I despise mayo, so I simply don't buy it. Nah, these people don't "despise" PSL, they despise people who drink them; mostly women. And it's not a coincidence.
despised
I despise mayo, so I simply don't buy it.
Nah, these people don't "despise" PSL, they despise people who drink them; mostly women. And it's not a coincidence.
Nah man. My wife and I have tried it multiple times over the years and we just don't like it. It does not have anything to do with others who drink it.
Nah man. My wife and I have tried it multiple times over the years and we just don't like it. It does not have anything to do with others who drink it.
PSL are often used as a representation of a certain kind of "yuppie urban culture" and dunked on with reference to that. If you simply dislike the flavor profile, then that is what it is. If you...
PSL are often used as a representation of a certain kind of "yuppie urban culture" and dunked on with reference to that. If you simply dislike the flavor profile, then that is what it is. If you despise the very idea of its existence and everything that it represents, it's more of the former. It's like avocado toast before avocado toast got memed to hard for anyone to take it seriously.
I see what you mean. Thanks for explaining. BTW I love avocado toast and pineapple on pizza. I honestly don't get the hate for people who like these things. If you don't like it then don't eat it,...
I see what you mean. Thanks for explaining.
BTW I love avocado toast and pineapple on pizza. I honestly don't get the hate for people who like these things. If you don't like it then don't eat it, why tell others what they should like. 🙄
I talk mad shit about pineapple on pizza, but I honestly don't care if others have it, provided I'm not obliged to deal with it on my slice. Unfortunately, someone will order a 50/50 Hawaiian and...
I talk mad shit about pineapple on pizza, but I honestly don't care if others have it, provided I'm not obliged to deal with it on my slice.
Unfortunately, someone will order a 50/50 Hawaiian and pepperoni as a compromise, in which case the pepperoni slices adjacent to the Hawaiian will be contaminated and the degenerate pineapple-lovers will inevitably gobble up most of the pepperoni side first.
I don't think avocado toast and pineapple on pizza discourse is particularly serious anymore. Avocado toast use to be, but now it's so heavily memed it's only ever used ironically (e.g if people...
I don't think avocado toast and pineapple on pizza discourse is particularly serious anymore. Avocado toast use to be, but now it's so heavily memed it's only ever used ironically (e.g if people are talking about avocado toast, it's in mockery of that kind of anti-metrosexual/urbanite attitude).
For pineapple on pizza, it's almost like an icebreaker - you bring it up so people can pretend to have strong opinions on a matter that doesn't matter in the least, so there's no danger or anything but people get something to talk about.
The people who hate them are really just the people who hate the stereotypical people who buy them. in other words: women. particularly women that people would call "basic". I've never heard...
The people who hate them are really just the people who hate the stereotypical people who buy them. in other words: women. particularly women that people would call "basic". I've never heard anyone bring up that they hate PSL solely for the reason they don't like the taste. they often have a sexist comment on the culture around it and the people who drink them. Somehow the existence of this drink seems to be a punch to some people's masculinity or something.
That is probably true to an extent more than most people would want to admit, but I personally just want my coffee to taste like coffee and my milkshakes to taste like milkshakes without there...
That is probably true to an extent more than most people would want to admit, but I personally just want my coffee to taste like coffee and my milkshakes to taste like milkshakes without there being overlap between the two.
The overly sweet nonsense they serve at Starbucks turns my stomach like looking at someone eat a lemon scrunches my face.
Because people wouldn't order it at all, that was the point i was trying to make. Because its only once a year, its special, but you'd get sick of it all the time. "The Gobbler"...
Because people wouldn't order it at all, that was the point i was trying to make.
Because its only once a year, its special, but you'd get sick of it all the time.
"The Gobbler" turkey/stuffing/cranberry sandwhich is a huge seller every fall too.. 1 year they tried saying "all year round" and no one bought it so they stopped and went back to November only again.
That's your prerogative for sure, but iced drinks with pumpkin spice just feel wrong to me. It's such a warm spice blend and it's associated with fall and winter holidays, so I just can't have it...
