Starbucks decides to put actual pumpkin in its pumpkin spice lattes

Starbucks
(Image credit: Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

As we move in the coming weeks from "summer" to "late summer," an orange-and-brown colored light can be seen at the end of the tunnel: autumn — or, as some prefer to call it, Pumpkin Spice Latte Season. And this fall is already shaping up to be better than last fall, because Starbucks announced today that it has added a brand new ingredient to its signature seasonal drink: actual pumpkin. Below is the "new and improved" ingredient list for Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte:

EspressoMilkPumpkin Spice Flavored Sauce (Sugar, Condensed Skim Milk, Pumpkin Puree, Contains 2% or Less of Fruit and Vegetable Juice for Color, Natural Flavors, Annatto (Color), Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Salt)Whipped Cream (Light Whipping Cream [Cream, Mono and Diglycerides, Carrageenan])Starbucks Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Citric Acid)Pumpkin Spice Topping (Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Clove) [Starbucks]

Okay, so sure, it's kind of buried among other ingredients like Potassium Sorbate and Carrageenan, and yes, it's only 2 percent or less pumpkin puree, and it's only actually there "for color" — but hey, it's something.

A photo posted by Nick (@nickkoko) on Aug 12, 2015 at 7:03pm PDT

BuzzFeed reasons that Starbucks made the move to appeal to customer demand. The coffee company has sold more than 200 million pumpkin spice lattes since it launched the autumn essential in 2003. While we'll have to wait to find out how the new recipe tastes, cutting out "caramel coloring" in favor of some of the actual orange stuff can't be a bad thing.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.