Who controls the spice, controls the universe
October 23, 2018 8:33 AM Subscribe
"Welcome to The Pumpkin Spice Must Flow, an irregular feature where I pointlessly share my opinions on pumpkin spice products." The latest column reviews pumpkin spice bars, beers, breakfast cereals, and bagels.
Is it just me, or have the pumpkin beers dropped off the last couple years? I find that these particular spices do a lot for me to improve things that I originally found too bitter--my first coffee drinking was totally PSLs, and my first beers were pumpkin-pie-spiced, and I still like both of those things even though my tastes have gotten past that since then. I used to only ever drink beer during pumpkin spice and then Christmas ale season.
posted by Sequence at 9:14 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Sequence at 9:14 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm really glad this pumpkin palaver hasn't made it to Europe.
Mixed Spice Latte doesn't have the same confusing ring as Pumpkin Spice Latte.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:16 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mixed Spice Latte doesn't have the same confusing ring as Pumpkin Spice Latte.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:16 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
many years ago starbucks had a seasonal hot chocolate that they advertised as “made with spice melange”. not sure how intentional this was.
posted by vogon_poet at 9:17 AM on October 23, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by vogon_poet at 9:17 AM on October 23, 2018 [11 favorites]
Is it just me, or have the pumpkin beers dropped off the last couple years?
I'm still seeing plenty. Part of the problem is that they're released around Labor Day, mostly, but there's a really narrow window where they'll really sell. A friend of mine runs a bar and always complains about having to stock pumpkin beers -- they don't really sell before October 1, and you can't give them away after Thanksgiving. There is a demand, so he has to buy them, but it's a balancing act.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:40 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm still seeing plenty. Part of the problem is that they're released around Labor Day, mostly, but there's a really narrow window where they'll really sell. A friend of mine runs a bar and always complains about having to stock pumpkin beers -- they don't really sell before October 1, and you can't give them away after Thanksgiving. There is a demand, so he has to buy them, but it's a balancing act.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:40 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Pumpkin spice is the mind-killer.
Pumpkin spice is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my pumpkin spice.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the pumpkin spice has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
posted by poe at 9:44 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
Pumpkin spice is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my pumpkin spice.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the pumpkin spice has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
posted by poe at 9:44 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
Don't bring Peppermint Bark to a knife fight.
posted by thelonius at 9:59 AM on October 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:59 AM on October 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
There's a small niche of pumpkin beers that actually use pumpkin in the mash, in addition to the requisite spice mix. I like those. They tend to not be as sugar-forward as a lot of other pumpkin spice beers. (Southern Tier are the worst offenders in the sweet-like-molasses seasonal beers, in my experience.)
Pumpkin spice coffee is delicious and, like so many other good things, the only reason people hate it is because it's coded feminine. I'm fine being perceived as "girly" if it means I get to drink some tasty-ass pumpkin spice lattes.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Pumpkin spice coffee is delicious and, like so many other good things, the only reason people hate it is because it's coded feminine. I'm fine being perceived as "girly" if it means I get to drink some tasty-ass pumpkin spice lattes.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
I mean, when you think about it, pumpkin spice coffee is basically just masala chai with a different caffeinated beverage base.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2018 [17 favorites]
Yup, one nickname for pumpkin spice in my house is "white people masala."
posted by Foosnark at 10:07 AM on October 23, 2018 [23 favorites]
posted by Foosnark at 10:07 AM on October 23, 2018 [23 favorites]
If I read that blog post correctly, the only winners were Voortman’s Pumpkin Spice Wafers and Frosted Flakes: Pumpkin Spice.
I think someone has a preference for flavours that hit you in the mouth like a baseball bat.
(I also wonder whether there's a supply-side explanation for this sudden explosion in pumpkin-flavoured stuff, the way that bananas and iceberg lettuce and mixed greens all had their heydays in the wake of transportation and storage advances. Did it recently, for whatever reason, become easier and cheaper to make anything taste like pumpkin pie?)
posted by clawsoon at 10:21 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think someone has a preference for flavours that hit you in the mouth like a baseball bat.
(I also wonder whether there's a supply-side explanation for this sudden explosion in pumpkin-flavoured stuff, the way that bananas and iceberg lettuce and mixed greens all had their heydays in the wake of transportation and storage advances. Did it recently, for whatever reason, become easier and cheaper to make anything taste like pumpkin pie?)
posted by clawsoon at 10:21 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Don't bring Peppermint Bark to a knife fight
Please DO bring it; it's delicious and I want a snack while I cheer on my favorite Wusthof-wielding warrior.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 10:48 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
Please DO bring it; it's delicious and I want a snack while I cheer on my favorite Wusthof-wielding warrior.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 10:48 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
Wusthof-wielding warrior
You can pry my Henckel Pro-S from my cold, dead hands...
posted by mikelieman at 11:08 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
You can pry my Henckel Pro-S from my cold, dead hands...
posted by mikelieman at 11:08 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice as a flavor, but I'm a HUGE fan of pumpkin spice as a harbinger of the approach of autumn, a.k.a. The Best Season.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
Yes, I don't really eat many "pumpkin spice" products, but if it means fall is coming, I'm happy.