That's your prerogative for sure, but iced drinks with pumpkin spice just feel wrong to me. It's such a warm spice blend and it's associated with fall and winter holidays, so I just can't have it until it's cold enough out for warm drinks again.
I now live somewhere with no AC -- not in my house, not in the cafes -- and have no car so I'm basically suffering every second I don't have an iced drink in my hand.
I now live somewhere with no AC -- not in my house, not in the cafes -- and have no car so I'm basically suffering every second I don't have an iced drink in my hand.
I’ve always assumed people mostly either like iced coffee or hot coffee, not that they switch seasonally. That’s oddly fascinating to me. I drink hot coffee all year round, though the point is...
I’ve always assumed people mostly either like iced coffee or hot coffee, not that they switch seasonally. That’s oddly fascinating to me. I drink hot coffee all year round, though the point is moot because I don’t drink flavoured coffees. Pumpkin spice is basically the same as chai spices which feels appropriate all year to me
Oh yeah I absolutely switch seasonally and I think there are definitely others who do so. If I still lived somewhere with air conditioning maybe I'd occasionally get a hot drink in the summer if I...
Oh yeah I absolutely switch seasonally and I think there are definitely others who do so. If I still lived somewhere with air conditioning maybe I'd occasionally get a hot drink in the summer if I was in the mood, but I think it would still be principally a seasonal shift -- I mostly make hot drinks in the winter but will occasionally have something iced if I'm in the mood. But now that I live in a European no-AC wasteland, I definitely need all the iced drinks I can get during the summer! I am American fwiw and we love ice in our drinks way more than other countries ime lol. I definitely see plenty of Germans getting hot cappuccinos in the summer here but I don't think I could handle that.
You make a good point about chai spices though -- they are more or less the same spices, and I love a good iced chai even in the height of summer. I wonder why that's the case for chai for me but not for "holiday" drinks with the same spices.
I will have a hot coffee outdoors in 35*+ and see lots of other people doing so which is why I was initially surprised to hear that switching is a common thing. Perhaps only in America? I feel...
I will have a hot coffee outdoors in 35*+ and see lots of other people doing so which is why I was initially surprised to hear that switching is a common thing. Perhaps only in America? I feel that iced coffee in general is less popular in places I’ve lived; they’re kind of associated with the super sweet milkshakey style ones and people here are coffee snobs. Hot drinks are really popular in hot countries because it cools you down from the core.
Sounds like it’s more about the mental association for you than the actual flavour which is entirely fair!
Japanese iced coffee (the technique) is so famous it's attributed to them. I'm not sure if it's American thing or not, but coldbrew is popular and does not involve sugar either.
Perhaps only in America?
Japanese iced coffee (the technique) is so famous it's attributed to them.
I'm not sure if it's American thing or not, but coldbrew is popular and does not involve sugar either.
I specifically meant the concept of switching to iced coffee in summer but having hot in winter. In my experience (australia and UK) people like one or the other and will drink that version year round
I specifically meant the concept of switching to iced coffee in summer but having hot in winter. In my experience (australia and UK) people like one or the other and will drink that version year round
Iced coffee (and lots of ice in drinks in general) is definitely an American thing, even outside of the super sugary milkshakey style stuff. We are an ice cube-loving people to a weird degree....
Iced coffee (and lots of ice in drinks in general) is definitely an American thing, even outside of the super sugary milkshakey style stuff. We are an ice cube-loving people to a weird degree. That said, there are definitely other popular cold coffee drinks outside of the US . There's the shakerato in Italy (which Starbucks has since started selling in the US, adding milk and rebranding it as "shaken espresso" lol). Eiskaffee (filter coffee over ice cream) is super popular in the summers here in Germany, whereas other iced coffee drinks are only catching on in the past couple years.
Of course those are both also quite sweet drinks, but iced coffee/iced lattes don't have to be. Iced filter coffee, iced americanos, and iced lattes are essentially the same as their non-iced counterparts in terms of sugar content -- you can add sweeteners and flavorings of course, but they can easily be omitted. If the espresso's good I don't need to add sweetened to an iced latte (my summer drink of choice for sure).
