Starbucks’ Fan-Favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte Almost Had a Different Name, Creator Says

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte almost had a different name, according to the creator of the fan-favorite beverage.

In a press release shared with PEOPLE in honor of Starbucks celebrating its 20th anniversary since launching its Pumpkin Spice Latte, creator Peter Dukes detailed how the seasonal drink came to be and shared another name it nearly took.

Following the success of the Peppermint Mocha, which had been released the previous winter and marked Starbucks’ first hit seasonal beverage, Dukes was leading the Starbucks Espresso product team at the time, and together they knew they wanted another hit for fall.

“We started with a huge list of ideas and filled a wall with ideas,” Dukes said, according to the post. “We probably had at least a hundred ideas on the wall.”

“Once we got those ideas, we started to chip away at them and came up with a list of about 20 different flavors, including chocolate and caramel — the most popular flavors to pair with coffee — and then there was orange and cinnamon… and there was pumpkins”, he added.

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After surveying customers about which flavors they were most likely to buy, Dukes and his team found that chocolate and caramel drinks topped the list, but pumpkin ranked highly for “uniqueness,” according to the release.

Beginning in the spring of 2003, the group convened in Starbucks’ “Liquid Lab,” which is “a secure research and development space on the 7th floor of Starbucks headquarters in Seattle,” according to the release.

After three months of hard work, the team came up with the recipe for the drink—espresso, pumpkin spice sauce, and steamed milk topped with whipped cream and a little pumpkin pie topping—but still had to find a suitable name for the drink.

“There was a desire to pick a really unique name, like Fall Harvest Latte,” Dukes said. “In the end, we decided on the Pumpkin Spice Latte because the spices play a very important role in bringing out the flavor of the pumpkin, while at the same time emphasizing the espresso in the cup.”

Starbucks store.

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By that fall, Starbucks had released the drink as a test in about 100 stores in Washington, DC, and Vancouver, Canada.

“Within the first week of the market test, we knew we had a winner,” Dukes said, according to the post. “I remember calling the store managers on the phone to see how the new drink was progressing and we could hear the excitement in their voices.”

In the fall of 2004, the Pumpkin Spice Latte appeared in the United States and Canada. But despite its success, Starbucks at one point toyed with the idea of ​​discontinuing the drink.

“We launched the PSL very well, but then there were discussions about its cancellation,” Dukes explained. “Back then, the idea was, ‘Hey, we want to keep things new, keep them fresh.’ And luckily, we’ve been bringing it back. With the advent of social media, it’s taken it to a whole new level.”

“No one knew at the beginning what it was going to grow into,” added Dukes — who now works with Starbucks’ market strategy team within Store Development. “20 years later, it’s taken on a life of its own.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education