{"id":298412,"date":"2026-10-02T15:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/298412\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T15:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:10:12","slug":"philly-coffee-shops-making-a-defense-for-the-pumpkin-spice-latte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/298412\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly coffee shops making a defense for the pumpkin spice latte"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to talk about fall\u2019s most beloved and most detested drink \u2014 the pumpkin spice latte.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Starbucks first put the pumpkin spice latte, also known as the PSL, on their menu 23 years ago, adding flavors like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves (and notably no pumpkin<\/a>) to their lattes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This set off an unstoppable chain reaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pumpkin pie spiced flavors rapidly began spreading well beyond Starbucks and even beyond coffee. Walk into any Trader Joe\u2019s right now. There are pumpkin spice cookies, bagels, ice cream and even pumpkin spice pumpkin seeds. Starbucks has generated billions in revenue off the PSL, per Business Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, despite the pumpkin spice latte\u2019s overwhelming success \u2014 many people have come to ridicule the beverage as an overhyped, cloyingly sweet, kitschy product associated with white women. In this sense, the drink has kind of become the Taylor Swift of beverages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, I like Taylor Swift. And, I like pumpkin spice lattes, too. I believe both are brilliant \u2014 despite some recent setbacks.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2022, Newsweek<\/a> talked with a Starbucks barista and reported that the company changed its PSL recipe to include \u201creal pumpkin ingredient.\u201d Some customers noticed a difference in taste that felt inferior and artificial. (A Starbucks representative did note that \u201cnothing about the recipe has changed.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Even so, just because Starbucks popularized the pumpkin spice latte, does not mean that they make the best one. A proper pumpkin spice latte is balanced, spice-forward and not too sweet. It honestly doesn\u2019t necessarily need pumpkin flavoring in it. After all, this is about pumpkin spice, not pumpkin. Getting it nice and spicy is the most important part, and large chains like Starbucks, Dunkin\u2019 and even La Colombe often miss in this department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, there are plenty of coffee shops around the city, delivering on the good PSL name. I used to think I didn\u2019t like pumpkin spice lattes until I tried one at my local coffee spot.<\/p>\n

Getting a premium pumpkin spice latte is not always easy to find. Many quality coffee spots in the city offer their own spiced autumn latte instead. But when you can find a good one, it\u2019s clear that the PSL is a delicious fall staple that shall not be overturned.<\/p>\n

We found five spots around the city that know what they\u2019re doing when it comes to coffee and pumpkin spice.<\/p>\n

Knockbox Cafe in West Philly<\/p>\n

Knockbox Cafe delivers a knockout-punch when it comes to their pumpkin spice latte. Tucked along a tree lined street in Spruce Hill, their PSL is perfectly spiced for a brisk fall day. What\u2019s more, if you don\u2019t want to go full on latte vibes, the cafe also sells spiced coffee grounds with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.<\/p>\n

Mighty Bread in South Philly<\/p>\n

Mighty Bread is usually packed thanks to their impressive spread of pastries and fresh-made loaves, so you may have to wait in line. Still, if you\u2019re worried about your pumpkin spice latte feeling too sugary, this is the one for you. Mighty Bread\u2019s PSL was spice-forward and the least sweet of the drinks we tried.<\/p>\n

The Ground in North Philly and Rittenhouse<\/p>\n

The Ground is a cozy cafe that doubles as a plant and gift shop. There\u2019s plants all around the place, so you can take a little green friend home along with your pumpkin spice latte \u2014 which by the way passes our sweet to spice test ratio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Batter & Crumbs in South Philly<\/p>\n

Batter and Crumb is a vegan bakery in Point Breeze, where you can pick up plant-based breakfast sandwiches and pastries. Oat milk is the default choice here. They also have a tasty pumpkin spice latte that checks all the boxes when it comes to spiced autumn goodness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vibrant Coffee Roasters (multiple locations)<\/p>\n

Vibrant is selling a maple pumpkin spice latte this fall. Their house-made pumpkin syrup does not taste artificial, and the added Vermont maple syrup adds to the overall fall coziness. This drink is on the sweeter side of our list, but in a good way. The recipe is nice, balanced and worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. It\u2019s time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[123151,9598,564,1515,123152,90110,69,71,70,123153,5519,123154,16837],"class_list":["post-298412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-batter-crumbs","tag-coffee","tag-featured","tag-food","tag-knockout-cafe","tag-mighty-bread","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-pumpkin-spice-latte","tag-starbucks","tag-the-ground","tag-vibrant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}