I have never bought the "it cools you down from the core" argument about hot drinks in hot weather tbh, it just doesn't make sense to me on a physical level. But I do have a sort of respect for folks who drink hot coffee in the middle of the summer, they're just stronger than me lol.
Yeah, it really doesn't check out as an explanation. However, my lived experience tells me is isn't off-base in some sense. I definitely feel less clammy going from AC to heat and back if I'm...
I have never bought the "it cools you down from the core" argument about hot drinks in hot weather tbh, it just doesn't make sense to me on a physical level.
Yeah, it really doesn't check out as an explanation. However, my lived experience tells me is isn't off-base in some sense. I definitely feel less clammy going from AC to heat and back if I'm drinking hot beverages or eat spicy foods. I'd chalk it up to it being something like: when you drink hot drinks, your cardiovascular system will dilate even more blood vessels, attempting to cool your core for homeostatic reasons, and your metabolic processes might could (completely baseless speculation) be signalled to slightly slow down.
I think this is the basic idea. That the hot drink further heats your core, making your body dilate the blood vessels nearer your skin to cool off. I’ve never looked at any studies or anything but...
I think this is the basic idea. That the hot drink further heats your core, making your body dilate the blood vessels nearer your skin to cool off. I’ve never looked at any studies or anything but it makes sense to me from what I know of anatomy and physiology (which is not tonnes, but I did study it as a small part of my degree)
source Emphasis mine. Here in Southeast Asia there is an overwhelming preference for hot drinks, but when it’s 30-35C and the humidity is up around 70-80% daily I find they just leave me hotter...
Yes, a hot drink can cool you down, but only in specific circumstances. “If you drink a hot drink, it does result in a lower amount of heat stored inside your body, provided the additional sweat that’s produced when you drink the hot drink can evaporate,”
Emphasis mine. Here in Southeast Asia there is an overwhelming preference for hot drinks, but when it’s 30-35C and the humidity is up around 70-80% daily I find they just leave me hotter and wetter for a long time.
Ah yeah I've never lived anywhere with dry heat so heat and humidity and very tied together in my mind. I live in Europe so "hot" is when it even approached 30, but the humidity here has been...
Ah yeah I've never lived anywhere with dry heat so heat and humidity and very tied together in my mind. I live in Europe so "hot" is when it even approached 30, but the humidity here has been 70-80% too lately and it's oppressive. I can see the arguments in dry places though.
I'm sitting outside in 32° weather drinking fresh-brewed coffee as we speak, and you better believe I was doing the same three weeks ago, when it was 40°. @sparksbet is right though, US Americans...
I'm sitting outside in 32° weather drinking fresh-brewed coffee as we speak, and you better believe I was doing the same three weeks ago, when it was 40°. @sparksbet is right though, US Americans really love iced beverages. I know a few people who refuse to drink anything without ice (yes, including that, I guarantee it), and they're viewed as no more abnormal as shy urinaters around here.
I maintain that it was better before they started adding real pumpkin. Pumpkin spice was never supposed to have real pumpkin and adding pumpkin puree to it doesn't do anything good for the flavor....
I maintain that it was better before they started adding real pumpkin. Pumpkin spice was never supposed to have real pumpkin and adding pumpkin puree to it doesn't do anything good for the flavor.
My real favorite seasonal drink is the chestnut praline latte (one of their Christmas drinks). But they didn't have that in Europe for the past couple years, so I might have to do some illicit syrup ordering on ebay bc I've tried and can't replicate that one at home.
I don't get the haters or people who are anti-psl (haters may be a strong word). I personally don't like pumpkin spice latte or anything pumpkin spiced but I don't care at all if other people do....
I don't get the haters or people who are anti-psl (haters may be a strong word). I personally don't like pumpkin spice latte or anything pumpkin spiced but I don't care at all if other people do. Starbucks, or any other place that sells coffee, could offer psl all year long and I wouldn't bat an eye. What am I missing here?
