It's October

It’s now well into October, and you know what that means: the launch of many, many fall flavors.

I think it’s pretty well documented from last October that in my head I like pumpkin, but what I really love is the cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice fall combo.

So, let’s start in on my list so far.

I started early this year. After watching the Food Network $10,000 Cookie Challenge, I made 3 spice cookies in August. Yum! The Spicy Ginger Whoopees actually had pumpkin in them but lacked some nutmeggy goodness in favor of pepper. They were however, good and dark tasting, with a nice texture. But, Emily’s Spiced Ginger Cookies were the best tasting. You can’t beat the simple ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg combo.

Late last month, I made a pumpkin ice cream. It’s pretty tasty, but I need a better strainer, the texture is a bit off. And it’s hard to compete with Thrifty’s pumpkin ice cream, even though mine does have gingersnap bits.

At that time I pulled out the bottle of Torani pumpkin spice syrup I bought a little while ago when BevMo was having a sale. I was excited and nervous as I added some to my coffee. Turns out there’s a lot more pumpkin and not enough spice flavor. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the rest of the bottle. Any suggestions?

And that brings us to this week. Sunday I found myself at Starbucks. Their pumpkin latte is back, and just as disgusting as ever, I imagine. But also, new to the US (but not new to Canada) is the Maple Macchiato. According to this, it’s good enough to make people rake leaves for you. I couldn’t bring myself to try it just yet. If I can work up the courage, I’ll just pour some log cabin into a cup of coffee and go from there. Now, I love syrup. In moments of weakness I’ve been known to dip my eggs and sausage in syrup. And you drink coffee with all of those things, right? In theory it sounds good. But I can’t have another disappointment like the pumpkin latte.

Meanwhile, the crappy 7-11 that I frequent (it doesn’t even stock Benedryl ) has added the Pumpkin Cheesecake Latte to the frothy drink machine. Last year it was called Pumpkin Spiced Latte. And it’s a bit different this year, not as good I think. Luckily, it doesn’t have that bizarre fake cheesecake flavor. Mostly the fake cinnamon flavor comes out, not enough other spices. However, this year it’s smoother than before. There used to be bits of stuff left at the bottom of the cup. Now, nothing.

I have to get myself over to a Circle K and see if they have the pumpkin cappuccino from last year. I think that was my favorite from last year, too bad there isn’t one close.

I have yet to try the new Jones Soda Flavors, but that’s really a group activity. Let me know if you’re up for it. Meanwhile, read the spoilers here.

Feel free to use this comment space to alert me to anything you’ve noticed this year.