posted by praemunire at 11:15 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 11:15 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Pumpkin pie spice as it is interpreted in the "pumpkin spice" products I've encountered is always too heavy on the cheap cinnamon flavour for my taste. But saying that the related spice mix Quatre épices for me is the scent of warm kitchens, fresh baking, meat pies and Christmas. The mere mention of it makes me salivate.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I used to avoid pumpkin spice stuff because I thought it was dumb marketing stuff, and it totally is, but I realized I just don't care. I like it, I like this season, and here in California it's kind of always autumn anyway, so let me have this. Trader Joe's has the best and most ridiculous selection (am I imagining things, or did I see pumpkin spice hand soap there yesterday?).
I love that a combination of spices and occasional pumpkin flavoring, which elicits seasonal joy in millions of people, is still a thing people get angry about.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bowl of oddly-flavored pumpkin oatmeal to eat.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:57 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I love that a combination of spices and occasional pumpkin flavoring, which elicits seasonal joy in millions of people, is still a thing people get angry about.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bowl of oddly-flavored pumpkin oatmeal to eat.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:57 AM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Some people think pumpkin latte may not be all that.
"I’m a pretty open-minded chap. I’m not a foodie but will try almost anything. I even listen to country music. That open-mindedness led me to a pumpkin-spiced debacle last week."
posted by shoesietart at 12:35 PM on October 23, 2018
"I’m a pretty open-minded chap. I’m not a foodie but will try almost anything. I even listen to country music. That open-mindedness led me to a pumpkin-spiced debacle last week."
posted by shoesietart at 12:35 PM on October 23, 2018
Pairs nicely with MuadDiBucks
"But he consumes too much pumpkin spice, eats it like candy. Look at his eyes! He might've come directly from the Arrakeen labor pool."
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:35 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
"But he consumes too much pumpkin spice, eats it like candy. Look at his eyes! He might've come directly from the Arrakeen labor pool."
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:35 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
If someone hands me a pumpkin spice beer, I pour it down the drain ala Ron Swanson.
I bought Trader Joes Pumpkin Os last weekend. I love it and wish it was available year-round.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:38 PM on October 23, 2018
I bought Trader Joes Pumpkin Os last weekend. I love it and wish it was available year-round.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:38 PM on October 23, 2018
You will pry the pumpkin spice latte out of my cold dead hands.
posted by asteria at 12:42 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by asteria at 12:42 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Don't bring Peppermint Bark to a knife fight
Unless you're that guy who makes knives out of pasta and Jell-O and -- I'm assuming, eventually -- peppermint bark.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:44 PM on October 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Unless you're that guy who makes knives out of pasta and Jell-O and -- I'm assuming, eventually -- peppermint bark.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:44 PM on October 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
Is this a thread where we mock the flavors of The Thing that some people like, because the people who like it are Wrong, and pointing out their Wrongness in turn dramatically points out our own Elevated Taste, our Rightness?
Oh fun. How nice.
Let's mock those 'hipsters' next, since it's apparently 2011 again.
posted by Windigo at 1:12 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh fun. How nice.
Let's mock those 'hipsters' next, since it's apparently 2011 again.
posted by Windigo at 1:12 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm tempted to briefly log back into Twitter just so I can tweet this link at Kai Ryssdal.
posted by slogger at 1:34 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by slogger at 1:34 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
This post was actually a good reminder that it's time once again to make this chocolate pumpkin bread recipe.
posted by thomas j wise at 2:01 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by thomas j wise at 2:01 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Great, I guess this is a good thread to complain about Trader Joe's running out their Pumpkin Spice Almond Beverage.
posted by em at 2:11 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by em at 2:11 PM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Last year at this time I was astounded to discover that pumpkin spice Oreos are truly delicious.
posted by skyscraper at 10:30 PM on October 23, 2018
posted by skyscraper at 10:30 PM on October 23, 2018
Obviously it isn't because there's hardly any kneejerk reaction like that in this thread at all. Where are you seeing that?
I'm guessing it was my comment.
I don't actually care about pumpkin spice.
Sorry for the threadshitting.
posted by clawsoon at 5:15 AM on October 24, 2018
I'm guessing it was my comment.
I don't actually care about pumpkin spice.
Sorry for the threadshitting.
posted by clawsoon at 5:15 AM on October 24, 2018
All this talk of pumpkin spice and only one pumpkin recipe? Fine, I clearly need to make a pumpkin cheesecake this weekend!
I thought I didn't like pumpkin, or pumpkin spices, for the longest time, because my mother can't stand it, so we never had it in the house growing up. About ten years ago, right before I started teaching myself how to bake, a dear friend made me a pumpkin pie after I'd admitted to her that I'd never actually had one. It was delicious! Aromatic and creamy and very different from anything I'd had before.