It's because it's stereotypically associated with young women. It's really common for anything that teenage girls like to be despised -- either for no reason whatsoever, like pumpkin spice lattes,...
It's because it's stereotypically associated with young women. It's really common for anything that teenage girls like to be despised -- either for no reason whatsoever, like pumpkin spice lattes, or disproportionately compared to its actual flaws.
Interesting. Never thought about that, and I guess because I don't care about PSL, I never knew who the intended customer base for it was. After reading this article, I did a quick search for...
Interesting. Never thought about that, and I guess because I don't care about PSL, I never knew who the intended customer base for it was.
After reading this article, I did a quick search for "anti psl" or "hate psl" and was surprised by the number of people who claim to hate it.
This is what I was told. I think there's a Lindsay Ellis video that covers adult women trashing things that young women like (might have been about the Twilight books?). Seems like a common theme...
This is what I was told. I think there's a Lindsay Ellis video that covers adult women trashing things that young women like (might have been about the Twilight books?). Seems like a common theme to life.
Yeah that's a really good video! I myself was a Twilight hater back in the day (was in my "not like other girls" phase) but she makes some great points about how absolutely out of proportion the...
Yeah that's a really good video! I myself was a Twilight hater back in the day (was in my "not like other girls" phase) but she makes some great points about how absolutely out of proportion the Twilight hate was. I definitely can look back and see a disgust at teenage girls (or in my mind a certain "type" of teenage girl) at root in my own hatred of Twilight at the time, even as a teenage girl myself.
For me, I don't like pretty much anything pumpkin spice. It does absolutely nothing for me. While I don't hate it, I do find myself very annoyed with the constant seasonal advertisements for...
For me, I don't like pretty much anything pumpkin spice. It does absolutely nothing for me. While I don't hate it, I do find myself very annoyed with the constant seasonal advertisements for pumpkin spice this, or seasonal pumpkin spice that crowding out most of the other other normal products. For me, it's like commercials for local car dealerships; some are just okay, while others are "where's the remote I need to change the channel". I would be way more indifferent about pumpkin spice if I didn't feel like it demanded so much of my attention, despite me not caring for it in the slightest.
Your comment resonates with me. I love a good pumpkin spice latte. I don’t love pumpkin spiced oreos, pumpkin spice beer, or pumpkin spice air fresheners. Not everything tastes great when combined...
Your comment resonates with me. I love a good pumpkin spice latte. I don’t love pumpkin spiced oreos, pumpkin spice beer, or pumpkin spice air fresheners. Not everything tastes great when combined with the spices you put in a pumpkin pie.
The saturation of the market with poorly executed “fall flavors” reeks of capitalism leaching every bit of profitability from a popular trend. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
To be honest I don’t follow the logic of “people hate this thing > women and teen girls love this thing > the people who hate the thing hate it because they hate women”
It's not so much people disliking the pumpkin spice craze that's the problem re: women (I def agree with you on non-coffee pumpkin spice), it's the disproportionality of the hate. There's a lot of...
It's not so much people disliking the pumpkin spice craze that's the problem re: women (I def agree with you on non-coffee pumpkin spice), it's the disproportionality of the hate. There's a lot of weirdly fierce hate for psl that simply makes zero sense as just a reaction to a flavor being popular.
The only times I ever hear about the PSL is when I see posts and articles like this. I think that the "controversy" is probably astroturfing by Starbucks to draw attention to their seasonal product.
The only times I ever hear about the PSL is when I see posts and articles like this. I think that the "controversy" is probably astroturfing by Starbucks to draw attention to their seasonal product.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I indulge myself with 2 things: eggnog, and a pumpkin spice flavored coffee (no $tarbuck$ for me). Outside of that date range, my coffee is black sometimes with...
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I indulge myself with 2 things: eggnog, and a pumpkin spice flavored coffee (no $tarbuck$ for me). Outside of that date range, my coffee is black sometimes with a dash of cinnamon. If I feel like pumpkin spice, then I buy a pie.
