Column: The debate around the drink

“Come fall, come latte,” so my saying goes.

According to the National Coffee Association, 54 percent of American adults drink coffee every day.
For some, The Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte, or PSL, is a savory reminder of the changing of seasons.

For others, the latte is a joke — a drink inspired by sappy nostalgia for Charlie Brown.
Americans’ coffee obsession can be split into two groups: the sweet-tooths and the diehards.

The validity of this drink is often debated between both sides.

“I personally don’t like the taste that much,” said Gretchen Krumwiede, a senior and Starbucks barista. “I don’t like the coffee flavor with the spice.”

Krumwiede works at the Starbucks on East Third Street. She finds herself unimpressed by the pumpkin spice flavor.

“It’s one of the most popular drinks in the fall,” Krumwiede said. “But I’m not crazy about it.”

Senior Robert Bollan said he relies on coffee, specifically the PSL, and disagrees with Krumwiede. 

“It lets me know fall’s right around the corner. Soon it’ll be hoodie weather, bonfire weather, football games, that sort of thing.” Bollan said. “I think Starbucks could put a little more pumpkin flavor in there, but it’s a really good seasonal drink. I really enjoy it.”

A Starbucks pumpkin spice latte is made with espresso, milk and pumpkin mix.

The pumpkin mix consists of spicy nutmeg, savory clove, sweet ginger and cinnamon.
Once the drink is made, it is usually topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spices.

“All of the drinks have a similar pattern, and the pumpkin spice latte is like a vanilla latte,” Krumwiede said. “It just has different toppings.”

Sweet-tooths cannot drink coffee without sugar.Fall is their favorite season, or at least one of them.

With the arrival of changing leaves, so too comes the pumpkin spice latte, peppermint mocha and salted caramel mocha to completely satisfy their sugar cravings.

Every time a sweet-tooth enters a Starbucks, a sugary seasonal drink is usually found in their hand.

The diehards are a different story.

Diehards balk at sugar, blanch at creamer and take their coffee black.

For the diehard, coffee should only be coffee, and a pumpkin spice latte is a poor excuse for a drink.

For every rule there is an exception, and for every season there is a drink. Winter is approaching, and soon the PSL will be retired.

But, whether enjoyed by sweet-tooths or hated by diehards, the drink brought people together through a common denominator: the love for a steamy cup of coffee.    
    
­— ntepper@indiana.edu