It’s that time of year again. Fall: the season when Americans are once again infatuated with everything that has to do with pumpkin spice. This annual pumpkin spice takeover first began in 2003 when Starbucks debuted their most popular seasonal beverage of all time, the pumpkin spice latte. Since then, the pumpkin spice flavor has become such a cultural obsession that it cannot simply be autumn without its mention and recognition. As a result, pumpkin and pumpkin spice themed items flood the shelves of supermarkets giving rise to a whole market of products from cream cheese, pretzels, beers, and everything in between. As an American consumer myself who not only loves Starbucks pumpkin themed beverages (and headed right over to Starbucks on August 24th, the day they came back) but also pumpkin pie, I felt that it was my duty (or in other words, something I was very excited to do) to purchase, taste, and review as many pumpkin spice or pumpkin flavored snacks as I could find.
In my trips to Giant and Target, here are the pumpkin flavored products I have found: Super Coffee maple pumpkin, Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte creamer, Philadelphia pumpkin spice cream cheese, Loven Fresh pumpkin spice bagels, Stauffers pumpkin spice snaps, pumpkin pie Pop Tarts, Pepperidge Farms pumpkin spice swirl bread, Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, Talenti pumpkin pie gelato, Little Bites pumpkin muffins, Tastykake baked pumpkin pie, Favorite Day pumpkin spice pretzels, Favorite Day pumpkin white chocolate crisp cookies, Bigs pumpkin seeds, Tastykake pumpkin spice mini donuts, and Favorite Day pumpkin spice almonds.
Two of my housemates and I decided to taste test these items and rank them in order of worst to best for overall flavor (not just pumpkin flavor).
- Philadelphia Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese and L’oven Fresh Pumpkin Bagels
Overall rating: 9
Emma: 9
Bella: 9
Kylie: 9
Commentary: “I love it” – Emma, good pumpkin flavor all together, the cream cheese is very sweet but has a perfect pumpkin flavor, would not change anything about the bagels- great pumpkin flavor and not too strong, Emma would like the bagel more with just plain cream cheese, would definitely recommend the bagels, would recommend the cream cheese but make sure you are aware that it is sweet, both bagel and cream cheese taste more pumpkiny than like spice
– Cream cheese purchased at Giant, Bagels purchased at Target
- Pepperidge Farm Swirl Pumpkin Spice Bread
Overall rating: 8.33
Emma: 8
Bella: 8
Kylie: 9
Commentary: very good, Bella and Kylie cannot taste the pumpkin flavor much but Emma says she can and can tell the difference between this bread and cinnamon bread, still thinks there is more of a subtle pumpkin flavor overall, tastes a lot like cinnamon bread raisin bread without the raisins, would recommend because it tastes good but is not very pumpkiny
– Purchased at Giant
- BiGS Pumpkin Seeds
Overall rating: 8.33
Emma: 9
Bella: 8
Kylie: 8
Commentary: very good, salty, crunchy, “a good salt intervention after all the sweet things”- Kylie, would recommend if you like salt and seeds, obviously not a pumpkin flavored product but still made from a pumpkin,
– Purchased at Giant
- Talenti Gelato Pumpkin Pie
Overall rating: 8.17
Emma: 9
Bella: 7.5
Kylie: 8
Commentary: “it has a perfect pumpkin taste”- Emma, tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, very good pumpkin flavor, sweet, Bella likes it but would not be able to eat a lot of it / eat it often because she would get tired of the pumpkin flavor, would recommend overall
– Purchased at Giant
- Tastykake Pumpkin Spice Mini Donuts
Overall rating: 7.5
Emma: 8
Bella: 7.5
Kylie: 7
Commentary: light and fluffy texture, not a strong pumpkin flavor, tastes similar to the white powdered mini donuts, would recommend
– Purchased at Giant
- Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins
Overall rating: 7.33
Emma: 7
Bella: 8
Kylie: 7
Commentary: moist, good pumpkin flavor, strong but not too strong, “tastes like the smell of pumpkin pie puree” – Emma, crave worthy, would buy again,
– Purchased at Giant
- Hostess Iced Pumpkin Cupcakes
Overall rating: 6.17
Emma: 5
Bella: 7
Kylie: 6.5
