My Starbucks Early Fall 2026 Menu Review

Late summer usually brings the arrival of new Starbucks drinks. This year, it's the Banana Bread Matcha, Pumpkin Cream Chai and the iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte, which is so famous that it has its own acronym (PSL). I'm not a fan of autumn flavors--just the taste of cinnamon and nutmeg reminds me that cold temperatures and long nights are coming--but after all these years, I had to try the PSL and see what the fuss is about. Some drinks were surprising, and others were disappointing, and you're about to bear witness in my honest, non-sponsored Starbucks review.

Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

Even though the hype has mostly faded, I decided it was time to try the famous Pumpkin Spice Latte. Normally, I don't make a lot of adjustments to my orders, but I ordered it without whipped cream to reduce the sugar content and swapped out the espresso with decaf to avoid a potential anxiety meltdown. Aside from that, this was your standard PSL with pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

On the first sip, I immediately detected warm, autumnal spices. The coffee was smooth and toasty, and the milk added refreshing creaminess to the blend. The only downside is that the spices were a little too strong, leaving behind a bitter aftertaste. Essentially, the Pumpkin Spice Latte tasted like a milder chai with autumn-inspired vibes, and I didn't quite get the hype.

After all the viral moments and rave reviews, I guess I'd expected the drink to taste like liquid pumpkin pie. Instead, it was a pretty standard Starbucks offering--not bad, but nothing worth raving about. Maybe the espresso and whipped cream are more essential than I thought, or maybe I need to try the hot version. If that's the case, I guess we'll have to wait a month or two for the temperatures to drop.

Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha

Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha had been on the menu for a while, but I always skipped over it--until I realized that, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte, I could swap out the espresso with decaf and skip the panic attacks. I'm a huge fan of the Iced Dubai Chocolate Matcha, and as a chocolate lover, I hoped that this drink would be just as delicious.

Unsurprisingly, the mocha syrup was the dominant flavor, offering a sweet, chocolatey taste with coffee undertones. The coffee itself was warm and velvety but not bitter, and the foam tasted like sweet cream without a hint of the promised pistachio. It was still tasty, but this drink didn't have anything "Dubai" about it. Instead, it was just a sweet mocha.

Personally, I would've preferred a dark chocolate version with a more full-bodied flavor. Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha was just a little too saccharine for me, and the cookie-flavored topping turned it into a liquid dessert. I know that Starbucks drinks aren't exactly health foods, but if I wanted pure sugar, I'd go to Steak 'n Shake for a milkshake--and it would probably be cheaper, too.

Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai

Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai enhances Starbucks chai with pumpkin spice topping and pumpkin cream cold foam. The topping looked like a dusting of cinnamon sugar, which fit the autumnal vibe. Still, this drink didn't have much that made it stand out from a regular chai, and I had my doubts that it was the second coming of the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Sure enough, this was your standard Starbucks chai with only one difference: the pumpkin foam on top, which tasted like spices mixed with sweet cream. This wasn't a bad addition, but I expected more of a pumpkin flavor, especially since chai already contains warm, peppery spices.

Ultimately, the foam didn't add much, although this drink did make me realize that chai should get more recognition as an autumn drink. Pumpkin puree in the drink itself might've taken this order to the next level--but, unfortunately, Starbucks isn't the best at remixing their own recipes. And when they do invent a new drink, it usually doesn't stay long (bring back the Iced Ube Coconut Macchiato!)

Iced Banana Bread Matcha

Iced Banana Bread Matcha offers matcha blended with milk and banana syrup, then topped with brown sugar cream cold foam (that's a mouthful) and cinnamon dolce sprinkles. The syrup contains no real bananas, so it's essentially a flavored version of the classic syrup.

When I took a sip, the banana syrup drowned out everything else, infusing the drink with a saccharine artificial-banana taste like melted candy. I don't care for sweet drinks to begin with, and the sugary syrup left me wishing that this drink tasted more like real bananas. The matcha's earthiness practically disappeared, turning the tea into a milky backdrop for the sugar.

Despite the colorful name, the cold foam had a generic taste and didn't add much to the drink. While the cinnamon gave the matcha a hint of warmth, it wasn't enough to make the beverage taste like banana bread. Instead, it was basically a cup of sugar--nothing like the warm, cozy beverage the name had implied. If this ever comes back to the menu, I'm skipping this one.

Iced Orange Cream Matcha

Iced Orange Cream Matcha is a summery drink that pairs the classic matcha latte with orange cream cold foam. Like the banana syrup, the orange cream cold foam contains no orange juice, but it does have vanilla sweet cream and orange vanilla sweet powder--whatever that is.

After my experience with the Iced Banana Bread Matcha, I was expecting another sugar bomb, but this recipe allowed the matcha to breathe a little. The earthy tea blended surprisingly well with the cold foam, which tasted just like an orange creamsicle. As always, the matcha had a slightly bitter aftertaste, but it didn't ruin the drink.

It's nothing revolutionary, and I probably won't miss it when it's gone, but this was a refreshing treat on a hot day. Still, I wish Starbucks would get a little more creative with their matcha instead of just swapping out cold foams. Recently, I had a passion fruit matcha with guava cold foam at a family-owned cafe, and I'd love to see Starbucks experiment like that.

Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha

Similar to the Orange Cream Matcha, Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha enhances your matcha latte with pumpkin cream cold foam and pumpkin spice topping. This time, I left out the classic syrup to reduce the sugar content and make the tea easier to taste.

Leaving out the classic syrup definitely made a difference. I could detect the matcha's grassy, full-bodied flavor, which invited me to contemplate the layers instead of sucking it down as fast as possible. The pumpkin cream foam's flavor was a little harder to make out: I could taste the pumpkin puree, but the autumn spices were practically invisible, resulting in a vegetable-flavored foam with a little sweetness.

Matcha and pumpkin is decidedly a unique flavor combination, and while this drink was enjoyable enough, it suffered from the same issue as the rest of these limited-time offerings: it just didn't contribute much to the base recipe. I will say that Starbucks is about to launch the Aerocano, which looks like a fresh, original addition to the menu--and it might find a place in a future review.

Overall Verdict

None of these fall drinks blew me away. The Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte was decent, but I didn't quite understand the hype, and the other offerings were either too sweet or too basic. Hopefully, Starbucks will get a little more creative with their future menu items. I wish some of the Starbucks Reserve drinks would make their way to the cafes; I've been dying to try the Iced Black Sesame Matcha Latte!

Have you tried any of these drinks? What do you usually order at Starbucks? Let me know in the comments.