Omigod You Guys, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is Here in Thailand

A Starbucks barista holds a Pumpkin Spice Latte on Sept. 18, 2019 in Bangkok.
A Starbucks barista holds a Pumpkin Spice Latte on Sept. 18, 2019 in Bangkok.

BANGKOK Even though you can’t really, like, wear uggs for the fall in Thailand (and there’s no fall for snapping IGs with foliage in the first place) you can still get other parts of your basic bitch on – omigod the PSL is here, y’all!

Starbucks Thailand unveiled its famous paragon of Basic Bitchness on Tuesday, the Pumpkin Spice Latte menu. 

The PSL, available either hot or iced, is 150 baht for a Tall, 165 baht for a Grande, and 180 baht for a Venti. A hot PSL in the smallest Short size is 135 baht. The PSL blended frappucino goes for an offensively steep 170 baht for a tall, 185 baht for a Grande, and 200 baht for a Venti. 

As of Wednesday, branches we went to were offering small sample sizes of the frappuccino and iced versions to help you make up your mind. 

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To new basics, the iced PSL is rather like sweet milk mixed with espresso, with faraway hints of cinnamon and clove, and maybe a ghost of pumpkin. It’s there, but it’s not like an explosion of pumpkin fall like we were led by American YouTubers to believe. Meanwhile, the frappucino version has smooth, granulated ice to help carry the flavor, but the pumpkin-ness there isn’t strong either.

PSL samples.
PSL samples.

Starbucks changed the formula in 2015 to add real pumpkin into the recipe rather than using only pumpkin pie-flavored syrup. 

Not sure what all the fuss is about, or the significance of being “basic?” This Business Insider podcast ep, like, basically explains it all. 

The drink was invented in 2003 by Peter Dukes of Starbucks after his team mixed different pumpkin pie recipes with espresso in order to create a seasonal fall drink for the US market. Since the PSL’s inception, companies have started producing similar pumpkin spice flavors for everything from donuts to body spray to candles.

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Don’t feel like dishing out 200 baht for a cup of basicness, and already have WiFi at home? The internet is rife with pumpkin spice latte recipes, and you can make sure you get as much pumpkin and cinnamon as you want. We wonder how making one with groceries found in Thailand would taste! 

This review is unsponsored.