spice draws more from the scent and sweetness of pumpkin pie than from the flavor of raw pumpkin. Pumpkin pie appeared in the United States in the late 18th century, made from mashed pumpkin mixed with eggs, milk, sugar and spices. It is a staple of the American Thanksgiving table.

Ko cited "autumn nostalgia — memories of Thanksgiving and baking, combined with the anticipation that comes with a limited-time seasonal item" as the core reason Americans look forward to pumpkin spice every year.

Pumpkin is the quintessential fall ingredient in the United States. Because it features at Thanksgiving and Halloween — the Western tradition observed on the night of Oct. 31 — foods made with it evoke childhood memories of time spent with family, offering consumers a sense of warm emotional comfort.

This year, pumpkin spice again marks the starting point of the fall menu season across the US food-service industry. Starbucks, which introduces new items each year, unveiled the Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso, Pumpkin Spice Chai and Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha this season.

Dunkin' also rolled out a pumpkin spice latte alongside pumpkin-flavored doughnuts, while hypermarket chain Trader Joe's offered pumpkin biscotti, pumpkin cream cheese and pumpkin samosas — the triangular fried dumplings of South Asian origin.

The trend has recently spread to Europe as well. Food industry publication FoodNavigator reported that "the autumn flavors that grew out of the US are now gaining traction in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France." According to market research firm Future Market Insights, the global pumpkin spice market is projected to grow from $1.25 billion last year to $2.84 billion by 2035.

gorgeous@heraldcorp.com