Pumpkin Spice Whip Is Here & It's Glorious

Warm up your voices, people, and get ready to sing Happy Birthday. No, no — my birthday is not until May. (Thanks, though. I live in Las Vegas. Please send gifts.) Right now, we're celebrating the birthday of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! And because Sbux knows how to do birthdays right, they're offering Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream for a limited time.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte was born in 2003, which means he's officially a teenager now. Kids. They grow up so fast. Starting Oct. 6 (today!) and ending Oct. 9, all Pumpkin Spice beverages — hot, iced, and the signature Starbucks Frappuccino blended beverage — come with Pumpkin Spice Whip. Just like the infamous latte, the whipped cream is made with real pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove. You can also add Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream for free to any drink. Just ask! Don't forget to say please.

But it doesn't end there. The PSL's birthday wouldn't be complete without party favors. While supplies last, Sbux employees will be giving out "HBD PSL" pins to anyone who buys a PSL. That's enough of an incentive right there. Everybody loves pins.

The PSL is the son of the brilliant Peter Dukes, who came up with the mindblowing idea in the early 2000s.

As product manager at the time, Dukes led the creation of the PSL (originally named the Fall Harvest Latte). It took three months of experimenting and taste-testing, which started with the Sbux geniuses eating a forkful of pumpkin pie and following it with a sip of hot espresso in order to see how the flavors complemented each other and worked together.

In the fall of 2003, they released the PSL to just 100 locations in Vancouver and Washington, DC. But they knew within a week that they had a huge success. Demand was so high that they couldn't keep up, having to send more to their stores. Over time, the drink's popularity grew to extraordinary heights; indeed, PSL joined Twitter in 2014, being mentioned on the platform over 3,000 times a day.

"Nobody knew back then what it would grow to be. It’s taken on a life of its own," Dukes said in 2014. Between 2003 and 2015, Sbux sold more than 200 million PSLs; and between 2008 and 2012 alone, sales increased a whopping 234 percent. The even more incredible part (if you can get more incredible!) is that for more than 12 years — until August 2015 — the same recipe was used.

It was that good. And the change in August only made it better, introducing real pumpkin and removing artificial flavors.

This coffee drink has accomplished more in his 13 years than I have in 28. And I have no shame. Happy Birthday, PSL!

Images: Courtesy of Starbucks; Giphy