Beverage Report: Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Posted on September 2, 2006 @ 10:58 am
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Frappucino
(Quaff-o-Meter Score: 72.1/100)
Autumn is approaching, and that means it’s once again time for seasonal pumpkin-flavored treats! Pumpkin pie! Pumpkin ice cream! Pumpkin beer! Um…just plain pumpkins!
Okay, so I really like pumpkin-flavored stuff. In fact, I wish a wide variety of pumpkin-spiced treats were available year around. That’s why I try to sample as much pumpkin crap as humanly possible between September and November each year. And that’s where Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino enters the picture.
My first impression of the limited-time-only Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino? It’s sugary. Very sugary. Like taking a honeycomb, sprinkling it with brown sugar, rolling it around in powdered sugar, and topping it off with a big dollop of whipped topping. It’s one of Starbucks’ coffee-free crème Frappuccinos, and it’s even more of a dessert drink than the average Frappuccino.
Once you get past the sugar shock, there’s actually a pleasant mix of pumpkin and nutmeg. Not so overpowering that it tastes like a week-old Jack-o’-lantern smells, but enough to give it a very authentic — albeit slightly too sweet — autumny flavor.
Your mileage may vary, of course. My wife took one sip of my Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, nearly spat it out, and described it as “disgusting pumpkin nog.” And the nutmeg combined with a slightly eggy aftertaste does give the drink a nog-like vibe.
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino gets a 72.1 out of 100 on the official Apropos of Something Quaff-O-Meter. Worth trying if for no other reason than to get into the autumn spirit, but not recommended for people who hate pumpkin flavoring, diabetics, or those concerned about becoming diabetics.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Random Musings |
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You should try Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in California. I’ve picked it up in liquors in New England. It has a very nice mild pumpkin flavor. In the days I used to brew my own beer I used to make a Pumpkin Ale with a lot of spices.
hmmm wouldn’t it just taste the same as the chai crackachino? chai taste like pumpkin pie in a cup to me. sans the pumpkin i guess.
You would have loved my birthday party last year. I had an “Iron Chef” themed birthday party where the secret ingredient was winter squash ( pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash, the works. yum!)
As someone who likes the chocolate caramel frap, I’m going to be looking for this one to cross the pond to my neck of the woods. I’ll be sure to not hold it against the pumpkin spice latte if it sends me into a sugar coma.
I had the hot (not frap) pumpkin spice latte this weekend and LOVED it!
And the local brewery makes some pumpkin beer that pretty much rocks.
I love pumpkin stuff with a nearly obsessive passion. So I was thrilled about the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. I got a “light” one, because I am lactose intolerant and I thought maybe that meant it would have skim milk?
Anyway…it was gross. I didn’t find mine sweet at all actually. That could be because I ordered an extra shot of espresso. But the nutmeg was overpowering…almost bitter…and I didn’t really get a strong pumpkin flavor. All in all, a big dissapointment and I begrudged the $4.50 I shelled out for one. Maybe the pumpkin latte is better?
I actually awoke in a violet dawn on Halloween and was fortunate enough for it be freezing outside so I drove to starbucks with my thin elegant girlfriend and while she had a Latte I ordered the pumpkin spice frapacino and was very pleased. First I ate their egg salad sandwich then had it for desert. It picked me up significantly enough to endure a long rough (unpaved rustic roads) blow job on the drive back home. Though my general sorrow-dazed temperment never ceases I had a brief lapse of judgment and “good feeling” from the sugar high as well.