Just like the winter season brings us hot cocoa, the fall brings us pumpkin spice lattes. It's the season when we break out our sweaters, scarves, and wallets to spend a little extra on some pumpkin in our caffeinated drinks. As a relatively new resident to Ann Arbor (who doesn't have a car) and in honor of pumpkin spice season, I thought that I would find a few of the closest pumpkin spice drinks around main campus and give them a try. Here are the results
The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks
Of course I had to include the classic Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte– they practically made it famous! This is definitely a drink that you can always count on to get in the fall mood with anywhere. It was the sweetest of the five I tried, and might not have been my personal favorite, but it's good nonetheless. Both pumpkin-y and spicy!
The Great Pumpkin Latte from Sweetwaters
This one was 100% my personal favorite. It was also the most flavorful, in my opinion. It was more spicy than it was pumpkin-flavored and definitely more rich than the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. I especially liked it the best because the flavors weren't too strong to handle and blended perfectly together.
The Pumpkin Pie Latte from Lab
If the Great Pumpkin Latte from Sweetwaters was my favorite pumpkin spiced latte that I tried, the Pumpkin Pie Latte from Lab Cafe was my second favorite. This item isn't technically on the menu, but when I asked the lady at the counter to make me a pumpkin drink, she said she could put some pumpkin pie syrup they have into a latte, and yes, it was amazing. Light, not too sweet, and not too pumpkin-y, it was perfectly cozy.
The Pumpkin Chai Latte from Espresso Royale
This was the least pumpkin spice-y out of all of the drinks I tried. It was good for a chai latte and basically tasted exactly like that except with a sweet tinge of pumpkin added to it. Espresso Royale had no shortage of pumpkin drinks this season: there was a Pumpkin Pie Latte that I wish I also tried.
The Pumpkin Spice Coffee from Breugger's Bagels
Okay, so this one might be considered cheating because it's not technically a latte AND I got the iced version, but in my defense, the flavor was still there. This one definitely tasted like pumpkin spice, which is good, and I am a sucker for iced coffee. They also had the same coffee in hot form, which is a solid choice for those who don't like cold coffee as much. However, this was my least favorite of all of the lattes I tried. It's not bad, but not as amazing as the others.
There are a bunch of other places in AA that I did not have the chance to try, but I'm sure there are plenty more great pumpkin spice lattes to try around the area. The ones I included are merely the closest to the Diag, and clearly there are some delicious ones to choose from!