For some reason I just can’t do sugar in my coffee, the flavors are just incompatible. If I want a similar drink, Starbucks has a Chai latte. Cinnamon is definitely a good addition though. My...
For some reason I just can’t do sugar in my coffee, the flavors are just incompatible. If I want a similar drink, Starbucks has a Chai latte. Cinnamon is definitely a good addition though. My understanding is that many cultures add spices from this flavor group (cardamom, cloves, etc). For example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_coffee
I’d like to see more specialty coffee shops get into this. Of course I get that if you’re serving single origin beans, it seems like a waste to add flavoring. But with the right blend and intentional set of spices (surely not all cinnamon tastes the same) I think you could really open up the ways to enjoy coffee.
I think James Hoffman did a pumpkin spice syrup a year or two, you might be interested in checking that out! Obviously it did still include sugar but it might still be interesting in terms of...
I think James Hoffman did a pumpkin spice syrup a year or two, you might be interested in checking that out! Obviously it did still include sugar but it might still be interesting in terms of building a spiced coffee with the right flavors.
If you want your coffee sweeter without using sugar, then try honey. I use it occasionally, especially in colder weather. Another good quality of cinnamon is that it can be added during brewing,...
If you want your coffee sweeter without using sugar, then try honey. I use it occasionally, especially in colder weather.
Another good quality of cinnamon is that it can be added during brewing, or stirred in after. No real difference in taste.
[This year] U.S. sales of pumpkin-flavored products reached $802.5 million, according to Nielsen. That’s up 42% from the same period in 2019. There are pumpkin spice Oreos, protein drinks, craft beers, cereals and even Spam. A search of “pumpkin spice” on Walmart’s website brings up more than 1,000 products...that smell or taste like...pumpkin pie.
“I love the flavor and I love the subculture that has evolved from this huge marketing campaign,” says McBrine, a graphic designer and aspiring author who lives in the Dallas area. “It’s part of getting into the season,” he says. “It’s almost like a ritual, even if you’re just waiting in the drive-thru.”
It has also spawned a vocal group of detractors — and become an easy target for parodies. Comedian John Oliver once called pumpkin spice lattes “the coffee that tastes like a candle.” There’s a Facebook group called “I Hate Pumpkin Spice” and T-shirts with slogans like “Ain’t no pumpkin spice in my mug.”
“The artificial flavor is disgusting,” says Roze, who works at New Brunswick Community College. “The only thing I do not like about fall is seeing everyone obsess over PSLs. Makes me want to shut off social media for a month.”
Jason Fischer, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies human perception through sight, sound and smell, says odor and flavor have a more direct route than other senses to the area of the brain that processes memories.
“Odors and sights go with certain places, like the aroma of pine and the crunching of needles beneath your feet,” he says. “They’re associated with a certain kind of experience. And then marketing taps into that, and it’s a cue for a product.”
It's like that for every single flavored drink Starbucks sells. Some are even worse like peppermint hot chocolates. I worked there for 6 years when I was younger. It was a super fun job but also...
It's like that for every single flavored drink Starbucks sells. Some are even worse like peppermint hot chocolates. I worked there for 6 years when I was younger. It was a super fun job but also super sad how crazy addicted all the regulars are to sugar and/or coffee. I don't drink caffeine drinks anymore.
Only reason I know about the Pumpkin Spice Latte (as a Brit/European) is Meatcanyon (ironically this is probably his most work-safe animation this year.)
Only reason I know about the Pumpkin Spice Latte (as a Brit/European) is Meatcanyon (ironically this is probably his most work-safe animation this year.)
I despise mayo, so I simply don't buy it.
Nah, these people don't "despise" PSL, they despise people who drink them; mostly women. And it's not a coincidence.
Nope, pretty much find that flavor disgusting and the smell turns my stomach. Couldn't care less if someone liked it, as long as it isn't near me.
Nah man. My wife and I have tried it multiple times over the years and we just don't like it. It does not have anything to do with others who drink it.
