You could be forgiven for mistaking Tuesday for the start of fall, even though autumn doesn't officially begin until Sept. 22.
Not for the Bay Area’s temperatures, which the National Weather Service expects to warm significantly in the coming days, but because Starbucks began selling its pumpkin spice latte on Tuesday.
The signature hot drink, a seasonal staple of the Seattle-based coffee giant's menu for the better part of two decades, is now available at Starbucks locations throughout the Bay Area and across the continent. So, too, is a hot or iced apple crisp macchiato, which the company said includes espresso, steamed milk and "caramelized-spiced-apple drizzle."
Starbucks is also selling pumpkin spice-flavored non-dairy creamer, creamer, cold brew concentrate and single-serve coffee containers at grocery stores in the U.S.
As for when the coffeehouse chain will start selling its red cups to customers again, Starbucks began doing so last Nov. 6. Expect the red cups to return, then, about three weeks before Thanksgiving this year, marking an unofficial start to winter over 1.5 months ahead of schedule.
In the meantime, there are another 28 days left before the official end of summer, at least as of this writing. But it might’ve already felt like fall for at least a few weeks, at least in some parts of the Bay Area.
Spirit Halloween has already opened its doors at a number of Bay Area locations this month, including in Fairfield, Hayward, Petaluma, San Francisco, San Jose and San Mateo. Halloween, of course, isn’t until Oct. 31.
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