Halloween Horror Story: The Case of the Missing Pumpkin Lattes

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 6, 2012 | By LISA FLEISHER

[Altariel]

Starbucks Fans Bemoan Shortage of Seasonal Favorite; Expressions in Haiku

For Asher Anidjar, the arrival of fall isn't marked by turning leaves or a chilly breeze, but a steaming seasonal drink. Recently, though, when he headed to his local Starbucks SBUX -0.04% for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, he left with a bitter taste in his mouth. They were out of the special sauce that gives the treat its distinctive autumnal flavor.

"I just left, depressed," said Mr. Anidjar, a 26-year-old commercial real-estate analyst who lives in Manhattan.

The drink crops up on the Starbucks menu annually for a limited time, and this year there has been an unusual run on the pumpkin batch. Thanks in part to a frothy dose of buzz brewed up by the Seattle-based coffee giant before the beverage's Sept. 4 debut, the craze has drained supplies at stores across the country.

Baristas are hitting the street, searching for stashes of the flavored sauce at other stores. Customers denied their fix—which costs about $4 for a small cup, or "tall" in Starbucks speak—are tweeting about their dismay.

"My world almost ended this morning when the local Starbucks told me they were out of Pumpkin Spice Latte," tweeted Jason Sizemore, 38 years old, of Lexington, Ky.

[bboop]

We spent a couple of weeks this August driving the Oregon Trail through Wyoming, reading pioneer diaries, looking at exhibits. I came away knowing that I need never whine again.

These guys need to hit the Hard Edge of Reality in a really bad way. Probably voted for Obama? Have they no LIVES??

[Larry Lucido]

You wanted a cigarette? Must have been REALLY good LOL!

[bgill]

Serve it with a piece of bacon. Yum, I kid you not!

[Charles Henrickson]

Great Pumpkin Latte,
Oh come, visit me tonight!
Sincerely I wait.

[Little Bill]

When my family went west in the 1840's Only 25 people died enroute. In the train behind them a 173 people died, there were worse, Cholera got a lot of them, exhaustion many more. What many people don't realize, as opposed to the movies, that unless you dropped a kid you walked behind some smelly oxen, horses couldn't feed. My GGrandmother lost half her family, buried beside the Platte.

[mikrofon]

Horror of Horrors-
No more Pumpkin-spiced Latte!
The world ends, for some…

[martin_fierro]

PUMPKIN COFFEE??!

[Charles Henrickson]

Four bucks or five bucks,
I need my fix at Starbucks!
PSL IV!

[livius]

I’m thinking pumpkin beer is kind of sweet and dessert spicy? I guess that could work with a piece of bacon!

[CatherineofAragon]

The idea of a pumpkin latte SEEMS so cozy and delicious to me, because I love both coffee and the fall season. “Seems” is the keyword, though. I hate Starbucks coffee, but I gave in to the hype and bought a pumpkin latte once. The thing was so sickeningly, syrupy sweet I almost gagged, and ended up pouring it out. I bet the calorie and carb count of the thing rivals that of a couple of huge slices of cake with frosting.

[dmz]

I don’t like pumpkin anything - except my own homemade pumpkin pie, of course. This morning, I heard two people at the gym talking about pumpkin beer...urp! They said it tasted just like pumpkin pie, which they seemed to think was a good thing.

<><><><

Their taste buds are broken.

None of the pumpkin ales I’ve had (and I try a few new ones each year, and have for a number of years now) are anywhere close to pumpkin pie. A hint of pumpkin (more or less) served with a nice bitter hoppiness.

I assume they make this comparison to pumpkin pie because they have no other basis for comparison.

[riri]

Probably Obama voters.

[dmz]

Try one at Caribou coffee instead (extra bonus - you can use the words small medium and large instead of Starbucks speak).

The coffee is better and I don’t remember it being cloyingly sweet.

[CatherineofAragon]

Thanks, dmz-—I wish we had one of those around here. If we did, I’d definitely try it.

Oh, how I HATE that “grande” bullcrap at Starbucks.

[wbill]

"My world almost ended this morning when the local Starbucks told me they were out of Pumpkin Spice Latte,"

Wow. Someone needs to get a life.

[Bigg Red]

“I just left, depressed,”

&&&
I this crybaby needs a lot more than a latte.

[Bigg Red]

McDonald’s coffee got a very high ranking in “Consumer Reports” some months ago.

I buy a cup of coffee so seldom that I really don’t have much of a basis for comparison, but I am pretty sure the 12-oz cup I bought yesterday at my grocery store for $0.89 was a good deal.

[momtothree]

“... I took a sip and literally wanted a cigarette!!”

It was that good, was it?! (chuckle, chuckle)

[STYRO]

MMMMMM Starbuck’s Pumpkin Latte. Worth every penny!
(Flame suit on)

[Bob]

At my local, independent (ie real) coffee shop, Starbucks is known as the BBCC, the Burnt Bean Coffee Company. I think that Starbucks over-roasts their beans so much that their coffee is undrinkable.