Sugar, spice, and everything nice, or so they thought. Pumpkin spice is a holiday favorite or at least a seasonal right of passage, but these autumn specialties measure up and see what pumpkin treat is truly worth the hype. A panel of three judges, including a pumpkin lover, a pumpkin hater, and a pumpkin neutral, sampled some of North East Ohio’s favorite fall treats. Ranked across categories, they determined which are worth the price and which should be burned at the stake.
Starting with a taste of summer, ice cream. While the surrounding area is rich in quality frozen treat establishments, considering their fall menus, much left something to be desired. Getting started, to give each flavor a fair shot, control variables included size (small), and container type (dish), and each was sampled promptly after being served. Grade criteria rated presentation, texture, and level of pumpkin flavor on a one-to-ten scale while also making note of the spice profile each ice cream had to offer.
Overall, the category winner was somewhat of a shocker, being Dairy Quee
n and their pumpkin pie blizzard. It was able to perfectly balance warm notes of cinnamon, ginger and allspice while preserving a palatable pumpkin flavor. By a landslide, one ice cream left the judges throwing hands, that being LemonBerry’s pumpkin and vanilla swirl. Spice seemed to be left out of the equation, leaving the end bite one that was rather wet and squash-tasting.
Now for the most cliche fall specialty, lattes. For control variables, size (small), temperature (hot), milk type (oat) and amount of coffee (double shot), this kept the lattes as similar as possible. Going further into grade criteria, level of pumpkin flavor, presentation and overall experience were awarded scores from one-to-ten, and spice profile was a separate subcategory.
The low runner was clear per expectation; Dunkin produced a latte as bad as their customer service. The end product had the same spice profile as rubbing alcohol while being overly sweet and barely meeting the pumpkin spice criteria. As for the front runner, Biggby, having two different seasonal lattes produced one closest to expectation while remaining relatively cost effective. However, this category has an honorable mention, Rising Star Coffee placed a spin on traditional pumpkin spice, curry. While it paired well with the coffee, its addition resulted in a warmer spice profile than expected, and its addition as garnish covered the gorgeous latte art.
The final of the restaurant categories, pastries, had the most variety yet was the most disappointing. Ranging in treats including donuts, cookies and turnovers, every establishment had some room for improvement. Similar to the others, grade criteria was ranked on a one-to-ten scale for both presentation, pumpkin flavor, and overall experience. Spice type was also taken into consideration.
On top of the pack, by a thin margin, is Starbucks pumpkin loaf. While dry, it had a balanced five-spice flavor and a good presentation. Middle ground is awarded to Krispy Kream, while their donut and its cinnamon flavor were bad enough to be thrown from the window of a moving car, the customer service was impeccable, and the donut was free. Last place however was a clear tie and left the panel gagging. The first being Arby’s for their pumpkin spice turnover, which was strong on pumpkin flavor, low on spice, and an overall textural mess. Somehow being wet and dry simultaneously but also being flaky and impossible to cut. Second, Crumbl was not a crowd-pleaser. Their pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bombed the presentation category, as it was burnt and quite honestly did not seem edible. The pumpkin flavor was mild, yet the cookie remained acidic, arid of any spices, and overall, just bad.
All in all, most establishments left some room for improvement, however their seasonal enthusiasm is much appreciated.
