Hershey's Nuggets - Pumpkin Spice Latte

These have an orange wrapper, which is dangerous for a chocolate (because it indexes PEANUT / REESE'S). But these guys actually only "may contain almonds" (which has never caused me a problem, knock on wood). I was gonna bring 'em to school but I discovered that they don't taste that good. I have a certain standard to uphold, after all. Anyway, pumpkin season is over, which is honestly A-OK with me. These have a cute little wrapper and taste very similar to the inner creme of a pumpkin spice milano, but the quality is a lil worse and it's artificial flavor and not natural flavor. The appearance and texture are basically akin to a normal, somewhat melted nugget. The chocolate is, as you know, not that great (typical non-creamy non-bitter Hershey's fare). But the "spice" flavor is pretty strong. Not much latte (coffee/milk) vibe, honestly. If you're a PS-head, you'll probably like these, but it seems I really am not. So it goes. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10 
Taste: 5/10 

Pepperidge Farm Pumpkin Cheesecake Soft-Baked Cookies

Hey, I'm not the one who decided to release three different autumn cookies, OK? I just buys em as I sees em. These, like all the soft baked big cookies, are delicious. They're also brain diet approved, weirdly enough (when you aren't looking for it, that's when you'll find it??). The color is very PB-esque, but after so much pepfarm, I trust they wouldn't do me dirty. These contain white choco, real pumpkin, and allspice (which is actually just one spice; I googled due to fear even though I've surely had it hundreds of times). They taste mainly of soft-baked sweet cookie. White choco and dough. Chewy and cookie. I guess pumpkin is there, but it is secondary to the chewy circle cookie ethos. Relatedly, I really need to eat a vegetable. (Tragic fact: my grocery was out of both frozen veg AND chicken, due to the college kiddos coming back into town. But they had plenty of Seasonal Cookie !!)

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10 

Milano - Pumpkin Spice

Love to eat several near-identical tasting foods in quick succession... reminds me of wine. I expected these to be quite similar to the chai latte milano, since those tasted like pumpkin spice, but these are actually closer to the pumpkin pie pop tarts, even though they don't contain any pumpkin. I think that's because the milk choco here (instead of white choco) makes them less sweet and more complex, which is good, except the spice level (such as it is -- very subtle nutmeg/cinnamon notes) is way dialed down, making them not very different from the regular old milano. That said, a regular old milano is pretty great, so I'd happily eat these anytime. They are better than chai milano and pumpkin pop tart (obviously), but less autumnal. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10 

pop tarts - frosted pumpkin pie

Speaking of pumpkin spice! Weirdly, these are less pumpkin spicy than those chai milanos. I'm all in on fall mode now since there's a real chance today will be the last 90+degree day of 2025 (and therefore last 100+degree day in my house) 🙏🙏🙏

Appearance-wise, these are not very appealing, and not very typical pop tart. The frosting only covers a small part of the top (not like the picture) and the sprinkles are mostly shades of black, brown, and a few orange/red/white?. The black ones look like little bugs (or charitably, burnt spots). The texture is good though; it didn't break apart. And the taste? This is gonna shock you, but these are the first pop tarts that didn't taste TOO SWEET. They're still sweet, don't get me wrong, but not in a way where my main flavor note is "too much sugar". Good work, pop tart team. These actually have pumpkin in, which is rare for pumpkin flavored things, and probably helps lower the sweetness. There's also cinnamon and clove (and nutmeg), so it's a traditional pumpkin pie vibe, but it's pretty subtle. No potpourri smell. Happily, it doesn't taste artificial like their red cinnamon stuff does. But what we're left with is like, some kinda sweet, kinda pumpkiny unrisen crusty dough. Not very delicious, but it is a filling, convenient, seasonal snack. Maybe it needs more butter. (Ha. I'm in baking mode I guess.)

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10 

Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

Big pumpkin day for me! I used this to make an herby pumpkin pasta, which I was VERY skeptical about, but it was actually quite good. Not as good as cheese would have been, but not at all weird or sweet or anything I feared. Also, this is 100% pumpkin with no spices or additives and it is nut free and soy free. And it was a fun gloopy texture. I dunno what else I can make with pumpkin besides desserts, but I am now somewhat interested in finding out! Thanks, Libby!

Overall
Cost: 6/10 [2$]
Taste: 6/10

Superseedz Cinnamon & Sugar

These are fine! Uh-oh, am I suffering pumpkin seed burnout? I'm not sure that the cinnamon sugar really "goes", especially without salt or shells. It's a very savory inside with a breakfasty outside. It's not bad, but it's not excellent either. Also 160 cals seems high comparatively. Anyway, these are a fine snack, but unlike the other flavors I didn't like them more as I got going, they just stayed "fine". 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew - Pumpkin Cream

Let the pumpkinification begin! I must say, I prefer winter flavors (mint, ginger, hot chocolate) to fall ones, but the pumpkin beers and coffees are pretty solid. And this one is too! Only ("only") 80 cals for a sweet cold creamy pumpkin drink that you can tote around. I like that and I like the little baby foam on top. I don't like the man who works at my grocery store and makes a point to stare into every single thing I buy in the self checkout. But that's OK, it was worth it to buy a fun little drink. There is still a bit of that "can" taste, which I don't like, but it isn't too overpowering here. It's my favorite Starby's can anyway.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

A La Mode Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

Just finished a 2-day job interview for my dream job that I have a very slim chance of getting, so I decided to bust into this bad boy. You can tell I've been hoarding for a while, since it isn't really pumpkin spice season. Anyway, this is a really similar vibe to the last two flavors I tried - the cranberry (aka cinnamon) apple tart and the ginger cookies (aka cinnamon) brown sugar. Here too, as is usual with pumpkin spice, there's a heavy cinnamon flavor. BUT, there's also pumpkin puree, so the color is a fun orangey brown. Also noteable -- there's no mix-ins, no cookie bits, no swirls, which normally I'd see as a con, but this flavor is much creamier, texturewise, than the previous ones, which I like better. The actual pumpkin flavor does come through a little bit, and I also kind of get a minty (or maybe just refreshing) note, which is completely random but I love mint so I kind of like it. Overall this is perfectly pleasant, and the texture makes it seem like a very posh gelato treat, which is great. Good for little bowls, if I have the self-restraint!

Overall
Cost: 3/10
Taste: 8/10

Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale

I really like this, it's a strong pumpkin/pumpkin spice flavor, but still a mild beer (not hoppy, malty, spicy, sour, sweet, anything like that). This is the Yuengling of pumpkin beers, but that's a good thing in my book. It's very refreshing and seasonal and makes me feel warm and safe and like I'm back in college. Very chill vibe. Definitely better cold, but the flavor is your pumpkin spice latte in a beer, you can't go wrong with that.







Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10