Acadiana's Best Pumpkin Spice Treats This Fall

(KMDL-FM) If fall had a flavor that we could put in a bottle and sell, it would be pumpkin spice. Oh, wait, we have already put that in a bottle, and a lot of other things too. Pumpkin spice has gone from what a lot of us thought would be a fad in 2003 to a regular fall occurrence ever since it was first introduced.

jack o lantern with chocolate drink on brown wooden table — Photo by Theo Crazzolara on Unsplash

Here in Acadiana, we have embraced our love of all things pumpkin spice, and in true Louisiana tradition, we have created more than just a hot cup of coffee that smells like a Thanksgiving pie. We tend to do that to food; we are the home of the Turducken, after all. See what happens when you leave us unsupervised?

What Exactly Is Pumpkin Spice?

Pumpkin spice is actually a blend of several spices and aromatic flavors. Most pumpkin spice combinations include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and/or Allspice. The cinnamon provides the woody base, the nutmeg adds warmth, the ginger adds a bit of a pepper bite, the cloves add a deep pungent warmth, and the Allspice enhances all of the above.

It was Starbucks Coffee that introduced the current wave of pumpkin spice products more than 20 years ago. And because "they ain't from around here," we have opted to leave them off of our list.

a bag of starbucks pumpkin spice sitting on top of a counter — Photo by Colin FitzGerald on Unsplash

We are not besmirching Starbucks. They are a great coffee shop, and they offer a wonderful selection of pumpkin spice options. But we wanted to keep this list a little closer to home. I hope our friends from the Pacific Northwest can understand. Dunkin' is based out of Boston, so yeah, same thing.

Obviously, pumpkin spice got its start with pumpkin pies. Then someone, probably at Starbucks, decided that would make a nice addition to coffee. Then we started mixing it into other drinks, desserts, snacks, and munchies, and that's how we arrived at where we are today.

The Pumpkin Spice Flavor Profile is Not Limited to Just Coffee

brown bread on brown wooden chopping board — Photo by Jr R on Unsplash

The list you're about to peruse includes several coffee options; it has some more substantial items too. We arrived at our list via your comments on social media, your recommendations online, and we also snuck a peek at TripAdvisor, Yelp!, Foodies of Lafayette, and Lafayette Travel to see where your pumpkin spice mindset landed.

So, here you are: Acadiana's Favorite Pumpkin Spice Drinks, Desserts, and Snacks.

Acadiana's Favorite Pumpkin Spice Drinks, Snacks, Desserts ( Sorry No Starbucks on This List)

When the calendar turns to September in South Louisiana, we start thinking about fall. It doesn't feel like fall, but we think about it anyway. One of the great flavors of fall is Pumpkin Spice. You know the coffee drinks, but what about some of the other goodies you can get with that same flavor ensemble? Here's our list, and we left a certain international coffee chain off on purpose because we wanted to share local flavor. So, enjoy.

Gallery Credit: Bruce Mikells