- Pumpkin spice season has returned, and with it, just about every product you can imagine
- Despite a lot of online hate, it turns out most people enjoy pumpkin spice or don't pay it any mind
- Popularity for pumpkin spice products actually declined this year, according to one study
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — It’s already at your favorite coffee shop, whether that’s Starbucks or the local joint with the really good cold brew.
It’s in every snack you see on the endcaps at Wegmans, Giant, ShopRite and all the other grocery stores across the Lehigh Valley.
Your favorite seasonal small brew ale you taste-tested at the pub the other night has got it.
And it’s on every morning show across the country, with anchors arguing over whether to love it or hate it.
It’s pumpkin spice season, and that means it’s also time for the hatred that comes along with it.
The legend of pumpkin spice blends
First off, what is pumpkin spice exactly?
According to Food & Wine, it has been a hallmark of American cuisine for centuries, appearing in baking recipes as far back as the late 18th century.
One Amelia Simmons “American Cookery” book, reprinted in 1798, notes two pumpkin pies featuring some of the core flavor still found in the mix today: one with nutmeg and ginger, another with allspice and ginger.
But it was the introduction of pre-blended pumpkin pie spice by manufacturers such as Thompson & Taylor Spice Co. and McCormick & Company in the 1930s that really set the craze into motion.
Instead of having to buy the separate items, the mixes made baking far easier for the average customer.
While the Thompson & Taylor version featured nine spices, McCormick kept it down to just four: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.
That's widely regarded as the quintessential blend to this day, with cloves often showing up to the party to add… something?
When the blend made the move from baked goods to coffee is anyone’s guess, but Starbucks became the harbinger of pumpkin spice insanity when it released the legendary Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003.
That’s right, the PSL is 20 years old now.
The ultra-sweet treat became a seasonal hit for Starbucks, and while plenty of people love to taste a bit of the season in a sip of coffee, the PSL very well may have inspired the launch of loathing for pumpkin spice.
After all, it’s in everything. Pumpkin spice joined the ranks of bacon over the years, appearing in so many products one would have to wonder where the line was anymore.
Did pumpkin spice really need to appear in biscotti, cereal, yogurt-covered pretzels and even artisanal goat cheese? (P.S.: Check out our social media platforms to see our staff’s takes on some of these items!)
Bring on the hate!
While the fall-oriented flavor is widely considered part and parcel of fall culture, it has also inspired the vitriol of many.
A 2002 study of 500 Americans by Fire Dept. Coffee — a bean roaster and prepared-beverage company that supports local fire departments and doesn't make any PSLs — found 37% of Americans were tired of hearing about pumpkin spice so often.
Keep in mind, the survey was conducted in August, before pumpkin spice season even really kicked off.
And it gets really divisive when it comes to pumpkin spice — according to the same survey, one in 10 Americans would consider breaking up with their partner if they had differing views on the taste of the seasoning blend.
But this year might be a turning point.
According to ecommerce accelerator Pattern, demand for pumpkin spice this September is at its lowest point since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with year-over-year demand down 16%.
The pattern said September is “typically the peak season for pumpkin spice, and more companies than ever are getting into the seasonal game – leading to some interesting creations like pumpkin spice dog treats and, ahem, pumpkin spice 'Dude Wipes.'”
The omnipresence of the seasoning might be the very reason so many hate it: it’s everywhere, in everything and in many ways, you just can’t escape.
According to Pattern’s data, consumer demand for pumpkin spice products has dropped this year: creamer is down 32%, candles 30%, coffee 29%, cookies 22%, protein powder 16%, scented lotion 10% and tea 14%.
Science and psychology behind the spice
The Montclair State Center for Strategic Communication’s 2022 Pumpkin Spice Report (yes, this is real) says part of the pumpkin spice craze can be linked to “FOMO,” or fear of missing out on a product that's only available for a short time each year.
But the study also connects the classic spice blend with a comforting association.
“Notably, research on the psychological effects of the smell/taste aspects of pumpkin spice indicates that the additional sensory dimension of the trend leads to associative feelings of nostalgia and warmth," it says.
"Interestingly, cultural scholars have argued that the sensory construction of pumpkin spice has contextually gendered its consumption as feminine (Powell & Engelhardt, 2015),” the study reads.
