As the leaves begin to crunch around St Andrews, or, more accurately, start to stick in a sopping mess to your shoes, it’s hard not to notice that Autumn has truly arrived. In the distance you can hear Carole King singing us into a Gilmore Girls rewatch, first years excitedly outfit planning for Halloween, and a Twilight marathon rewatch in the works. Autumn is undoubtedly a beautiful season, it is the time for walks and Lenny Kravitz scarves and to be holding something warm and inviting to drink. Is this drink a black americano? A bitter and unsweet sip of dark water? Or, is your Autumn endeavour complimented by a spiced warm drink with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – this is of course the ostracised pumpkin spice latte.
There is perhaps no hot drink as notorious. Its title conjures up images of leggings and ugg boots, 2012 tumblr and messy buns, but just as all these things have had a comeback in recent years, I am here to assert that the pumpkin spice latte has been done dirty and it’s about time we set the record (pun intended) straight.
Firstly, I will provide the caveat that I have only had probably three pumpkin spice lattes in my life. Like many it took me time to overcome the stigma associated with them, but when I first sipped and the warm flavours hit me, I realised how ridiculous I had been to let a drink this yummy, here for only a season, pass me by. Personally, my favourite so far has been from Espresso bar in Dundee, pictured in the above graphic (check out that latte art) and provided me with so much joy. It is okay to like yummy drinks. It is okay to like pumpkin spice. This is a safe space.
The crusade against pumpkin spice lattes has resulted in them being practically abolished in our wee town. I am not going to Starbucks so that option is out of the question, and when popping to some of my favourite coffee shops around town such as Taste or the Old Union Café, they don’t even sell it. This did result in me going to Northpoint (purely for research purposes of course) and getting a pumpkin spice latte from there. Although their coffee does put you back a pretty penny it does come with whipped cream and a gingerbread man. It was a refreshing take to see a coffee shop not just accepting pumpkin spice, but going above and beyond with it – and I 100% did not feel incredibly sick after having it as it is so so sweet so I don’t know why you would even ask that?
In all seriousness, the bigger issue surrounding pumpkin spice lattes is that so much that is viewed as typically female/feminine is dismissed as trivial or ridiculous. I can promise you this that there is no masculine or feminine drinks. Why? Because they are drinks. Now, go order what you actually want to drink. This trend doesn’t stop with pumpkin spice lattes; wholesome adventures to pumpkin patches or sunflower fields, boybands, dresses, fruity cocktails, sleepovers – all of these have at some point been demonised by a society that associates feminine with trivial. The irony though is that none of these things are gendered and all of them are fun! Not enjoying your life doesn’t make you more or less of a pseudo-gendered state, it just makes you boring and sad and you, cool Record reader, are neither of these things.
I like to think of a pumpkin spice latte as more of an approach to life. Whatever your PSL is, go out there and find it. Seize your life and live it in the most fun and silly way possible because just like the pumpkin spice latte it won’t be on the menu forever, and I for one plan on making the most of it while it is, gingerbread man and all.
