Starbucks vs Kaldis {Pumpkin Spice Latte challenge}

It’s officially fall and I can barely contain myself. I want to eat pumpkin at every meal and a pumpkin spice latte every morning. OMGersh! So at the first hint of fall, a day of fall festivals at that, I set out on the search to find the best pumpkin spice latte. At the likelihood of sounding like Goldilocks and the 3 bears I’m going to tell you about each of the stops. Stop 1 was Dunkin Donuts. Another blogging friend raved about their iced pumpkin spice latte. I had to try it! I wish I hadn’t started with this one. I think one of the factors I love most about the PSL is the warmth on a brisk fall day. I can’t cuddle up to ice or a drink that smells so warm yet feels so cold. Besides the ice, the combination was so sugar heavy. I like the bitterness of coffee. This drink masked that and while at it masked the actual pumpkin flavor. Oh, it was a sad start. Next was stop 2, Panera (or for the St. Louisans who refuse to acknowledge it as such, St. Louis bread company). Learning my lesson from DD, I got the hot latte. Holding the cup in my hands gave me visions of knitting/crocheting cozies for all my to go cups (that I actually don’t yet own because I’m actually not all that “green”). None the less, I took A sip and nearly wanted to spew. If DD was “sugar heavy” Panera topped the block with just straight up sugar. I like sugar like anyone else but it was SERIOUSLY disturbing how like syrup their pumpkin spice latte was. And that was before I even stirred up the whip cream that sat on top. Ick! I’ve never been more disappointed in Panera. Well, except for the time someone told me about finding a tooth in their salad! A TOOTH. Next, stop 3 at Starbucks. Now, the dilemma here is I know it’s going to be good. In years past I’ve gone here because there was no question as to if I would like their Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s Starbucks for Pete’s sake. Coffee is what they do. Fudge on the coffee and you fudge on a multibillion dollar corporation. The question here wasn’t will I like it, but is it the best. So, to make this decision I brought in a friend of mine and we shared small PSLs from here and stop 4, Kaldis. Now, I have to tell you I likey the Kaldis. The hipster in me prefers it to the world renowned Starbucks only because it’s a smaller business and more local”ish”. I myself was skeptical of Kadlis ability to make a great PSL.

Our conclusion: Starbucks pumpkin spice latte is delicious. It is the faithful friend you can call up any time of day for the perfect blend of bitter and sweet. It’s so good. But Kaldis. Kaldis’ Maple Pumpkin Latte is the friend that is the same kind of bitter as you in the morning. It has the undertone of sweet but the face value of what you really need in the morning, a good wake me up. It is bitter without being harsh and is absolutely scrumptious! So for our little survey here Kaldis is the winner. However, that does not negate the fact that Starbucks is still delicious and will be had for nostalgia by this girl throughout the season. But when I need coffee to speak some bitter truth to this groggy soul it will be Kaldis.