PSL are often used as a representation of a certain kind of "yuppie urban culture" and dunked on with reference to that. If you simply dislike the flavor profile, then that is what it is. If you despise the very idea of its existence and everything that it represents, it's more of the former. It's like avocado toast before avocado toast got memed to hard for anyone to take it seriously.
I see what you mean. Thanks for explaining.
BTW I love avocado toast and pineapple on pizza. I honestly don't get the hate for people who like these things. If you don't like it then don't eat it, why tell others what they should like. 🙄
I talk mad shit about pineapple on pizza, but I honestly don't care if others have it, provided I'm not obliged to deal with it on my slice.
Unfortunately, someone will order a 50/50 Hawaiian and pepperoni as a compromise, in which case the pepperoni slices adjacent to the Hawaiian will be contaminated and the degenerate pineapple-lovers will inevitably gobble up most of the pepperoni side first.
I don't think avocado toast and pineapple on pizza discourse is particularly serious anymore. Avocado toast use to be, but now it's so heavily memed it's only ever used ironically (e.g if people are talking about avocado toast, it's in mockery of that kind of anti-metrosexual/urbanite attitude).
For pineapple on pizza, it's almost like an icebreaker - you bring it up so people can pretend to have strong opinions on a matter that doesn't matter in the least, so there's no danger or anything but people get something to talk about.
The people who hate them are really just the people who hate the stereotypical people who buy them. in other words: women. particularly women that people would call "basic". I've never heard anyone bring up that they hate PSL solely for the reason they don't like the taste. they often have a sexist comment on the culture around it and the people who drink them. Somehow the existence of this drink seems to be a punch to some people's masculinity or something.
guys who like basic things
(I'm sure there's a million other sketches mocking men that do this, but the one I could think of)
That is probably true to an extent more than most people would want to admit, but I personally just want my coffee to taste like coffee and my milkshakes to taste like milkshakes without there being overlap between the two.
The overly sweet nonsense they serve at Starbucks turns my stomach like looking at someone eat a lemon scrunches my face.
Disagreed. I’ll have pumpkin spice whenever I can get my hands on it.
There has to be a limit. Some things only exist because they are once a year.
Egg nog would be dead if it wasn't for December
My body can't take any more nog than it already gets, but I don't see why the same amount couldn't get spread across a whole year.
Because people wouldn't order it at all, that was the point i was trying to make.
Because its only once a year, its special, but you'd get sick of it all the time.
"The Gobbler" turkey/stuffing/cranberry sandwhich is a huge seller every fall too.. 1 year they tried saying "all year round" and no one bought it so they stopped and went back to November only again.
That's your prerogative for sure, but iced drinks with pumpkin spice just feel wrong to me. It's such a warm spice blend and it's associated with fall and winter holidays, so I just can't have it until it's cold enough out for warm drinks again.
I just crank the ac in my car and pretend it’s cold out
I now live somewhere with no AC -- not in my house, not in the cafes -- and have no car so I'm basically suffering every second I don't have an iced drink in my hand.
I’ve always assumed people mostly either like iced coffee or hot coffee, not that they switch seasonally. That’s oddly fascinating to me. I drink hot coffee all year round, though the point is moot because I don’t drink flavoured coffees. Pumpkin spice is basically the same as chai spices which feels appropriate all year to me
Oh yeah I absolutely switch seasonally and I think there are definitely others who do so. If I still lived somewhere with air conditioning maybe I'd occasionally get a hot drink in the summer if I was in the mood, but I think it would still be principally a seasonal shift -- I mostly make hot drinks in the winter but will occasionally have something iced if I'm in the mood. But now that I live in a European no-AC wasteland, I definitely need all the iced drinks I can get during the summer! I am American fwiw and we love ice in our drinks way more than other countries ime lol. I definitely see plenty of Germans getting hot cappuccinos in the summer here but I don't think I could handle that.
You make a good point about chai spices though -- they are more or less the same spices, and I love a good iced chai even in the height of summer. I wonder why that's the case for chai for me but not for "holiday" drinks with the same spices.
