Five Things You Probably Don't Know About the Pumpkin Spice Phenomenon
Starbucks brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte this week, which is the earliest it's ever been on menus. So here are five things you might be surprised to learn about the whole pumpkin spice craze . . .
1. The flavor profile has been around for centuries. Pumpkin was a common ingredient in Native American recipes. And the earliest-known "pumpkin spice" reference dates back to a British recipe from 1675 with pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
More recently, the spice company McCormick is credited with giving "pumpkin pie spice" its name and putting it on grocery store shelves in the 1950s.
2. The original Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte didn't contain any pumpkin. The drink got its name from all the spices that go in a pumpkin pie, but it didn't contain any actual pumpkin. Then, in 2015, Starbucks tweaked the recipe to include it.
3. People drink the most Pumpkin Spice Lattes on Halloween. According to data from MyFitnessPal, we order more PSLs on October 31st than any other day of the year.
4. The states where pumpkin spice food products are most popular are California, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, and Utah.
5. Some of the STRANGEST pumpkin spice products to ever be created include Pumpkin Spice deodorant,Pumpkin Spice dog shampoo, and Pumpkin Spice SPAM.
(Scientific American/TRIB Live/The Travel)
Originally posted on August 28th, 2020