Every Item On The Starbucks 2022 Fall Menu, Ranked

It's time to run, not walk to Starbucks, because the full fall menu is now available. While the 2022 lineup doesn't include any brand-new drinks, this season sees the return of the crowd-pleasing pumpkin spice latte and a reinvention of the chain's Apple Crisp Macchiato — this time around it's made with Starbucks oatmilk. The spooky season pastries returning to shelves are the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, Pumpkin and Pepita Loaf, and Pumpkin Scone, joined by an adorably wide-eyed twist — the vanilla cake and buttercream Owl Cake Pop, decorated as the sage bird in delicious lavender frosting. 

We can't lie, this ranking was tough; most of Starbucks' fall offerings are worth returning for again and again. Whether you plan to stick with the classics or are looking for a new personal fall favorite, our comprehensive ranking of the entire Starbucks fall menu — plus a few fan-made secret drinks — can help you pick the best pastry and beverage to bring along to the pumpkin patch this fall. As an added bonus, all options make for great photo opps to spice up your fall 'Gram, too.

Potterheads know that students on their way to Hogwarts in the fictional Harry Potter universe often enjoyed pumpkin juice while aboard the Hogwarts Express. And since train rides through the countryside and a moody gray sky over Hogwarts fit the autumn aesthetic pretty well, no way were we going to pass up the secret Starbucks rendition of Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice in our fall haul.

This fan creation is just apple juice with pumpkin spice sauce added. As excited as we were — who doesn't love a boy-who-lived-inspired secret Harry Potter drink at Starbucks? — the apple taste in this beverage was far too strong for it to pass as pumpkin juice. Right away, we noticed some density/solubility issues with the pumpkin sauce not quite mixing into the apple juice, so that could be the culprit behind the issue. This recipe could also just not call for enough pumpkin sauce, or maybe half of the apple juice should be replaced with water.

When it takes just a bite or two to satisfy your sweet tooth, the best way to do so is with a cake pop. These adorable cake munchkins have been on Starbucks shelves for over a decade (via Fact Casual) with the look and theme of the pops changing over the years. We would have loved to see a spice cake pop variation to commemorate the harvest season, but we suppose we'll settle for an absolutely precious purple owl instead. Besides the cute new look, everything on the inside of the Starbucks Owl Cake Pop is already familiar: vanilla cake and buttercream, mixed and mashed into a dense ball and dipped in icing.

If you've already had a Starbucks cake pop, we won't be telling you anything that you don't already know: The pop itself is rich and moist, the soft frosting shell is sweet white chocolate, and the portion size is perfect for a quick afternoon pick-me-up. If we had any room for want in Starbucks' cake pops, it's that a thin, crunchy chocolate shell — think Dairy Queen dip cones — might provide better contrast to the glue-like, heavy mouthfeel of the cake pop than the thick, soft frosting coat. Otherwise, the only thing new here to review is the owl itself, and he gets a 1,000 out of 10 for cuteness.

Besides pumpkin spice lattes, there's no better way to enjoy the autumnal squash than as a baked good. The Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin is not a new menu item, but it keeps coming back for good reason: The dense, moderately-spiced muffin contains a smooth cream cheese core and pillowy top that is sprinkled with chopped pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for added crunch. The textural variety between the muffin, cream cheese, and pepitas is what made this pastry a favorite for us. It's not as spiced as the loaf and far more cakey in mouthfeel; logistically, it might feel difficult to eat at points, because you have to actively avoid ending up with an entire mouthful of just the gooey filling, leaving the rest of your muffin woefully cream-cheese-less. A swirl might have solve that problem, but perhaps at the expense of the rich softness that the cream cheese core delivers.

While they're prone to falling off as you eat, the pepitas are a great touch. The nutty texture is an element that you may not have actively missed if it were never present, but definitely realize is necessary when you picture the muffin without them. With most of its sweetness drawing from the cream cheese well and a heady pumpkin flavor, this muffin feels like a pumpkin pie for breakfast.

