The Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks as of Tuesday, August 25 — a full 29 days before fall actually begins on September 22, as NBC Chicago points out — and this year it brought company: six brand-new drinks, including a chai-cider hybrid called the Chaider, two banana bread-flavored lattes, and three new pumpkin variations. There’s also a merch line, a Martha Stewart promo campaign, and a firm answer from Starbucks’ CEO to the eternal question of year-round PSL: no. Here’s the full menu, what everything costs, and which new drinks an early taste test says are actually worth your money.
Key Takeaways
- The Pumpkin Spice Latte returned Tuesday, August 25 — 29 days before fall officially begins on September 22, per NBC Chicago.
- Six new drinks came with it, from the $4.95, 90-calorie Chaider to the $7.25, 420-calorie Iced Banana Bread Latte, per Food Republic.
- Food Republic's taste test picked the Pumpkin Spice Chai as the winner and the Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso as the letdown.
- CEO Brian Niccol says the PSL still isn't going year-round: it's "really the defining drink of a season."
The headliner: 23 years of PSL
The Pumpkin Spice Latte has been an annual late-summer ritual since 2003, per USA Today — made with real pumpkin flavor, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, Starbucks Signature Espresso, and steamed milk, topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spices, available hot, iced, or blended. To launch this year’s season, Starbucks released a promo video pairing Martha Stewart with actor Belmont Cameli, per USA Today and Yahoo.
And if you’re wondering why Starbucks doesn’t just sell it year-round, CEO Brian Niccol answered that directly to Yahoo Finance: “We’ve talked about this a couple times, and we come back to the conclusion that it’s really the defining drink of a season. As of right now, we’ve got no plans to put it on permanently.”
The six new drinks — with prices and calories
Food Republic’s launch-day taste test documents the full new lineup, with grande prices (which vary by location) and calorie counts:
- Chaider — $4.95, 90 calories. Chai meets apple cider: cinnamon, warm spices, and cider-inspired flavor, hot or iced. The lightest and cheapest new option.
- Pumpkin Spice Chai — $6.25, 260 calories. Pumpkin sauce plus classic chai with pumpkin spice topping.
- Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha — $6.25, 350 calories.
- Iced Banana Bread Chai — $6.45, 350 calories.
- Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso — $6.75, 310 calories.
- Iced Banana Bread Latte — $7.25, 420 calories. The priciest and most indulgent of the bunch.
The banana drinks are a strategic outlier: both combine banana, cinnamon, and brown sugar to evoke “warm baked treats,” per USA Today — and unlike the pumpkin lineup, they’ll stay on the menu beyond fall.
The taste-test verdicts
Food Republic’s reviewer ordered every new drink unmodified, and two early results stand out.
The disappointment: the Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso. The pumpkin flavor lives entirely in the cold foam — “once it’s gone, you’re essentially left with a brown-sugar-and-cinnamon flavored shaken espresso.” The fix, per the review: add pumps of pumpkin sauce.
The winner: the Pumpkin Spice Chai, which was “bursting with pumpkin flavor from my very first sip” and “tastes remarkably similar to a slice of pumpkin pie.” The reviewer calls it perfect for pumpkin lovers who don’t drink coffee — and it comes iced with Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam too.
Returning favorites and the food case
Back on the menu as of August 25, per NBC Chicago and Yahoo: the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai, Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, and the pecan family — Pecan Cortado, Pecan Crunch Latte, and Iced Pecan Crunch Latte.
The food lineup adds a new Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket (whole-wheat lavash with chicken, bacon, and garlic-herb cheese spread) and — the internet’s early favorite — a Hedgehog Cake Pop: vanilla cake and buttercream dipped in chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, per Yahoo. The Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, with its spiced pepitas, returns.
Yes, there’s PSL merch now
Starbucks also launched a “PSL Society” merchandise collection in U.S. stores, per USA Today — drinkware and apparel “inspired by the colors and cozy rituals of the season.” The lineup runs from a $19.95 gourd-shaped ceramic mug to a $32.95 Owala water bottle, with a glass PSL cold cup ($24.95), a tumbler with a pumpkin charm ($22.95), and a $29.95 embroidered PSL hat in between. The pumpkin-spice industrial complex is fully vertically integrated.
Why August keeps getting earlier
The launch’s real story is seasonal creep as strategy. The August 25 arrival lands nearly a month before the equinox, per NBC Chicago — while it’s still, as Yahoo puts it, “technically still summer.” Niccol’s Yahoo Finance comments explain the logic: since Starbucks won’t make the PSL permanent, it maximizes the season instead — “we will make the most out of people wanting to experience a great pumpkin spice latte season.” An earlier start is more season to monetize, and the rest of the industry follows: NBC Chicago notes McDonald’s is countering with its own fall drink launch.
What happens next
The fall menu runs for a limited time, with the pumpkin lineup typically vanishing when holiday drinks arrive in early November. If the taste-test consensus holds, expect the Pumpkin Spice Chai to earn a permanent place in the fall rotation and the Chaider to become this year’s social-media curiosity — at $4.95 and 90 calories, it’s positioned as the low-commitment gateway drink. The banana bread lattes are the ones to watch long-term, since Starbucks says they’re staying past fall; if they sell, the chain has effectively used PSL season to launch a new year-round franchise.
Starbucks isn’t the only one starting fall early: our Labor Day 2026 guide covers the September 7 long weekend that traditionally closes summer, Halloween Horror Nights is already open at Universal, and our fall movie preview maps a stacked September at the multiplex.
Quick poll
Which new fall drink are you trying first?
Food Republic's taste test crowned the Pumpkin Spice Chai, calling it "bursting with pumpkin flavor from my very first sip."
FAQ
When did the Pumpkin Spice Latte come back in 2026? Tuesday, August 25 — along with Starbucks’ entire fall menu, 29 days before the official start of fall.
What new drinks are on the Starbucks fall 2026 menu? Six: the Chaider (chai plus apple cider flavors), Pumpkin Spice Chai, Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso, Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha, Iced Banana Bread Latte, and Iced Banana Bread Chai.
How much do the new Starbucks fall drinks cost? Grande prices in Food Republic’s test ranged from $4.95 (Chaider) to $7.25 (Iced Banana Bread Latte), though prices vary by location.
Will Starbucks ever sell the PSL year-round? No plans, per CEO Brian Niccol, who told Yahoo Finance it’s “really the defining drink of a season.”
