Panera Bread Pumpkin Spice Latte

This one was a somewhat accidental PSL trial. I was on my way to class at 5:45 and thought I’d get a Starbucks PSL. Unfortunately, the line was out the door. I headed across the street to Dunks and – same problem. Then on the street I ran into Kristina (btw, if you’re reading this you really need to check out her blog, http://ifthatdishcouldtalk.com/ which is 100 times more profesh than mine) who alerted me that there was no line at Panera.

Now usually, I don’t like Panera’s coffee. It tends to taste watered down and like the pots haven’t been cleaned properly. No matter, everything is topsy-turvy in pumpkin spice latte land, and Panera ended up serving me one of the best PSLs I’ve ever tasted.

The secret to the perfect PSL is balance. You shouldn’t forget you’re drinking a latte. There needs to be milk and coffee in there. The spice should be a complement to those flavors.

The best word I can come up with for the flavoring of Panera’s PSL is “soft.” Cinnamon and vanilla meld with the milk flavor, to make a soothing, sleepytime version of the drink. The drink did not come with whipped cream, but the flavor was so balanced, whipped cream might have pushed it over into too sweet territory.

The best part of this drink was that I could continue sipping it for my entire four hour class because the flavoring never turned nasty. It was a highly drinkable, yummy beverage.

Location: Panera in the Theater District

Price: $3 + something

Calories:340

Room Temp Flavor: yummy

Pumpkin Rating: Mommy, Daddy and Baby Jack-o-Lanterns in a Row on a Porch

Peet's Pumpkin Spice Latte

I won’t bury the lede …

Holy schnikes was this a disgusting drink.

I’m surprised at how badly Peet’s f-ed this up, because I’m generally a Peet’s fan and think they get things right more often than not. Their pastries, for example, are the best of any chain coffee shop I know of. And during the summer I’ll routinely go out of my way to hit the Peet’s in Harvard for one of their summer cooler drinks.

But this pumpkin latte? Nope. Nope nope nope. Nopetty nopetty all the nopes.

It would be better if they labeled it what it really is -- a candy corn latte. From the first sip my mouth was filled with that overwhelming sugary waxy flavor, without a hint of espresso taste to balance it out. There was zero spice, zero complexity, not even much of a vanilla flavor. Just a flat fake-sugar / real-sugar mix that was utterly barftastic.

As an aside, I really hate “candy corn” as a flavor. Candy corn, the candy, is fine in the way that peeps are fine. A once-a-year nostalgia trip that’s more decoration than candy.  But why on Earth would someone want a food that isn’t candy corn to taste like candy corn? Candy corn Oreos? No. Give me regular Oreos. Candy corn M&M’s? You should be fired. There’s a reason M&Ms are one of the best selling candies in the world and a bag of candy corn comes out for one month a year and then sits in the storage closet for 11 months before anybody thinks about it again. I promise you no convenience store worker ever dug out the Halloween box in the back room in March because they were jonesing for some candy corn. Stop trying to make candy corn happen.

But in spite of my hatred for candy corn, I’m a live and let live kind of person. If you want a candy corn latte, have at it. But at least have the decency to call it what it is so the rest of us don’t accidentally spend $3.75 on one.

Location: Peet’s in the 360 Café on the Boston Common.

Cost: $3.75

Calories: afraid to ask
Room Temp Flavor: equally bogus 

Pumpkin Rating: Snaggle-tooth Jack-o-lantern Puking Pumpkin Guts

The Pumpkin Spice Latte Challenge

Happy Pumpkin Season everyone!

It seems like just a few years ago Starbucks invented the “Pumpkin Spice Latte” and now it’s an unstoppable force in cafes. Pumpkin spice is everywhere, from pastries to beer to lasagna noodles (don't click this link if you're prone to buying weird foods online). 

Although I love pumpkin, I have to admit that I usually don’t drink many pumpkin beverages. They’re calorie bombs, expensive, and often cloyingly sweet.  I have, maybe, one a year.

Except this year I’ve decided to take advantage of this blog to provide a much needed service to the community. If you, like me, are only drinking one pumpkin spice latte a year, you want to know the pumpkin spice latte you’re drinking is the very best.

So I’ve decided to commit myself to trying every (or as many as I reasonably can) pumpkin spice latte in Boston and tell you which is the best.

I’ll rate these lattes on immediate flavor, flavor after the drink cools (because I cannot chug a hot drink), and overall value. I’ll also do my best to mark down the calories and cost. 

Note – I will be drinking most of these on an empty stomach, because the calorie count and cost are both high enough to replace a meal.

Wish me luck!