“We found little of the negative counter or backlash that one might have expected given the ubiquity of pumpkin spice products and consumer-based messaging around this seasonal industry."The Montclair State Center for Strategic Communication’s 2022 Pumpkin Spice Report
Montclair’s analysis of 20,000 social media posts showed that 55% of people were all about pumpkin spice, while 37% were neutral, leaving only 8% as haters.
“We found little of the negative counter or backlash that one might have expected given the ubiquity of pumpkin spice products and consumer-based messaging around this seasonal industry," the study reads.
"In other words, while we assumed pumpkin spice and its associated hashtags to be largely polarizing, particularly in the often dogmatic landscape of social media, we instead found relatively little of that divide."
So what gives? Why do we hear so much hate for a simple blend of spices originally intended for pies?
A 2020 VICE article, “Why Men Think It’s Sooo Cool to Dislike Popular Things,” suggests some people just like playing the counter-culture card. They’re different. They don’t fall in with the pack.
“I think a part of it is virtue signaling, you're trying to communicate to others that you're above them, on a different dimension,” Barry Kuhle, associate professor of psychology at the University of Scranton, said in the VICE article.
The people weigh in on pumpkin spice
Celebrities frequently weigh in on the love/hate for PSLs and other pumpkin spice products — and abominations — via social media around this time of year.
Curmudgeonly-tempered television host and chef Gordon Ramsay actually enjoys pumpkin spice lattes around October and November.
On the flip side, legendary traveling chef Anthony Bourdain was a noted hater in his time, with People Magazine quoting him saying “I think pumpkin spice is disgusting. I certainly don’t want it in my coffee… I can’t think of the last time I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, ‘You know what? I could really go for some pumpkin.’”
"Last Week Tonight" host Jon Oliver is the champion of haters, airing a special feature each and every fall poking fun at pumpkin spice fanaticism with clip reels of local news shows waxing on the subject.
In this year’s segment, Oliver showed visible disgust while trying to sip a PSL at the end of his show.
“Pumpkin spice lattes taste like a candle tastes."'Last Week Tonight' host John Oliver
Speaking of wax…
“Pumpkin spice lattes taste like a candle tastes,” Oliver has said, an opinion similar to one shared by LehighValleyNews.com's own Social Media Specialist Grace Oddo when it comes to pumpkin spice yogurt covered pretzels.
As for you Swifties, rest assured, your girl Taylor Swift has expressed love for pumpkin spice numerous times over the years.
She’s a noted fan of PSLs, has shared her own special recipe for pumpkin spice cookies, and — according to Vogue — she even loves utilizing a “pumpkin spice-inspired makeup look” for the fall.
Dan J. Kroll, founder of The Soap Central Twitter feed, which covers the ins and outs of all your favorite soap operas, is not a fan of pumpkin spice at all. Instead, he’d rather indulge in another fall favorite flavor.
“HATE IT. I abide by the age-old adage: A glass of apple cider on the first day of autumn makes spring come quicker. Okay, it's just something I made up. Can't hurt to try, though, right?” Kroll said in a social media post.
Amanda Leather, manager of Nature’s Way Market in Easton, said the store carries pumpkin spice in their bulk section, said, “It’s popular… anything we get in that’s pumpkin spice themed.”
While there hasn’t been any backlash against pumpkin spice at the shop, Leather does have a line – “I like it, but I only like it during the season,” she said, adding “anything savory” is a bit too far for her.
Over here at LehighValleyNews.com, Deputy Director of News John J. Moser has gone on record as largely anti-pumpkin spice (and you can see his reactions to some peculiar pumpkin spice items in our video!)
“Pumpkin spice belongs in a very niche place among culinary things," Moser said. "I think it has its place; it has its fans. But the idea that it has become so ubiquitous, it’s crazy.
"I don't think there's very many things that it adds to, and there's a lot of stuff that it detracts from,” Moser said, previously noting the spice should stay in pies, where it belongs.
Mind you, everyone is free to enjoy a PSL, a pumpkin pie, or even the scent of a pumpkin spice Hefty garbage bag, but keep in mind that haters gonna hate.
Unless you’re Taylor Swift, that is. She's all about that pumpkin spice.
