October 1 has been designated as National Pumpkin Spice Day. It’s a day to sip, smell and savor all things pumpkin spice, as if you needed a reason.
First things first, what is pumpkin spice? There is typically no pumpkin in pumpkin spice. The name refers to a blend of spices traditionally used in pumpkin pie. This includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.
The smell of this blend is nostalgic; bringing back memories of fun fall outings like farms or hayrides, family get togethers, Thanksgiving meals, or cold evenings spent under a warm blanket with a favorite person or pet.
Starbucks was one of the first major brands to capitalize on this flavor, introducing their now-famous pumpkin spice lattes in 2003.
For the first 12 years, the drink did not contain any pumpkin. Under pressure from a food blogger, Vani Hari, to release the ingredients, Starbucks announced in 2015 the drink would contain pumpkin puree, according to reporting by AdWeek.
Since the launch of the PSL, dozens of food and drink brands have introduced pumpkin spice-flavored items in the fall.
To make your own batch of pumpkin spice flavoring to dust on everything this season, use this recipe as a base and adjust as you prefer:
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves