The Surprising Way The PSL Was Invented
The phenomenon we know as the PSL, or Pumpkin Spice Latte, was conceived twenty years ago in Seattle. Over the past two decades, the PSL has become so much more than a beverage. It’s the official flavor of fall. I mean, can you imagine fall without pumpkin spice? It’s everywhere and in almost everything! But its creator says the Pumpkin Spice Latte almost never happened.
According to CBS News, Starbucks director of Global Growth and Concepts Peter Dukes is credited with being the so-called “father of PSL.” Back in 2001, he was in charge of espresso drinks for the coffee chain. After the success of the company’s Peppermint Mocha, he was asked to create a drink for the fall season.
Dukes and his team came up with a hundred different ideas. They narrowed it down to ten, which included the Pumpkin Spice Latte, but they weren’t sure if customers would want to try it. “It was the flavor that almost wasn’t,” Dukes explains. “And what saved it was that it was a unique beverage.”
To create that original flavor, he says the team brought pumpkin pies into their R&D lab, then literally just poured espresso shots on them and ate it. That’s what helped them decide to unveil the now-iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte. And all that hard work clearly paid off, since Starbucks has sold more than 500-million of them since their debut in 2003. Dukes says, “It took off to a whole other level that nobody ever could have predicted.” You can see his interview with CBS Saturday Morning here.