We Tried All the Starbucks Fall Drinks—Here They Are, Ranked From Worst to Best
Four years ago, our team decided to embark on a journey—some might call it the journey of a lifetime. Every time a new season rolls around, we set out to try all the new Starbucks drinks, rank them, and share the results with you. In past years, you’ve loved our reviews of Starbucks’ fall drinks, holiday drinks, and spring and summer new releases. Now, we’ve officially returned to our favorite season of the year: fall.
Our entire team loves a good Starbucks coffee, but there’s something about the fall menu that takes it to the next level. This year, Starbucks added one new fall menu item: the Pecan Oatmilk Cortado. But there is also one thing that is noticeably missing from the lineup this year: the Apple Crisp drinks. (I’m upset. Let’s not talk about it.)
To celebrate the start of PSL season, our group of taste-testers gathered at our office in Chicago to try seven seasonal Starbucks drinks. You can only imagine the awkwardness of asking the barista to make us, yes, the entire fall drink menu. But two full trays of orange-toned beverages later, we sat, sipped, and settled on a ranking. Clearly, we take this very seriously.
How we ranked them
Our seven official taste testers tried seven total drinks. We then scored each drink on a scale of 1-5 in the categories of “overall taste” and “likelihood to get again.” With 10 possible points per drink from each taste-tester, each drink has a maximum of 70 possible points. Once we had each drink’s total score, we factored them down to be out of 10, just to keep it simple. We also ordered all the drinks without any modifications, so that we could taste the drinks exactly as Big Starbucks intended.
Here is The Everygirl’s official ranking of every fall drink at Starbucks:
7. Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Score: 4/10
This one was an absolute SHOCKER. In previous years, the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew has always ranked pretty high on our list, but this year, it just fell flat for us. Maybe we got a bad batch, but the cold brew was excessively bitter and strong and didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor. One of our graphic designers is a big-time cold brew lover, but even she didn’t like this and agreed that it needed more flavor to balance out that bitterness. We might give it another chance later on in the season, but for now, it’s a pass.
6. Pecan Oatmilk Cortado
Score: 5/10
The girlies had to do a little research on this one. Many of us had never had a cortado before—if you’re in the same boat, it’s basically a 1:1 ratio of espresso to steamed milk. This means it’s small yet strong, which might not appeal to everyone. This one ranked pretty low, mainly because of its strong espresso flavor. As an espresso fiend, I loved this one, but the other office girlies did not agree. They didn’t love the nutty flavor and agreed that it probably would be better with whole milk to make that pecan flavor stand out more. Our branded content editor even went as far as to comment “YUCK” as her review. But for me personally, you can pry this one from my cold, dead hands.
5. Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Score: 6/10
As per usual, the fall Frappuccino fell in the middle of the ranks. This one always scores decently high because the pumpkin spice flavor is amazing—it just doesn’t taste like coffee. It’s more of a dessert in a cup. If you like a sickly sweet beverage (or you’re actually craving ice cream but wound up at Starbucks instead), you’ll probably love this one. Our team, however, isn’t exactly the target audience. In fact, one of our graphic designers noted that the Frappuccinos in general just weird her out (honestly fair). So, it was fun to try, but we probably wouldn’t order this over our usual go-to coffee orders.
4. Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte
Score: 6.5/10
Since it’s still in the 70s here in Chicago, we decided to taste test both the hot and iced versions of the PSL this year. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is iconic, and it’s a pretty solid fall drink every year. However, the iced version was a bit of a letdown—almost everyone agreed the pumpkin spice flavor was less noticeable in the iced PSL. Maybe it was just the ice watering down the drink, but it also tasted more milk-heavy and totally different from the hot version. Many of us would consider ordering this one again, but maybe only while we’re still savoring the last bits of a Midwest summer.
3. Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte
Score: 7/10
The Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte got the most mixed reviews out of all the fall drinks this year. The general consensus was that this one had a good, solid pecan flavor, thus living up to its name. It was much more popular than the Pecan Cortado, and we all agreed that this one was more balanced and sweet. Although some of our team admitted to being “nut haters,” several of us could see ourselves getting this one again throughout the fall season.
2. Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai
Score: 8/10
Chai lovers, Starbucks really pulled through for us this year with the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai. Despite last year’s low ranking, they got it right this time around. It was creamy and smooth, with the perfect amount of chai spice. We all agreed that this one was definitely on the sweeter side, but with Starbucks Chai, we were expecting that. It wasn’t too milky and checked all our boxes for a solid fall drink for the season. We will definitely be ordering this again (and again… and again).
1. Pumpkin Spice Latte (Hot)
Score: 9/10
And the winner is… the hot Pumpkin Spice Latte! Are we surprised? Not really. The PSL is the true icon of the season, and we all know it. This was the first drink we taste-tested, and everyone was noticeably and audibly impressed with the PSL this year. The ratio of coffee flavor to sweetness was perfection, and the warm feeling it gave us was just so nostalgic. It reminds me of infinity scarves and Ugg boots in the best way possible. This is the drink of the season and will be our go-to before trips to the pumpkin patch, cider mill, and apple orchard this fall.
Jenna Piotrowicz, Editorial Assistant
Jenna began working as an Editorial Assistant for The Everygirl in 2024. With her eye for detail, she assists the team with content creation, sourcing products and images, and works behind the scenes to support The Everygirl in uploading and updating content.
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