Commentary: Pumpkin cake part has a very good pumpkin flavor that it not too strong, Emma thinks the icing and cream makes it too sweet / too overpowering, Bella thinks it would be very good if you are in the mood for something very sweet but agrees it would be better without the cream on the inside, would recommend if you love sweets
– Purchased at Giant
- Pumpkin Pie Poptarts
Overall rating: 5.83
Emma: 5
Bella: 8.5
Kylie: 4
Commentary: Bella loves these, Emma and Kylie think it tastes like the smell of a Michael’s craft store, Bella thinks it tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, Bella would recommend, Emma and Kylie would not
– Purchased at Target or Giant
- Super Coffee Maple Pumpkin
Overall rating: 5.33
Emma: 7
Bella: 5
Kylie: 4
Commentary: Very thin, healthier coffee and has 10g of protein, would not purchase again, but would finish the drink, does not taste much like pumpkin, “that tastes like a candle” – Kylie,
– Purchased at Giant
- Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Creamer
Overall rating: 5
Emma: 5
Bella: 4
Kylie: 6
Commentary: Cannot taste the pumpkin flavor, tastes good but just tastes like normal creamer and sugar in coffee, maybe we needed to add more, *Bella tried again and added more creamer and could taste the pumpkin flavor- it was good and sweet but not too sweet, liked it and would recommend but had to add a lot of creamer to really taste the pumpkin, tastes more like pumpkin than spice
– Purchased at Giant
- Stauffers Pumpkin Spice Snaps
Overall rating: 4.67
Emma: 6
Bella: 3
Kylie: 5
Commentary: very hard cookie, reminds Bella a lot of ginger snaps, Emma thinks they taste like gingerbread, Kylie compares it to a Teddy Graham, “way too hard” – Kylie, “almost tastes stale” – Emma, “it’s better than I thought it would be, but it’s still not good” – Emma, pumpkin flavor is good, tastes real- not too artificial, the spice is not overwhelming, you taste more spice than pumpkin, Bella does not like hard cookies or ginger snaps which they remind her a lot of, would recommend if you really like hard cookies, but would not recommend if you do not
– Purchased at Giant
- Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Mini Pretzels
Overall rating: 4.17
Emma: 3
Bella: 4
Kylie: 5.5
Commentary: unappetizing bright orange color, weird combination of flavors (chocolate, pretzel, and pumpkin), “this is what I imagine a candle would taste like”- Emma, strong pumpkin flavor at the end, strong after taste, wouldn’t purchase again, split opinions about strongness of pumpkin flavor: Emma and Bella think it is too strong and not a good pumpkin flavor while Kylie thinks it is not a strong pumpkin flavor but more so the chocolate coating.
– Purchased at Target
- Pumpkin Spice Cheerios
Overall rating: 4
Emma: 3
Bella: 6
Kylie: 3
Commentary: you taste more spice than pumpkin, would probably be better with milk, Emma thinks there is too strong of a spice taste, Kylie thinks it tastes like a cinnamon oatmeal, Emma and Kylie would not recommend, Bella would recommend
– Purchased at Giant
- Favorite Day Pumpkin White Chocolate Crisp Cookies
Overall rating: 3.67
Emma: 6
Bella: 4
Kylie: 1- “maybe a 2 at best”
Commentary: taste reminds us of cream cheese/ cheesecake, probably from the white chocolate chips, very sweet, “it’s a Teddy Graham gone wrong”- Kylie, doesn’t taste much like pumpkin, hard, crumbly, and dry cookies, Kylie did not like it at all, Emma thought it wasn’t bad but wouldn’t buy again, Bella would not recommend,
– Purchased at Target
- Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Almonds
Overall rating: 1.67
Emma: -4 (counted as a 0)
Bella: 2
Kylie: 3
Commentary: “look like lima bean stones”- Emma, bad smell, “I’d say pumpkin spice doesn’t belong on an almond”- Kylie, too much of a spice flavor and not enough of a pumpkin flavor, did not think the pumpkin spice or the vanilla flavors paired well with the almonds, weird flavor combo, would not recommend
– Purchased at Target
- Tastykake Baked Pumpkin Pie
Overall rating: 0.33
Emma: 0
Bella: 1
Kylie: 0
Commentary: very unappetizing looking, bad smell, falling apart, “I can’t swallow it”- Emma, “Ew no no no” – Bella, Kylie gagged, pumpkin on the inside is too soft, reminds Bella of the texture of pumpkin pie but very thinned out, not a good pumpkin favor, dough is not flakey and is way too soft, “That was the worst yet” – Kylie”
– Purchased at Wawa or Giant
