By: Anne Barry '27 and Victoria Polites '27
Photo Courtesy of Anne Barry '27
The new Richmond Road Starbucks is now open just in time for fall! Dog Street Journal new members Vic and Anne decided to head downtown and test all of the new 2023 fall drinks. The new building is done in a colonial style with revolutionary design aspects on the outside. The inside is the complete opposite and has a modern finish and arrangement, while the layout offers spacious seating on both the front and back porch. These thoughtful design aspects make it the perfect place to study or catch up with friends on any autumn day.
Now, let's “fall” into the ratings! For each drink, we rated them out of ten with one being the worst and ten being the best.
The first one we tried was the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte. This one was spicier than originally expected. The drink was overwhelmingly full of nutmeg and cinnamon flavor and gave us nostalgic feelings of cozy fall days. The sweet foam on top provided a nice layer of sweetness in contrast to the spice of the chai flavor underneath. Surprisingly, for being a pumpkin drink, there was not as much pumpkin flavor as expected. This was immediately Anne’s favorite and now her “go-to” order for fall!
Ratings:
Vic: 8
Anne: 9
Next, we have the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Looking at it, we thought the drink would be sweet because of the sugary foam and how it immediately melted into the cold brew. However, after the first sip, we both were in shock at how bitter and strong the coffee flavor was. Anne, a dark-roast coffee fiend, loved the acidic taste of the cold brew, but Vic, a sugary latte drinker, was not a fan. The debate between the love of Starbuck’s coffee and cold brew flavor is a popular discussion and whatever side you stand on just know this drink is for the Starbucks lovers. Although the sweet foam left a lingering sweet spice flavor after every sip, it was not enough to overpower the cold brew. Vic’s final thought was that the more she drank it, the more she hated it.
Ratings:
Vic: 5
Anne: 7
As everyone knows, the Pumpkin Spice Latte or PSL is a CLASSIC! Beloved by the majority of the population and the pinnacle of fall, this drink was a must try. We went into the tasting very excited, but we were ultimately let down by the hype. Our experience did not include a magical fall feeling like expected. Rather, the drink tasted surprising like a hotdog for lack of a better term. When you first smell the drink, you get the usual notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, however on the tongue a disgusting grilled taste takes over. This drink can really only be understood by those who taste it though we warn for your safety if you dare to. This was our least favorite by far.
Ratings:
Vic: 6
Anne: 2
Next is the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. Unfortunately for us, this one also was a major letdown. Anne was excited for this drink the most because of her love for apple pie and the thought that the oat milk and apple flavor would portray that, but she was very wrong. The drink smelled and tasted like it was from Bath and Body Works fall collection in the worst way possible. While both the flavors of apple and cinnamon were there, it was more like a soggy apple. A correct comparison would be to a raw apple pie that has none of the usual baked flavor. Along with this odd fragrant taste, the taste of oat milk was still present which might make this drink more enjoyable for avid oat milk lovers. While this was better than the disastrous PSL, it still was not at the top of our list.
Ratings:
Vic: 4
Anne: 4
Last but not least, we tried the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato! Immediately, we recognized the familiar Bath and Body Works aroma that we saw with the Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. However, after tasting it, we noticed that the flavor of the oat milk is far more prevalent compared to the last one we tried. The oat milk covers a lot of the unpleasantly fragrant apple taste making it a much more enjoyable experience. Because it still lacked a good flavor profile, the drink was just half and half.
Ratings:
Vic: 5
Anne: 6
Now, let’s get to our final thoughts!
Photo Courtesy of Anne Barry '27
Overall, there were shocks and surprises by all of the drinks. A lot of the pre-assumed favorites were not favorites in the end; for example, the horrid Pumpkin Spice Latte which still haunts our nightmares. We also felt extremely let down by all the apple flavored products from Starbucks. They sounded great, but the off-putting smell and disgustingly fragrant taste made for an awful drink. Although there were some low points, there were also some drinks that really grew on us or more accurately one drink: The Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai Tea Latte. This was by far the favorite out of all the drinks we tried. With the perfect amount of pumpkin spice mixed with the classic chai flavor, we were wowed. While this drink was perfect, the majority of the Starbucks Fall 2023 drink menu fell flat. Hopefully, Starbucks will get back in the lab and work on their flavors and till then the Dog Street Journal is looking forward to seeing what Starbucks thinks up for 2024!
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