By Shelby Parker

Staff Writer

Juana Martines/The Runner
Starbucks offers a wide variety of pumpkin spice flavored drinks and treats to satisfy autumn taste buds.

Fall is officially here, which means the leaves are changing colors, cooler weather is coming, and for a lot of college students, it means that magical time of year when all the festive coffee drinks are back at Starbucks.

Desirae Catharill, a freshman on campus, says she likes the Pumpkin Spice Latte and also enjoys the cake pops. Cathirell added that what she loves about Starbucks is you can taste the espresso in their drinks, which is something you don’t always get at other coffee stores.

Barista at Starbucks for eight years, Febe Medina, says that during these months, the most popular drinks are the Pumpkin Spice Latte and Caramel Brule. In addition to Fall favorites this year, the famous coffeehouse has come out with new drinks and treats.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is an espresso drink with the popular spices of fall, including, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. It’s topped with whipped cream and pumpkin spices, for decoration.

The Salted Caramel Mocha is the perfect combination of sweet and salty. It is drizzled with buttery caramel, whipped cream, and a sprinkle of premium sea salt and sugar.

The Chocolate Chai Tea Latte is a blend of black tea, creamy mocha, steamed milk and the famous spices. Just like any other Starbucks drink, it’s topped with whipped cream.

Medina also adds, “Our syrups, especially in our popular drinks, are high quality ingredients,” and they try not to use artificial flavoring in any of the drinks they make.

She also says that people like to add White Mocha and Peppermint White Mocha to their drinks around this time of year.

“The store is busier during the holidays. Everyone is happy and Starbucks is also the perfect place to spend time with their loved ones. Starbucks invest a lot in the atmosphere of the place,” Medina says. The franchise does a great job of capturing the essence of fall and all of the most important elements, which explains why it’s busiest during the colder months.

Rene Chow, a junior in the communications department, says that though she doesn’t spend very much time in the store, she does pick up a drink “a lot more” during those months, usually before class or whenever one happens to sound good. She said her favorite seasonal drink is the Salted Caramel.

Also, back on the Fall menu, according to the Starbucks website, is the famous Pumpkin bread, along with the Pumpkin scone, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, which are all made with real Pumpkin. Starbucks has even partnered with the San Francisco bakery, La Boulange, which will now be providing another variety of pastries and treats, like scones, muffins, Danishes and more appropriate for the season, Pumpkin sugar cookies.