Pumpkin Spice Has Competition
Pumpkin spice may get first billing every fall, but Tennessee baristas have apparently read the script and requested rewrites. Maple, black walnut, apple, smoke and even root beer are now competing for space in the seasonal cup.
When Fall Becomes a Creative Brief
At Frothy Monkey, seasonal coffee has become something of an in-house experiment. Employees develop their own fall and winter recipes, then compete for spots on the café’s seasonal menu. The result is less predictable than the usual parade of pumpkin and cinnamon.
The fall and winter lineup include the Southern Roots Cortado, created at The Nations location with sarsaparilla, clove, anise, vanilla and brown sugar for a flavor inspired by root beer. The Log Cabin Latte, created by a Downtown Nashville barista, went in another direction with maple, black walnut, cinnamon and a hint of smoke.
The café’s seasonal drink competition has produced everything from a carrot cake latte with pecan to spiced apple cider with cranberry, sage, cloves and nutmeg. Pumpkin, clearly, no longer gets the whole season to itself.
Knoxville has its own version of the idea. K Brew roasts its coffee and has made barista-created featured drinks part of its menu culture. The fall lineup pairs its returning Pumpkin Pie Latte with a Toasted Spice Cold Brew created by a barista at the Ebenezer location and a Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate developed at North Knox. Employees whose creations make the Feature Drink program even receive a percentage of sales from their drinks.
Pumpkin Can Share
That wider definition of fall reaches Memphis, too. Ramblin' Joe's fall flavors include Maine Salted Maple, S’mores and Salted Pumpkin Caramel Spice among its seasonal coffee and syrup offerings.
Taken together, the menus say something about how fall coffee has changed. Pumpkin spice still serves as the familiar starting point, but the season has become a small annual creative exercise for Tennessee coffee makers. Apple can lean tart or spiced. Maple can meet walnut. Cinnamon can turn up beside brown sugar or pecan. Cold brew can carry autumn perfectly well when Tennessee afternoons refuse to cool down.
The PSL started the conversation. Tennessee baristas seem perfectly happy finishing the sentence themselves.
To see where else Tennessee is pouring something worth lingering over, browse the Guide to Tennessee Coffeehouses directory at https://www.guidetotennessee.com/coffeehouses.
