Pumps of Sugar and Pumpkin Spice

Hannah Bonner, staff writer

Everyone knows that when the leaves turn orange, so do the café menus: fall themed drinks come out in fuller force every year, with lattes, Frappuccinos and shaken espressos becoming increasingly diverse in the flavor department with every new autumn. Fall drinks have also become noticeably more elaborate this year, with Starbucks’ growing list of apple, pumpkin and pecan beverages also requiring more attention to detail from baristas. Unfortunately, customers have also become pickier about how their drinks are prepared, especially the fall-themed ones. 

When the Pumpkin Spice Latte debuted in 2003, people were content with ordering the drink hot or iced, whipped cream or no whipped cream, whole milk or almond milk. A decade later, in 2013, the Salted Caramel Mocha and Chocolate Chai Tea Latte had joined the Pumpkin Spice Latte, and most customers were still satisfied with the base recipes. Of course, baristas will always have to substitute milk variances, adjust the pumps of syrup and fine tune the coffee to flavor ratios for some customers.  

But recently, since around 2023, TikTok and other social media platforms have popularized “custom modifications,” “drink hacks” and “better ways to order.” Essentially, lengthy lists of substitutions, additions and adjustments to a base recipe with one of two end goals- a cheaper drink or an elaborate one- and one consistent result: a frustrated barista.  

A student wishing to remain unnamed, who goes to Starbucks “maybe about... 4 times a week” for a caffeine fix, orders her “pumpkin Frappuchino with no whipped cream and vanilla sweet cold foam instead,” citing social media as the cause of the rise in popularity of fall themed food items. She feels “that social media has played a big role in the increase because all of these fall drinks and these pumpkin scones are becoming viral, [so we all] want to try them.”  

Vlogs, blogs, news sites and other influencers are calling their lists of modified drinks a secret menu, normalizing creating custom beverages at the risk of a barista missing an ingredient or intentionally sabotaging the elaborate and lengthy order.  

Brewed Beginnings, a popular coffee-centric website about everything brewed, says to “keep your modifications [around] two max.... The best drinks often have the fewest modifications.” During a morning rush, an after-school rush or any other type of rush, baristas are exactly that- rushed. Customers who come into a coffee shop at 8 a.m. expecting to get an Instagram-worthy drink from the secret menu, complete with an order longer than their receipt, are undoubtedly asking for the barista to mess up the drink. Of course, some modifications are perfectly acceptable. Almond milk for the lactose intolerant customers, and no ice or an extra shot of espresso are all easy adjustments that can be accommodated during a busy time of day. There is a lengthy list of unique fall drinks to try, and that list gets added to year after year. Customers can stick to the base recipes and still get a wide variety of flavors with every order; all with no secret menu hacks necessary.