The hot Pumpkin Spice Latte is a familiar, cozy classic. We also visited Dunkin' for its recent fall rollout, and it turns out that Starbucks' take on the drink is more lively spice-wise, having an actually discernible presence of the cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg that the brand claims to incorporate into the drink. Starbucks' PSL is full-bodied and warming, creating the slightest heat in the back of the throat. The silky steamed milk and espresso give the spices a good depth, and we felt solidly satisfied with the amount of pumpkin the drink delivered. This latte is sweet and indulgent, so if you're hoping for a lighter fare, ask for your favorite milk alternative — but be aware that this should only be an option for personal taste reasons, and dairy-intolerant coffee drinkers should avoid the pumpkin sauce altogether. Despite the sauce being veganized overseas years ago (via Starbucks) it remains a dairy-based flavoring here in the U.S. since it's made with condensed skim milk .

We have one suggestion to PSL drinkers everywhere: Ask your barista to steam the pumpkin pie spices that they would be dusting over top of the whipped cream into the milk instead. Just trust us — you don't want to be enjoying your latte and then confront a clump of spice after the whip melts. The flavor is a lot, and the texture is beyond weird. 

In general, we dread most chain cafe scones. They're usually not fresh, and they suck the moisture out of your mouth like a bone-dry sponge. Their entire relevance seems to revolve around companionship to a hot cup of coffee or tea, and even then, opting for a scantily-drizzled cinnamon chip breakfast brick seems silly when there are muffins, puff pastry, and donuts abounding.

That's why we were surprised at the Starbucks Pumpkin Scone. It's nothing new, but we've dodged it every fall season. We were surprised at how masticable the scone was — nothing like a fresh muffin or a soft croissant, sure, but still nowhere near a classic teatime tooth chipper either. The icing cast brings a sweet, crunchy zing to the taste and texture, and tasted ever so slightly of lemon zest. The zigzag drizzle tastes like a spiced pumpkin royal icing, but doesn't contribute much to the scone overall other than aesthetics. We'd consider this one to be gently spiced and somewhat intensely pumpkin. It's low on the sweet scale and light enough fare to enjoy semi-regularly. For its airier texture, more compact mobility, and overall better flavor, we preferred this one to the muffin.

For a not-too-sweet, not-too-pumpkin S-bucks treat, turn to the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. We think it's been grappling for the fall pedestal with the PSL ever since debuting in 2019. Truthfully, the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and the iced Pumpkin Spice Latte are very different drinks that will satiate very different coffee drinkers. Where PSLs are dessert-like in sweet creaminess, the cold brew's only dairy is from the foam cap. The cold brew is lightly sweetened with vanilla syrup, but you're otherwise relying on the cold foam for the pumpkin spice flavor.

So what does this mean? If you opt for the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, be prepared for a much more voluminous flavor than what you'll find in the iced PSL. You'll also get an overall stronger tasting coffee — the zingy, pungent cold brew has little to compete with when there's less syrup and milk involved. As is typical with all cold foam cold brew drinks, this beverage is bound to lose strength in the pumpkin flavor as it progresses, since the majority of your foam will be consumed in the first half. 

Adding a dash of pumpkin sauce to the cold brew itself, or fully stirring in the foam before drinking (which is a pain with open-mouth lids and kind of defeats the purpose of cold foam, doesn't it?) may even the taste out. This isn't Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew slander — just know your sweetness and pumpkin-ness expectation levels before you shell out a few singles on this coffee.

Picture this: It's almost fall, and you're standing over the new candles at Bath and Body Works. The names feel like they belong in a bakery — come on, Pumpkin Cinnamon Bun? Pumpkin Pecan Waffles? You can't convince us there is not a very hungry fall fanatic behind these. The successful marketing earns each scent a hearty sniff. You know it's not a matter of if you're leaving with candles today, but how many.

If the bizarre thought has ever crossed your mind of just what these exquisitely aromatic candles taste like, the Starbucks Apple Crisp Oatmilk Frappuccino is your answer. (At least, we think. We've never eaten candles before, we promise.) This drink is just barely spicy in all the best ways. Apple and oatmilk are a dynamo duet, and the texture is buttery-smooth. We got so much more complexity out of the blended version of this drink than the hot and iced — and the hot and iced were dang good. The Frappuccino roast cuts any sweetness overload that would have occurred, and the heap of whipped cream and apple spice syrup is an indulgent finale (or beginning, whatever stars your bucks) to the drink. The coffee could potentially be omitted for a caffeine-free option, but otherwise, we truly don't think a single thing needs to be changed about this one.