Now I feel like I have 20+ years of pumpkin spiced everything to catch up on! I really do like spices, so in hindsight, I'm not surprised I'm quite the fan! I add cardamom and lemon peel to my pumpkin spice mix (the idea I think I stole from Trader Joe's pumpkin spice blend), which really brings home that chai-adjacent quality. Now I'm gonna make a pumpkin spice tea latte and celebrate that it finally is starting to feel like fall.
That said: I like Trader Joe's pumpkin goodies the best. The pumpkin spice rooibos tea, the pumpkin spice JoJos, the pumpkin pasta sauce, and the pumpkin salsa are automatic buys for me every year. I've tried some of the other stuff, and they're mostly fine. I really like novelty, so it all amuses me.
I think the only thing I didn't love was their pop-tart, and that's because I don't really LIKE pop-tarts anymore mostly. I also don't like pumpkin spice lattes, but that's because I don't like coffee.
posted by PearlRose at 9:27 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I thought I didn't like pumpkin, or pumpkin spices, for the longest time, because my mother can't stand it, so we never had it in the house growing up. About ten years ago, right before I started teaching myself how to bake, a dear friend made me a pumpkin pie after I'd admitted to her that I'd never actually had one. It was delicious! Aromatic and creamy and very different from anything I'd had before.
Now I feel like I have 20+ years of pumpkin spiced everything to catch up on! I really do like spices, so in hindsight, I'm not surprised I'm quite the fan! I add cardamom and lemon peel to my pumpkin spice mix (the idea I think I stole from Trader Joe's pumpkin spice blend), which really brings home that chai-adjacent quality. Now I'm gonna make a pumpkin spice tea latte and celebrate that it finally is starting to feel like fall.
That said: I like Trader Joe's pumpkin goodies the best. The pumpkin spice rooibos tea, the pumpkin spice JoJos, the pumpkin pasta sauce, and the pumpkin salsa are automatic buys for me every year. I've tried some of the other stuff, and they're mostly fine. I really like novelty, so it all amuses me.
I think the only thing I didn't love was their pop-tart, and that's because I don't really LIKE pop-tarts anymore mostly. I also don't like pumpkin spice lattes, but that's because I don't like coffee.
posted by PearlRose at 9:27 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Over the last two weeks I have twice been given pumpkin cakes with carrot cake frosting. I don't care if people tell me it makes me an inferior human being. This is the best cake ever.
posted by happyroach at 11:55 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by happyroach at 11:55 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Referring, presumably, to the type of cream cheese frosting typically applied to carrot cakes.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:29 PM on October 24, 2018
posted by tobascodagama at 1:29 PM on October 24, 2018
I've been meaning to try Vincent Price's pumpkin pie recipe. (Price has unorthodox spice opinions: he goes with mace instead of cinnamon.)
posted by Iridic at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Iridic at 1:31 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
my first beers were pumpkin-pie-spiced, and I still like both of those things even though my tastes have gotten past that since then.
A few years back, my local brewery did a thing where they gave away a sugar-and-spice mix to rim pint glasses with -- like a margarita, except with sugar instead of salt, and seasonal pumpkin beer instead of tequila. It was actually super-good! You could easily make it at home with some demarara sugar and cinnamon or pumpkin-spice blend.
Trader Joe's pumpkin spice blend really is excellent -- I actually prefer using it in savoury dishes, like tagines or stews. I even put a bit in my tourtière.
I always want to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte, but they're usually just too sweet for me. Starbucks is the worst offender there, but even indie shops often over-sweeten. Once, just once, I had a perfect, not-too-sweet pumpkin latte -- it involved a bit of pumpkin puree and maple syrup, among other things.
posted by halation at 3:49 PM on October 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
A few years back, my local brewery did a thing where they gave away a sugar-and-spice mix to rim pint glasses with -- like a margarita, except with sugar instead of salt, and seasonal pumpkin beer instead of tequila. It was actually super-good! You could easily make it at home with some demarara sugar and cinnamon or pumpkin-spice blend.
Trader Joe's pumpkin spice blend really is excellent -- I actually prefer using it in savoury dishes, like tagines or stews. I even put a bit in my tourtière.
I always want to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte, but they're usually just too sweet for me. Starbucks is the worst offender there, but even indie shops often over-sweeten. Once, just once, I had a perfect, not-too-sweet pumpkin latte -- it involved a bit of pumpkin puree and maple syrup, among other things.
posted by halation at 3:49 PM on October 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Everytime Pumpkin Spice season rolls around, I feel like a lonely voice piping up for Gingerbread flavouring.
Gingerbread latte > PS latte!
posted by like_neon at 7:49 AM on October 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Gingerbread latte > PS latte!
posted by like_neon at 7:49 AM on October 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
Gingerbread latte > PS latte!
YES
this comment makes me feel so seen
posted by halation at 12:18 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
YES
this comment makes me feel so seen
posted by halation at 12:18 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've been making pumpkin pie smoothies lately. Yogurt, canned pumpkin, spices, and a little milk to thin if needed. I also add about a tablespoon of cocoa powder - the earthiness complements the pumpkin flavor nicely.
posted by Adamsmasher at 1:09 PM on October 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Adamsmasher at 1:09 PM on October 25, 2018 [3 favorites]
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