As I write this, it’s 91 degrees in Chicago. If I dream of any drink, it’s a delicious cold glass of lemonade, or maybe frozen coconut limeade, which is sweet and tart and refreshing. But surprising citrus drinks are appropriate. We have now officially entered the pumpkin herb season; this year, actually, saw the earliest release of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte ea. The absolute last thing I want is a steaming hot cup of milk with espresso and warming herbs. But here we are. I got on the phone with Marie Wright, Chief Global Flavorist at ADM Nutrition, who previously demystified hard seltzers for us, to talk about why everyone loves pumpkin herb and if it will ever be remembered as the taste of autumn.
The treat: It seems strange to me that so many people love pumpkin herb as pumpkin pie itself is so … divisive.
Marie Wright: I wonder if people even eat pumpkin pie when there is no pumpkin spice in it. Pumpkin does not taste so good. It’s nice in ravioli, but we have a lot of cheese to counter it. But pumpkin spice is a comforting taste, a nostalgic taste. They are warm flavors, they make us comfortable, warm, relaxed. The combination of what is in pumpkin herb – cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and good pumpkin herb also has allspice. It’s very fragrant. All are very nostalgic flavors, very comforting. Ginger comforts itself from a digestive perspective. There is a relationship between taste and memories and emotions. Where we store all the information in our brains about taste is the same place that evokes emotion and memories. It also works in so many applications. Everyone brings out their latte early this year.
TO: Why is that? It’s still summer!
MW: It’s definitely COVID. It is very well known in the sector that everyone is really looking to comfort food, to comfort tastes. We have all been very worried. We still have a very uncertain time ahead of us. We seek an allowed pleasure, we seek foods that make us feel good, that give us some sort of respite from this frightening time. It’s very topical. It will be interesting to see how long the season is, how long they extend it beyond what they would normally do. We are looking for those latte, warm herbs to make you feel better. Herbs have a very nice effect on us and the way we feel. Does that sound crazy? I think even more, this year pumpkin spice has become attractive. There’s a hard seltzer – I do not know if it has been launched yet, but it will have pumpkin herb. There is a lot of excitement about pumpkin herb.
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TO: We at The Takeout wondered why Starbucks and all those other places no longer include late summer flavors, like plums or even apples, and instead jump straight to pumpkin spice.
MW: Apples do not do as well as pumpkin spice. There are many fun things you can do with apple and apple cider vinegar, but pumpkin seeds are reminiscent of holiday time. It’s really about nostalgia. An apple herb latte doesn’t really work. Apple notes do not fit so well with that kind of drink. It is not so compatible with coffee. I thought it could be done well, if you put a few citrus notes in it. It is really indicative of the versatility of pumpkin spice that it goes in many products. I do not feel nostalgic about apples. Do you?
TO: I do it. Most of the time caramel apples.
MW: Caramel apples definitely stand out. The herbs in a chai are also really sweet in a latte, it works really well. And trends kind of catch on. When people think of pumpkin seeds, they think of holiday season, they get hot, they get excited.
TO: Has pumpkin spice been caught in other parts of the world? Or are they all laughing around us?
MW: We have warming herbs in the UK and the Commonwealth. She wants to laugh about the pumpkin pie. They are scared of it. It does not even look attractive. The first Thanksgiving dinner I was invited to, I went for the apple pie.
TO: Will pumpkin spice ever be dehydrated as the taste of autumn?
MW: I don’t know if pumpkin herb is unheard of, that can be a bit stretchy. You talk about caramel apple, and gingerbread is a very popular compendium. People do not think pumpkin spice ginger is in it, but it does. Some people will not eat ginger, but they will eat pumpkin herb. Gingerbread is therefore in emerging taste. Also peppermint. I saw last year that there was a shake, white chocolate mocha peppermint. It was absolutely insanely delicious. You think of peppermint and the twist on peppermint, it can definitely be a competitor.
Kicking pumpkin seeds can be a trick. Sometimes I think, pumpkin spice again, can we not have something more exciting? It would be nice to have something not so much on the herb side. Smoked butterscotch felt very warm, hot and wintery. Maybe it has no link to childhood memories, but I think it could be a new candidate. Fig is also becoming more popular, spiced fig. It must be in a latte to resonate, right? You can make apple pie work well, if you can get the pie notes. Maple can work. But I think pumpkin spice has some life in it.
TO: What did we have in the fall for pumpkin seeds? I do not even know it anymore.
MW: Coffee culture has only exploded in the past 20 years. The latte thing started with vanilla and hazelnut. Hazelnut is unheard of, is not it? You would be thought to be from the 90s if you had hazelnut. It’s funny to think about. It’s such a strange thing to be fashionable. It’s funny to think that pomegranate was everywhere. Everything was pomegranate. Acai has also gone out of fashion.
TO: But they were magical superfoods!
MW: [Laughs.] I know. Then we started getting more taste experiment. Chai and spiced lattes kind of hit. Mocha has always been popular.
TO: It’s hard to beat chocolate.
MW: I put some money on mocha peppermint. I could not believe how good it tasted. If you’re a big business like Starbucks, Dunkin ‘, or McDonald’s, you need to appeal to the masses. When you introduce something, you have to sell a lot of it. This year the message is, “Don’t worry, people, I know COVIDs are here, but you got your pumpkin spice latte.”
I like the idea of gradually warming flavors. From summer, you can switch from cold drinks, such as adding cardamom to citrus. But cardamom is still out of the mainstream.
TO: Hormel released last year Pumpkin Spice SPAM. Do you think pumpkin herb has a future in salty or salty snack foods?
MW: We associate pumpkin herb with sweet, but it is not sweet. We think of it for baking, but you can use it in savory dishes. It’s hard to do. Pumpkin spice hin, curries. You can imagine a samosa with some pumpkin herb in it. The name is one thing, it is not, but the ingredient allows him such versatility. That blend is so aromatic and fragrant and delicious.
Chips? Maybe. Sure snack foods, like bars. Mac and cheese I could imagine. You think of nutmeg and cinnamon. I use a lot of herbs in my cooking, and small turns make a difference. You could certainly see that. I think we should eat it. I’m sure we would do that. Small goldfish? We can be something of this.
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