Western Pennsylvania coffee shops release fall-themed drinks
With September here and leaves changing, it’s time to say a solemn goodbye to summer barbecues and pool days. Some are eager to turn their backs on the sunshine, ready to say hello to a crisp breeze — and the iconic pumpkin spice latte.
Starbucks pumpkin spice latte is included on the coffee giant’s fall menu, which launched Aug. 24, for the 20th year in a row. The company introduced the drink in 2003 and added real pumpkin puree to the recipe in 2015.
Dunkin’ released its fall menu Aug. 16.
The flavor that quickly became a fall staple has affected almost every category of consumption in America. In the fiscal year ending July 29, U.S. sales of pumpkin-flavored products increased by 42% from the same time in 2019, reaching $802.5 million, according to Nielsen. There are now pumpkin spice Oreos, Goldfish, protein drinks, craft beers, marshmallows and bagels that roll out before the leaves start changing colors.
Abby Laliberte, manager of Steel Cup Coffee Roasters in New Kensington, takes her coffee very seriously and made special fall syrups for the menu the shop released Sept. 1. To hold their customers over until the full fall frenzy, she tried her hand at working with peach flavors.
“I think peach really goes well with the fall flavors,” Laliberte said. “I think it helps us hold onto summer a little longer while we transition into full-on fall.”
She said the shop offers a peach lemonade, a peach white mocha, a pumpkin spice latte and its made-in-house syrups including apple cinnamon. It rolled out its fall dessert menu in mid-August, including pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon apple muffins and maple cinnamon rolls from New Kensington bakery Farm House Fresh.
“I think that we roast our coffee fresh every day really makes the drink,” said Steel Cup barista Christina Bolcato of New Kensington.
Bolcato said she loves fall-flavored drinks and waits for pumpkin spice every year.
“I just love fall,” Bolcato said. “I love pumpkin patches. I love Halloween. The drinks really just put me in a fall mood.”
To put a little spin on the traditional, she prefers a pumpkin white mocha.
“It tastes like cheesecake,” Bolcato said. “It’s so good.”
Katelynn Jones, owner of Cattfeinated Cat Cafe in Greensburg, is another person who loves fall and loves decorating for it even more.
“Marshalls and T.J. Maxx starts calling my name at this time of year,” Jones said.
The cafe owner habitually changes her drink menu each month, often matching drink names and flavors with a specific theme. This month is no different. Jones said she started September with a fall refresher menu including a sparkling apple cider, a blackberry refresher and a lotus energy drink made with green coffee beans. She refused to make her customers wait and rolled out a pumpkin spice latte along with a maple pancake latte in mid-August.
Nearing the end of September, Jones plans to introduce a “witches potion” menu. It will include a brown sugar cold foam, pumpkin pie cold foam and a basic witch — also known as a pumpkin spice latte.
“We just want to give a warm cozy taste in your mouth for fall, and we like to name them fun things,” Jones said.
Desiree Singleton, owner of Harvest Moon Coffee & Chocolates, has spent just over three years trying to decide the perfect time to release her shop’s fall menu since she opened in Tarentum.
“My first year, in 2020, I held out because I was worried about releasing the fall flavors too early,” Singleton said. “This year, we released pumpkin spice on Aug. 16.”
Singleton said she received some mixed reviews about releasing the popular fall staple so early. Responses on the shop’s Instagram ranged from excitement to confusion — and some exasperation.
“I love the fall,” Singleton said. “I throw a sweatshirt on any time that I can. That in-between time, when it’s not too hot and not too cold, it’s the best time of the year.”
Singleton said she doesn’t release the pumpkin spice to get a jump in sales. She knows people genuinely enjoy it, and, when she starts getting requests, she puts it out. Later this fall, Singleton said the shop also added a pumpkin chai, pumpkin frappe and a maple latte with cardamom.
Coffee isn’t for everyone, but it doesn’t mean people have to be left out of the season’s festivities. Marcus Weakland, co-owner of Steep Mountain Tea Co. in Greensburg, said the shop released a fall-themed menu of teas. It offers a black pumpkin spice tea, caramel apple black tea, cinnamon apple rooibos tea, pumpkin matcha and a pumpkin cold brew.
Weakland said the shop likely will be adding more options to the menu, considering it has been receiving questions about the fall menu since mid-August.
“I always say that there’s regular-weather seasons, and then there’s drink seasons,” Weakland said. “It feels like fall-themed drink lovers are always excited for the flavors to come out.”
Haley Daugherty is a TribLive reporter covering local politics, feature stories and Allegheny County news. A native of Pittsburgh, she lived in Alabama for six years. She joined the Trib in 2022 after graduating from Chatham University. She can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com.
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