Starbucks' New Maple Pecan Latté Is Basically The Next PSL

Nothing says fall is here like cozying up in your favorite oversized alpaca sweater with a freshly brewed Pumpkin Spice Latté from Starbucks in one hand — but now, as of Sept. 22, there may be a new contender from that drink spot. Beginning Friday, the coffee giant will be upping their fall coffee game once again with the release of their new Maple Pecan Latté — or, the "MPL" as it's being affectionately called. So, with the release of this new drink, I'm sure many are wondering whether or not Starbucks' Maple Pecan Latté can be made vegan.

The short answer unfortunately is no — but let's take a closer look at the ingredients just for good measure. For starters, the Maple Pecan Latté will include a blend of Starbucks signature espresso along with a pump of real maple syrup (vegan) pecan (vegan) and brown butter (not vegan) all swirled together to perfection and topped with a colorful array of autumn inspired toppings: aka, orange, yellow and white praline sugar crystals (yum).

While the MPL can be made hot or iced with your choice of steamed milk, soy milk, almond milk or even coconut milk (hey, go nuts) the vegan issue here really lies in the brown butter which is a core ingredient in the MPL. According to an article about how and what Starbucks offers when it comes to all things vegan on Peta.org, there are several drinks, Pumpkin Spice included, that cannot be ordered due to dairy products in the syrup ingredients.

Typically however, as with many Starbucks holiday drinks and otherwise, you can substitute the steamed milk for almond milk or soy milk — but the real issue in the case happens to be the butter, which is pretty much a key ingredients giving that gives the MPL that fresh MPL taste.

Major bummer, vegans, sorry about that.

In a press release, the Seattle-based coffee company said they have actually been toying with the idea of releasing these maple inspired delights for quite some time and have even been testing different iterations of the MPL since 2014. Unfortunately, this drink will be available for a limited time only — much like the Pumpkin Spice Latté, and basically every other seasonal drink the coffe chain has ever released (who else misses the mocha coconut frappuccino?!) — so you should enjoy it while it's around.

That said, Starbucks' Maple Pecan Latté will be made available in U.S. starting Friday, Sept. 22 which also happens to be the first official day of fall (well played Starbucks) while supplies last (which is a nice way of saying until they run out.) Which, if I we're a betting woman, (which I am) I would say is highly likely given the popularity of PSL. I mean, it's basically the PSL's brand-new cousin, who doesn't love the sound of that?!

Maple Pecan Lattés will also be served in Starbucks' newly designed (and very adorable if I do say so myself) fall cups, which were inspired by the rich vibrant colors of the fall season itself and come in a variety of pretty jewel toned colors including teal, maroon and orange. Some even come with fun fall-inspired designs like pie (very appropriate), a very caffeinated looking owl, and pumpkin straight out of Nightmare on Elm Street. Some of the cups even come with a fill in the blank circle for you to draw your own favorite fall creation. All I can say is brace yourself for the barrage of Instagram and Twitter photos your friends will be posting this weekend with their very own personalized designs on these cups.