Fall. Leaves change color, the weather gets cooler, and Starbucks begins serving their Pumpkin Spice Latte. However, this year many people were surprised to hear that Starbucks was changing their recipe to their famous Pumpkin Spice Latte better known as the PSL. The new PSL contains all natural ingredients and is ten times healthier to drink.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte has been a fan-favorite drink for the past four years but after foodbabe.com gave a disgusting look on what was in the drink it caused many people to second guess their order.

Turns out the Pumpkin Spice Latte, that over a million people have been drinking, contained the following:

– 2 doses of Caramel Color level 5 made with ammonia and considered a carcinogen

– Monsanto milk (the cows fed with corn, soy, and cottonseed or soy milk that contains carrageenan stabilizer which is link to cancer)

-Toxic dose of sugar (Grande had over 50 grams of sugar)

-Artificial flavors made from substances like petroleum 

-NO REAL PUMPKIN 

I spoke to James, a barista at the Crosshill Blvd. Starbucks, and asked him for specifics on the old recipe. Since he is under “barista code” he couldn’t go into specifics. However he did tell me this: the drink from last year did not contain real pumpkin and consisted of many cancerous ingredients. I asked him why the new Pumpkin Spice Latte was healthier and what changes they made. He explained that there is “real pumpkin” and all natural ingredients (again he couldn’t go into specifics).

Since the PSL is extremely popular around the Bolles community I spoke to a few students who are fans of the drink from this year and last year. Many students like, Hanna Ali (9) and Barbie Goldstein(9), said that they didn’t even know the recipe had changed until I told them about it. Girls like Marla Saikali(9) said that they were hoping they would enjoy the beverage more this year since they never liked it in the past.

The Bugle Army did a blind taste test comparing Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte, Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Latte, and the publix brand Pumpkin Spice creamer. When we sampled the Starbucks PSL Claire Cywes said “why do people like this” while her face displayed complete disgust. Andrew Culver mentioned that the beverage “didn’t taste like fall” but it was still delicious. When we sampled Dunkin Donuts’ pumpkin latte the reviews were horrific. Ann Maris Walton said that it smelled more like pumpkin but looks very different. Havana Frakes said that the pumpkin latte was “bitter at the end” and Chris Mcqueen expressed that Dunkin Donuts was not as sweet as Starbucks. Gabriela Landolfo told me the pumpkin latte taste more “authentic and LA”. Alex Hastings said he got more flavor in the Dunkin Donuts drink while Ananta Arora said “It was bleh”. Our final taste test was from the publix coffee creamer this was by far the worst one according to the group. “Not coffee, dirt water” and “liquid sewage, my taste buds are crying” were just two reactions from Gabriela Landolfo and Alex Hastings. In my opinion our homemade one just tasted like hot water with a hint of pumpkin. Overall the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks was the bugle army’s favorite fall drink out of the three.

Be sure to stop by the Bugle Offices and tell us what you think about the new and improved Pumpkin Spice Latte.