I will have a hot coffee outdoors in 35*+ and see lots of other people doing so which is why I was initially surprised to hear that switching is a common thing. Perhaps only in America? I feel that iced coffee in general is less popular in places I’ve lived; they’re kind of associated with the super sweet milkshakey style ones and people here are coffee snobs. Hot drinks are really popular in hot countries because it cools you down from the core.
Sounds like it’s more about the mental association for you than the actual flavour which is entirely fair!
Japanese iced coffee (the technique) is so famous it's attributed to them.
I'm not sure if it's American thing or not, but coldbrew is popular and does not involve sugar either.
I specifically meant the concept of switching to iced coffee in summer but having hot in winter. In my experience (australia and UK) people like one or the other and will drink that version year round
Iced coffee (and lots of ice in drinks in general) is definitely an American thing, even outside of the super sugary milkshakey style stuff. We are an ice cube-loving people to a weird degree. That said, there are definitely other popular cold coffee drinks outside of the US . There's the shakerato in Italy (which Starbucks has since started selling in the US, adding milk and rebranding it as "shaken espresso" lol). Eiskaffee (filter coffee over ice cream) is super popular in the summers here in Germany, whereas other iced coffee drinks are only catching on in the past couple years.
Of course those are both also quite sweet drinks, but iced coffee/iced lattes don't have to be. Iced filter coffee, iced americanos, and iced lattes are essentially the same as their non-iced counterparts in terms of sugar content -- you can add sweeteners and flavorings of course, but they can easily be omitted. If the espresso's good I don't need to add sweetened to an iced latte (my summer drink of choice for sure).
I have never bought the "it cools you down from the core" argument about hot drinks in hot weather tbh, it just doesn't make sense to me on a physical level. But I do have a sort of respect for folks who drink hot coffee in the middle of the summer, they're just stronger than me lol.
Yeah, it really doesn't check out as an explanation. However, my lived experience tells me is isn't off-base in some sense. I definitely feel less clammy going from AC to heat and back if I'm drinking hot beverages or eat spicy foods. I'd chalk it up to it being something like: when you drink hot drinks, your cardiovascular system will dilate even more blood vessels, attempting to cool your core for homeostatic reasons, and your metabolic processes might could (completely baseless speculation) be signalled to slightly slow down.
I think this is the basic idea. That the hot drink further heats your core, making your body dilate the blood vessels nearer your skin to cool off. I’ve never looked at any studies or anything but it makes sense to me from what I know of anatomy and physiology (which is not tonnes, but I did study it as a small part of my degree)
source
Emphasis mine. Here in Southeast Asia there is an overwhelming preference for hot drinks, but when it’s 30-35C and the humidity is up around 70-80% daily I find they just leave me hotter and wetter for a long time.
Ah yeah I've never lived anywhere with dry heat so heat and humidity and very tied together in my mind. I live in Europe so "hot" is when it even approached 30, but the humidity here has been 70-80% too lately and it's oppressive. I can see the arguments in dry places though.
I'm sitting outside in 32° weather drinking fresh-brewed coffee as we speak, and you better believe I was doing the same three weeks ago, when it was 40°. @sparksbet is right though, US Americans really love iced beverages. I know a few people who refuse to drink anything without ice (yes, including that, I guarantee it), and they're viewed as no more abnormal as shy urinaters around here.
I maintain that it was better before they started adding real pumpkin. Pumpkin spice was never supposed to have real pumpkin and adding pumpkin puree to it doesn't do anything good for the flavor.
My real favorite seasonal drink is the chestnut praline latte (one of their Christmas drinks). But they didn't have that in Europe for the past couple years, so I might have to do some illicit syrup ordering on ebay bc I've tried and can't replicate that one at home.
I don't get the haters or people who are anti-psl (haters may be a strong word). I personally don't like pumpkin spice latte or anything pumpkin spiced but I don't care at all if other people do. Starbucks, or any other place that sells coffee, could offer psl all year long and I wouldn't bat an eye. What am I missing here?
edit: on mobile, spelling
It's because it's stereotypically associated with young women. It's really common for anything that teenage girls like to be despised -- either for no reason whatsoever, like pumpkin spice lattes, or disproportionately compared to its actual flaws.
