Starbucks’ Spice Latte Latte Creator reveals the original name

Spice Pumpkin was not always so beautiful.

Pumpkin iconic ladte from Starbucks that continued to create a whole industry with pumpkin spices almost did not cut.

In 2003, the coffee giant tried to create an autumn -inspired drink that presented tastes that were comfortable and warm.

“We started storming different ideas that would resonate in the seasonal autumn period. We came up with hundreds of ideas,” Peter Dukes, “father” of PSL told.

He showed that there were “chocolate drinks and caramel drinks” in the mix-but pumpkin-flavored items were not popular at the time.

“[We] Soon it faded into the 10 concepts we wanted to take to our customers with some paper concepts, ”he said.

For each of the 10 concepts, they had deep proposals with hand -drawn diagrams, as well as a description of the fragrance profile.

Market research asked clients two main questions – how unique is the drink and how much they are likely to buy it.

The results found that chocolate and caramel drinks marked the highest while pumpkin -flagged drinks marked the lowest in the consumer’s interest, though almost everyone said it was a unique concept.

“This pumpkin idea was regarded as unique. What you need to keep in mind is that we are returning to 2003,” Dukes said. “The only thing that the pumpkin you would find in the market were pumpkin puree cans in the grocery store that people will use to make pumpkin pie.”

Although the reactions for pumpkin drinks were not excellent, Dukes and the team felt hard for this, and after a long debate, it became one of the four options they moved forward with a chocolate -based drink, a caramel and a cinnamon.

Part of the process included entering the autumn mood.

“One of the first things we did was we decorated the lab as if it were, even though it was spring time. We brought leaves, pumpkins and everything else that would arouse a autumn thought,” Remember Dukes.

“Then we brought pumpkin pie. We took a bite of the pumpkin pie, mixed it with espresso in a cup of sample and ate it.”

After they refined the aroma and the recipe, the team had to come up with a name for autumn drink that did not immediately remove people.

Dukes revealed that the spice of the Latte pumpkin would initially be called “Autumn Latte Harvest”, but they wanted customers to have an idea of ​​how it would enjoy.

“After the discussions, we thought it was important to be very clear and straightforward with our clients what to expect when enjoying it, because we knew that a possible obstacle was making customers try it,” he said.

“The spices played a crucial role: cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Adding spices to that descriptive of the name was an important part of the development of the Latte pumpkin spice.”

When the Latte pumpkin spice was reset to customers in a market test, the results “passed through the roof”.

“No one knew that it would become what has become safe. We were excited to have a drink that our customers really liked,” Dukes said.

The PSL was first introduced on October 10, 2003 as a test article in about 100 stores in Vancouver and Washington, DC, officially starting in the SH.BA and Canada next fall.

It was a popular drink at first, but it was not until a decade later that the iconic drink became the feeling it is today.

According to Starbucks, Pumpkin Spice Latte joined Twitter (now X) in 2014 with a dedicated account called @terealpsl. More than 3,000 tweet per day would include the hashtag #PSL during “peak pumpkin season”.

“There was a community that was starting to form around this drink and @Therealpsl gave a person a personality and was fun. It didn’t take it too seriously,” Dukes said. The account is back on Instagram this year to share autumn content.

Pumpkin Latte Spice is officially again in the menu at Starbucks for the season, and Dukes look forward to seeing its creation again in the hands of customers.

“The weather has begun to change, fresh fresh days. You have dew in grass football; children have returned to school, getting into their rhythm and routine. He catches everything in a cup,” he said. “It is a warm blanket in front of the fireplace, sitting around the Thanksgiving Dinner with family and friends. Latte pumpkin spice catches everything.”

“Part of the beauty of this drink is excitement when it lands and when people can go to get one and then they mourn when it leaves,” he added. “This is part of the beauty of Latte pumpkin spices.”

The coffee chain says PSL is its most popular seasonal drinks, made of real pumpkin flavor, spices, signature stress and steamed milk. It is available hot, icy or mixed.