It's a seasonal rite of passage that often arrives well before the season itself. It's a plea for sweater weather in a cup, even when the weather is better suited to sweating.
Your mom's favorite way to celebrate autumn in the middle of summer with a coffee that tastes only vaguely like coffee is here.
The simultaneously maligned and beloved Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, or PSL if you prefer, is back as of Aug. 25, nearly a full month before fall officially begins.
This year's early arrival comes with the queen of aspirational seasonal table decor herself, Martha Stewart.
"Oh Pumpkin Spice Latte? The drink that makes us all a little more basic?" Stewart said in the self-aware
Starbucks ad campaign that declares "basic is back."
Stewart, after taking a sip, declares the drink "smells like her house in the fall. It's perfect."
The PSL isn't attempting to cancel summer alone, with Starbucks' 2026 fall menu including three new pumpkin drinks, two banana bread-inspired drinks and something called an Iced Chaider, which, despite what the name might lead you to believe, does not contain apple cider.
Here's what's new and returning at Starbucks this fall.
What's in the Pumpkin Spice Latte?
The drink, first launched in 2003, combines espresso and steamed milk with pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove flavors. And yes, it does contain actual pumpkin. Starbucks added pumpkin puree to the recipe in 2015 after years of criticism that its Pumpkin Spice Latte was pumpkin-less.
Also returning are the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai.
What new pumpkin drinks are at Starbucks in 2026?
Starbucks added three pumpkin drinks to the fall menu this year according to a company release:
- Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso: Blonde Espresso shaken with brown sugar syrup and cinnamon, served over ice with oatmilk and with pumpkin cream cold foam.
- Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha: Iced matcha topped with pumpkin cream cold foam.
- Pumpkin Spice Chai: Black tea with cinnamon and other spices, steamed milk and pumpkin sauce, finished with pumpkin spice topping.
Starbucks has banana bread drinks now
Banana bread is apparently a beverage now, too.
The new Iced Banana Bread Latte combines Blonde Espresso, banana syrup, milk and ice with brown sugar cream cold foam and cinnamon dolce topping.
The Iced Banana Bread Chai takes the same idea in another direction, combining chai and banana syrup with brown sugar cream cold foam and cinnamon dolce topping.
What is a Starbucks Iced Chaider?
Perhaps the most confusing new drink on Starbucks' fall menu is the Iced Chaider.
And no, that's not quite chai plus cider.
Starbucks makes the drink by combining its chai with strawberry acai flavors, which the company says creates a "cider-like" beverage.
Pecan drinks are back, too
The Pecan Cortado returns this fall, made with Blonde Espresso, pecan flavors and steamed whole milk.
Hot and iced versions of the Pecan Crunch Latte are also returning.
Mackensy Lunsford is the senior dining reporter for The Tennessean. Reach her at mlunsford@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Basic is back'. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte returns with fall menu
