Did you wake up this morning to a slight chill in the air? Perhaps you spotted a lone leaf falling from a tree and received your first targeted Halloween ad on Instagram?
And so, you headed to your local Starbucks and discovered that, yes, it’s time: The fall drinks are back.
The international chain, which released its fall lineup on August 25, announced a staggering 14 new and returning drinks for the season, including pumpkin, pecan, and banana-bread flavors, plus a new take on chai that it’s calling “Chaider.”
So, I tried all of them.
Fall is a big time for Starbucks. Last year, after the seasonal drinks were released, CEO Brian Niccol said the pumpkin spice latte helped “deliver a record-breaking sales week across our US company-operated stores” and led to the brand’s biggest Tuesday ever, amid efforts to turn the business around after declining sales over the last few years.
While we don’t yet know how PSL Day fared this year, we do know that things are generally looking better in 2026. The company’s Q3 report, released in July, showed that same-store sales were up 7.9% around the world and 175 net new stores opened during the quarter.
But we know why you’re here: to see if the drinks are actually any good. The verdict? Some of them are.
I ranked all 14 drinks from worst to best. Here’s how they stack up.
14. Iced Banana Bread Latte
There’s no nice way to say this: I hated the Iced Banana Bread latte.
I thought the artificial taste of the banana syrup — which I liked better in another drink — did not pair well with the blonde espresso.
It also comes with brown-sugar cream cold foam and cinnamon dolce sprinkles, which I also thought clashed with the banana syrup.
A grande, which contains 420 calories and 52 grams of sugar, costs $7.95 before tax. There are plenty of other things I’d rather spend $8 on, including all of the next drinks on the list.
Business Insider reached out to Starbucks for comment on this story.
13. Iced Pecan Crunch Latte
There are hot and iced versions of the Pecan Crunch latte, and I preferred the hot one. The iced version was too sweet for me, and I couldn’t find it refreshing, like an iced coffee is supposed to be.
I preferred the pecan syrup to the banana syrup, though.
The drink also comes with vanilla sweet-cream cold foam, though I didn’t notice a significant difference between the vanilla and brown-sugar cold foams.
A grande iced Pecan Crunch latte has slightly fewer calories (380) and fewer grams of sugar (43), and is slightly less money ($7.45). For those reasons, it edges out the Banana Bread latte.
12. Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha
This wasn’t bad — I just didn’t taste any pumpkin. It felt like sipping a normal Starbucks matcha, which isn’t typically my No. 1 choice.
You might be wondering, “What makes it pumpkin?”
The drink comes with pumpkin cream cold foam and pumpkin spice topping, although mine was missing the topping. So if you drink it from a straw, you could miss the pumpkin altogether, which I did at first.
When I sipped from the top, I got the slightest hint of pumpkin, but it was still faint, so maybe the matcha simply overpowers it.
A grande has 350 calories and costs $6.95.
11. Iced Banana Bread Chai
The banana syrup was a much more natural pairing for this drink than the latte, although I still don’t think I could manage more than a few sips.
In addition to Starbucks’ chai blend, it comes with banana syrup, brown-sugar cream cold foam, and cinnamon dolce sprinkles, which I do have to shout out — they taste exactly like Cinnabon. So, if that sounds good to you, I recommend getting them on any fall drink.
The grande costs $6.95 and contains 350 calories.
10. Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino
Before this, I hadn’t had a Frappuccino in years, but if we’re tasting the fall drinks, we’re tasting all the fall drinks.
Rather than shots of espresso (or just plain old coffee), a Frappuccino uses two pumps of special Frappuccino Roast, which is sort of like an instant coffee concentrate. It’s less intense than regular coffee, making Frappuccinos a favorite of teens and tweens.
I thought this drink was good. It’s made with a couple of pumps of pumpkin syrup, whipped cream, and the pumpkin spice topping. It’s basically like a pumpkin milkshake with a hint of coffee.
Now, would I ever order this outside a taste test? No, I like my coffee to taste like it has coffee in it, and it has 420 calories with 65 grams of sugar.
A grande costs $6.95, putting it at the same price as other drinks with actual espresso. It’s not at the bottom of this list, because I liked it, but it can’t be higher.
9. Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte
This is a classic, though I’ve come to learn I (typically) prefer a hot seasonal drink to a cold one. There’s just something wrong about drinking an iced Pumpkin Spice latte — it’s antithetical to the entire cozy enterprise.
An iced PSL is the same as a hot one: It comes with pumpkin sauce, pumpkin spice topping, and whipped cream. It has 370 calories (and 45 grams of sugar) and costs $7.75 for a grande.
I don’t dislike an iced PSL, I’ll just go for a hot one nine times out of 10.
8. Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso
As a big fan of the original Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso since its debut in 2021 (and almost all of the variations since), I was excited to try the new shaken espresso.
This drink is made with espresso, oat milk, brown-sugar syrup, pumpkin cream cold foam, and a dusting of cinnamon powder.
I was always going to enjoy this, but I was slightly underwhelmed when I realized the pumpkin only comes from the cold foam. This tasted like a regular Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso, with a little pumpkin on top, as long as you don’t drink it with a straw.
If I got this again, I’d substitute the brown-sugar syrup for pumpkin syrup so I’d actually get the pumpkin flavor I want.
It has 310 calories, making it one of the lower-calorie options from the lineup, and costs $7.45 for a grande.
7. Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai
The iced Pumpkin Cream chai is a classic iced chai with pumpkin cream cold foam and pumpkin spice topping.
I don’t typically like an iced chai, but I thought this was tasty. Pumpkin and chai are two flavors that work together, and if I were a bigger fan of iced chai, I would put this higher. Unfortunately, I just prefer a hot fall drink.
A grande iced Pumpkin Cream chai has 400 calories, 55 grams of sugar, and costs $6.95.
6. Iced Chaider
This was the drink I was most excited about. The Chaider, which Starbucks calls “a cozy twist on chai for fall,” is a new take on Starbucks’ classic chai, “shaken with strawberry acai flavors” to help it taste like everyone’s fall favorite: cider.
This was pretty good. It felt a little like drinking an apple candle — a thought I had when I tried Starbucks’ apple drinks in 2023 — but it wasn’t unpleasant. Even though this doesn’t technically have any apple in it, it certainly tasted like it.
I can’t imagine getting this every day, because the flavor is so strong, but to kick off a day of fall activities, this would be perfect.
Also, at 90 calories and 20 grams of sugar, it’s lighter than other options on the menu — and at $5.95 for a grande, it’s the cheapest.
5. Pumpkin Spice Chai
Hot chai is my preferred form of chai — taking a sip of this felt like fast-forwarding to mid-October.
Unlike the iced Pumpkin Cream chai, the hot Pumpkin Spice chai includes pumps of pumpkin syrup, which provides a stronger pumpkin flavor.
Generally, however, I’d rather drink regular chai. It has enough flavor as it is.
This drink, which costs $6.95 for a grande, has 260 calories.
4. Pecan Crunch Latte
As a longtime Nutty Pumpkin and Chestnut Praline latte enthusiast, I had high hopes for the (hot) Pecan Crunch latte. I was not disappointed.
Like with hazelnut and chestnut, the nutty flavors of the pecan syrup pair nicely with Starbucks’ Blonde espresso. And while it is sweet, the pecan flavor cuts through it and adds some dimension.
This is also supposed to have a pecan crunch topping, but it either sank to the bottom, or the barista forgot about it, which is forgivable — after all, I ordered 14 drinks.
A grande Pecan Crunch latte has 260 calories and costs $7.25.
3. Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ah, yes. Old faithful.
I’m never going to be mad about drinking a PSL. Even a mediocre one brings me joy. Thankfully, Starbucks has the Pumpkin Spice latte down to a science after over 20 years of heralding in autumn.
What is there to say? It’s a latte with pumpkin syrup and pumpkin topping, and it tastes cozy. If you’re looking to get into the pumpkin-beverage game, this is an excellent place to start.
A grande has 390 calories and a whopping 50 grams of sugar, and costs $7.45.
2. Pecan Cortado
I’m a new convert to cortados, which contain equal parts espresso and steamed milk, differentiating them from the more milk-forward lattes and macchiatos.
A Starbucks cortado is three shots of espresso and steamed milk. You can only get them in short cups, which makes them a perfect little pick-me-up.
The Pecan Cortado has an additional two pumps of pecan syrup and the pecan crunch topping.
I loved this drink. I thought the two pumps of pecan syrup were the perfect amount — as opposed to the three or four pumps in larger drinks — and I liked the nutty yet sweet flavor.
Plus, at just 130 calories and $5.75, it’s one of the lighter and cheaper options.
1. Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Nothing was ever going to beat the Pumpkin Cream cold brew, which is probably my favorite Starbucks drink of all time.
It’s one of the least cloyingly sweet drinks on the menu, since it has just a couple of pumps of vanilla syrup, pumpkin cream cold foam, and pumpkin topping.
I know I said I usually prefer hot fall drinks, but there’s a magic to the way the pumpkin cold foam gives the cold brew a little something extra that I love.
It has 250 calories, putting it on the lower end of the spectrum, and a grande costs $5.75, also putting it on the cheaper end.
I wish this were year-round, but maybe its limited-edition nature is what makes it so special, too.
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