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Pumpkin spice season is back at Starbucks earlier than ever. Here's what else is on its fall menu

New items, like the Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai, are joining familiar menu favorites this year.

New items, like the Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai, are joining familiar menu favorites this year. (Scripps News)

A Pumpkin Spice Latte drink rests on a table at a Starbucks.

By: Alex Arger

Posted

Itching for a cozy sweater and a warm fireplace as the summer heat drags on? Well, even though you can't change the weather to that of a perfect fall day, a trip over to Starbucks might help you pretend.

This year, the coffee giant has ushered in its fall menu earlier than ever, with pumpkin and apple-flavored items bound to give off the feeling of a change in seasons.

Starting Aug. 22, two days earlier than last year, Starbucks is bringing back fall classics like the Pumpkin Spice Latte along with new items, like the Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai and the Raccoon Cake Pop.

The rest of the fall drink menu consists of familiar favorites, including the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai, Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato and the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. Customers can also order two additional fall drinks — the Iced Caramel Apple Cream Latte and the Almondmilk Flat White — only on the app.

As for food, besides the new Cake Pop this year's fall Starbucks lineup includes the returning Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, the Baked Apple Croissant and the Pumpkin & Pepita Loaf.

Starbucks first introduced fall-flavored items in the fall of 2003, when the Pumpkin Spice Latte hit select menus in Canada following the success of the Peppermint Mocha beverage the winter before. The company said it had considered shifting toward a new fall beverage in the years that followed, but in 2006, a social media craze surrounding the drink cemented its place in the limited-time lineup. And now it's the brand's most popular seasonal beverage.

And with that popularity comes a spike in revenue, which Starbucks is surely open to in its current business state.

Though the brand's leadership has remained optimistic, its revenue fell 1% in the April to June period, and same-store sales fell 3% from a year before. Its net income also fell 7.6% to $1.05 billion.

But fall often helps Starbucks pick up speed. With the Pumpkin Spice Latte's 20th birthday last year, same-store sales surpassed forecasts to rise 8%, and revenue for the July to September period rose 11% to $9.4 billion.