FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PUMPKIN SPICE PHENOMENON!

Pumpkin spice is back and it's just as popular now as it was last year. To get you in the pumpkin spice mood (assuming you aren't already there), here are a few fun facts about the fall flavour!

The pumpkin spice flavour profile has been around for centuries. The earliest-known “pumpkin spice” reference dates back to a British recipe from 1675 with pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Other recipes also contain ginger and/or all spice. The blend is used to flavour pumpkin pie, which is how it got its name.

More recently, the spice company Thompson & Taylor Spice Co is credited with giving “Pumpkin Pie Spice” its name. In the late 1930s, companies like Thompson & Taylor and McCormick & Company put the blend on grocery store shelves. Having a pre-mix saved bakers from having to buy several different spices, saving on space and money.

How The PSL Came To Be

The original Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) was brought to the company by Peter Dukes. At the time, he was the company's Director of Espresso. His department was also responsible for the eggnog latte and peppermint mocha.

When testing out what recipe to use, the Starbuck's team poured espresso on top of pumpkin pies. They wanted to be sure they had the right spice blend to accent their coffee. They ended up using a recipe with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.

The PSL didn't actually contain any pumpkin when it was initially released. In 2015, Starbucks tweaked the PSL recipe to include it.

According to data from MyFitnessPal, we order more PSLs on October 31st than any other day of the year. But the pumpkin spice trend hasn't stopped there.

As you have probably seen, the fall flavour has become a staple with new products coming out every autumn. Some of the STRANGEST pumpkin spice products to ever be created include Pumpkin Spice deodorant, Pumpkin Spice dog shampoo, and Pumpkin Spice SPAM.