Interesting. Never thought about that, and I guess because I don't care about PSL, I never knew who the intended customer base for it was.
After reading this article, I did a quick search for "anti psl" or "hate psl" and was surprised by the number of people who claim to hate it.
This is what I was told. I think there's a Lindsay Ellis video that covers adult women trashing things that young women like (might have been about the Twilight books?). Seems like a common theme to life.
Yeah that's a really good video! I myself was a Twilight hater back in the day (was in my "not like other girls" phase) but she makes some great points about how absolutely out of proportion the Twilight hate was. I definitely can look back and see a disgust at teenage girls (or in my mind a certain "type" of teenage girl) at root in my own hatred of Twilight at the time, even as a teenage girl myself.
For me, I don't like pretty much anything pumpkin spice. It does absolutely nothing for me. While I don't hate it, I do find myself very annoyed with the constant seasonal advertisements for pumpkin spice this, or seasonal pumpkin spice that crowding out most of the other other normal products. For me, it's like commercials for local car dealerships; some are just okay, while others are "where's the remote I need to change the channel". I would be way more indifferent about pumpkin spice if I didn't feel like it demanded so much of my attention, despite me not caring for it in the slightest.
Your comment resonates with me. I love a good pumpkin spice latte. I don’t love pumpkin spiced oreos, pumpkin spice beer, or pumpkin spice air fresheners. Not everything tastes great when combined with the spices you put in a pumpkin pie.
The saturation of the market with poorly executed “fall flavors” reeks of capitalism leaching every bit of profitability from a popular trend. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
To be honest I don’t follow the logic of “people hate this thing > women and teen girls love this thing > the people who hate the thing hate it because they hate women”
It's not so much people disliking the pumpkin spice craze that's the problem re: women (I def agree with you on non-coffee pumpkin spice), it's the disproportionality of the hate. There's a lot of weirdly fierce hate for psl that simply makes zero sense as just a reaction to a flavor being popular.
The only times I ever hear about the PSL is when I see posts and articles like this. I think that the "controversy" is probably astroturfing by Starbucks to draw attention to their seasonal product.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I indulge myself with 2 things: eggnog, and a pumpkin spice flavored coffee (no $tarbuck$ for me). Outside of that date range, my coffee is black sometimes with a dash of cinnamon. If I feel like pumpkin spice, then I buy a pie.
For some reason I just can’t do sugar in my coffee, the flavors are just incompatible. If I want a similar drink, Starbucks has a Chai latte. Cinnamon is definitely a good addition though. My understanding is that many cultures add spices from this flavor group (cardamom, cloves, etc). For example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_coffee
I’d like to see more specialty coffee shops get into this. Of course I get that if you’re serving single origin beans, it seems like a waste to add flavoring. But with the right blend and intentional set of spices (surely not all cinnamon tastes the same) I think you could really open up the ways to enjoy coffee.
I think James Hoffman did a pumpkin spice syrup a year or two, you might be interested in checking that out! Obviously it did still include sugar but it might still be interesting in terms of building a spiced coffee with the right flavors.
If you want your coffee sweeter without using sugar, then try honey. I use it occasionally, especially in colder weather.
Another good quality of cinnamon is that it can be added during brewing, or stirred in after. No real difference in taste.
A 16oz Pumpkin Spice Latte has 50 grams of sugar. That is an insane amount. I’m sure it’s delicious, but holy cow.
It's like that for every single flavored drink Starbucks sells. Some are even worse like peppermint hot chocolates. I worked there for 6 years when I was younger. It was a super fun job but also super sad how crazy addicted all the regulars are to sugar and/or coffee. I don't drink caffeine drinks anymore.
Funny how for only 8 of those years it actually had pumpkin in it.
Only reason I know about the Pumpkin Spice Latte (as a Brit/European) is Meatcanyon (ironically this is probably his most work-safe animation this year.)