CALIFORNIA — Fall is nearly here, and as the sweltering weather gives way to cool temps, that can only mean one thing: Pumpkin spice has arrived.
Surely I can’t be the only one sick of pumpkin-flavored everything being flaunted by everyone from McDonald’s to Bath & Body Works year after year. Pumpkin spice is delicious — but oh, how I long for a variety of autumnal tastes and smells in my cornucopia.
Fortunately, fast food establishments, coffee shops and restaurants are taking note. As the pumpkin spice-obsessed days of the 2010s wane, eateries have begun adding new fall flavors to their seasonal menus — alongside a healthy portion of pumpkin-flavored favorites.
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Fall into these non-pumpkin-flavored autumnal offerings from chains across California:
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
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New this year, the homegrown California favorite coffee shop has introduced a pair of salted maple coffees, offering a salty-and-sweet fix to coffee fanatics.
The Salted Maple Ice Blended is a sweet, icy bled of maple sauce, vanilla powder, espresso and milk.
And Coffee Bean describes the Salted Maple Hot Latte as having “a delicate touch of saltiness, balancing the warm and comforting flavor of maple for a delicious treat.”
Salt & Straw
Through September, the artisanal ice cream chain is going all in — not on pumpkin, but apple — with their five-flavor Apple Series, four of which are brand new.
Apple Pie vs. Pumpkin Pie swirls two different flavors: Granny Smith apple pie and a shortbread cookie crust in vanilla custard alongside pumpkin pie in brown sugar ice cream.
Apple Cider Donuts features stripes of cinnamon-spiced vanilla caramel through royal icing-inspired ice cream and hunks of sugar-and-spice and streusel in a collaboration with Southern California’s Sidecar Doughnuts.
Finnriver’s Black Currant Apple Cider is based on Finnriver cidery’s Autumn Blush hard cider release. “This pink sparkling cider is transformed into pâte de fruits and a delicate apple-and-black-currant infused sherbet,” Salt & Straw says.
Green Apple Wasabi Sorbet features “juiced genuine wasabi” from Oregon Coast Wasabi blended with green apple juice. “Red and golden delicious apples pop against the wasabi’s gentle heat and vegetal flavor for an unexpected, refreshing bite,” according to Salt & Straw.
Caramel Apple Sherbet is an apple juice sherbet with vanilla-infused caramel ribbons.
Panera
The bakery cafe chain’s fall menu includes a new Almond Pastry, filled with sweet almond filling and topped with icing and sliced almonds, and a new Cherry Pastry, filled with a tart cherry filling and topped with icing.
Dunkin’
For the first time since 2021, Dunkin’ is bringing back its Apple Cider Donut — a classic New England farmstand treat that combines the deliciousness of a fried donut with the spice of apple cider.
Additionally, Dunkin’ is bringing back its maple sugar bacon as a sweet-and-salty addition to breakfast sandwiches.
And there’s a brand-new addition to the menu with Almond Spice Coffee, which features toasted almond and (sigh) sweet pumpkin flavors.
Starbucks
The coffee giant claims to have invented the very first pumpkin spice latte 21 years ago. But its seasonal fall menu has grown beyond that signature beverage.
It now includes the new Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai, which Starbucks said originated as a popular customer customization. It features the warm flavors of chai alongside oat milk and topped with nondairy apple crisp cold foam.
Other variations on the theme include the Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato, the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso, the Iced Caramel Apple Cream Latte and the Iced Honey Apple Almondmilk Flat White.
In the bakery case, you’ll find the Baked Apple Croissant.
Paris Baguette
The Korean-born bakery-cafe has a full fall menu featuring many non-pumpkin items:
The Maple Pecan Layer Cake features three layers of vanilla sponge filled with maple pecan cream and topped with caramel sauce. Other baked goods include the Pecan Tart and Chocolate Cream Puff Tart.
New meal items include the Turkey, Cranberry & Goat Cheese Croissant Sandwich, the Turkey, Apple & Goat Cheese Baguette Sandwich and the Harvest Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese.
And its fall drinks include the Maple Oatmilk Latte and Maple Sweet Cream Cold Brew.
Drive-Thru Diary is a journey of all that’s delicious, noteworthy and downright weird in the world of fast food, quick bites and the culinary field at large. Got an idea? I’d love to hear from you: [email protected].
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