As the leaves begin to fall and the campus starts to look more like fall, seasonal special drinks arrive at EMU’s Common Grounds coffee shop, the pumpkin spice drink and the horchata milkshake. Junior Ben Friesen Guhr says the horchata milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, and horchata powder while the pumpkin spice is made with pumpkin spice syrup. Tasting them myself, I would say the pumpkin spice latte version tastes just like a normal latte, and that the pumpkin spice flavor is overpowered by the latte. The horchata milkshake tasted just like horchata with a little bit of extra sweetness to it. I had the pleasure of interviewing fellow students on their thoughts and opinions about the seasonal special drinks.
Junior Dibora Mekonnen says the pumpkin spice latte tastes like a coffee latte, “It tastes more coffee than the pumpkin spice, if they added more pumpkin spice flavoring it’ll taste more pumpkin but the latte overpowers it.” Mekonnen recommends the pumpkin spice latte, especially for someone who likes coffee. Mekonnen, after trying the horchata milkshake, asked: “Why does this taste more pumpkin than the pumpkin spice latte?” She hates it, claiming that it is too sweet, and with whip cream would be way too sweet.
Junior Leah Frankenfield has tried the pumpkin spice milkshake, she says it tastes like fall, is yummy, kinda sweet, and pretty good. Frankenfield would buy it again and says it is her favorite drink they have made, and wishes it was a year round drink. Senior Isaac North-Sandel also emphasizes that the horchata milkshake is very sweet. He says “it has the delicious horchata flavor, is very refreshing, and unique.” North-Sandel adds that “the sweetness got to me, when I drinked it all and had a little stomach ache, but heard good things from other people.” For the pumpkin spice latte, North-Sandel’s first thought was: “Is this pumpkin spice?” He says it tastes like a latte with hints of pumpkin spice, “tasty but not what I was expecting; I prefer the milkshake version as it has a more strong flavor of the pumpkin spice.”
Lastly, I got input from senior Erika Lopez, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Weather Vane. Lopez says “I love horchata, and I think that Common Grounds did a great job at recreating the flavor. It is my new favorite drink, and I wish that they would keep it all year round!” If you are looking for some spice in your life get the pumpkin spice drink, and if you want something sweet then go for the horchata milkshake before it is gone. The pumpkin spice drink should be all year round as it would be a good addition to the Common Grounds menu while the horchata milkshake is more of a special drink that is best as an exclusive option.