Everyone knows that late summer and early fall is pumpkin spice season, and has been for the past two decades, since Starbucks launched the Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003 and basically every other chain that sells coffee followed suit in the years that followed.
But many things besides pumpkins are harvested at this time of year (including two of the main pumpkin spices, cinnamon and nutmeg), and this year it’s apple’s turn to take the stage.
Chains ranging from Cracker Barrel to Caribou Coffee and, yes, also Starbucks, have added apples to their seasonal drink lineup this year, usually paired with caramel, both to help the fruit flavor liaise better with coffee — which Starbucks, Tim Hortons, and Caribou are doing — and also to evoke caramel apples, which operators say resonates with customers at this time of year.
Other chains are adding apple flavors to tea, smoothies, and energy drinks.
Caribou Coffee is specifically highlighting Honeycrisp apple flavor.
Apples have long been the United States’ second-most consumed fruit (following bananas), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and they’re closely associated with autumn, which is why Dutch Bros Coffee chose the fall to introduce its Caramel Apple Rebel. Rebel is the chain’s proprietary energy drink, and this version is mixed with green apple and salted caramel flavors, then topped with more of the same flavors.
“Our research showed that apple drinks have appeal across generations and fruit-forward drinks are popular in colder months,” Dutch Bros chief marketing officer Tana Davila said in an email. “We also know apple picking is a fall activity and we wanted to bring the fun and nostalgia of caramel apple suckers to a drink.”
She added that customers often customize the Caramel Apple Rebel with extra caramel or sweet cream and enjoy it in afternoon and early evenings, which Davila said is a strong daypart for the brand.
The new energy drink follows the Chai à la Mode that Dutch Bros introduced as a limited-time offer last fall. It featured apple cinnamon sprinkles that Davila said were meant to evoke apple pie flavors. The rapidly growing chain based in Grant Pass, Ore., also has a green apple smoothie on its permanent menu.
Scooter’s Coffee has added a caramel apple smoothie to its fall menu, as well as a green apple version of its Scooot! energy drink.
The smoothie is the chain’s standard frozen drink base spun with green apple flavor and topped with whipped cream and caramel.
The Omaha, Neb.-based chain’s senior director of menu strategy and workflow, Amber Novak, said in an email that her trend analysis indicated apple was “an opportunity that resonates well with the younger demographic,” including non-coffee drinkers.
She said both drinks were “performing very well.”
“Customers of all ages are enjoying both of these drinks,” she added. “In fact, we also offer the Caramel Apple Smoothie in a kid's size. The caramel and apple flavor pairing in the smoothie resonates with all of our customers. We are seeing our Gen Z and millennial customers really enjoying our green apple energy infusion.”
Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii, which was founded on that state’s Big Island in 1989 and now is based in Centennial, Colo., with coffeehouses in 15 states, also has an apple energy drink for the season.
The Caramel Apple Mana is the chain’s Mana energy drink with caramel and Granny Smith apple syrups mixed in.
“Apple drinks have a very broad demographic,” Bad Ass Coffee chief operating officer Sue Sauer said in an email, adding that since her chain’s version is an energy drink, it’s mostly drunk by people from their teens to 30s.
She said it’s a take on the classic caramel apple sucker and was its top selling energy drink when it first debuted as an LTO last fall.
“Feedback from customers has been outstanding,” she said. “Many are comparing it to the taste of a caramel apple sucker.”
Granny Smith is also the apple variety featured by Cracker Barrel, which mixes the apple purée with sparkling wine in its Mimosa and with its iced tea as a bottomless glass.
“Granny Smith apples offer a crisp and sweet finish that balances well with other ingredients, making them the perfect apple flavor for these new innovative beverages,” Cracker Barrel’s vice president of marketing for menu strategy and innovation, Matt Banton, said in an email. “We built around Granny Smith apples because they have the quintessential apple flavor with also the stability needed when developing our seasonal menu with a singular story to drive crave and relevancy.”
He added that the drinks are performing just as they were projected to.
“Fall is synonymous with comforting flavors, with breakfast items, desserts, and drinks incorporating flavors like apple becoming more appealing to customers in an effort to connect to the season's experiences and cooling temperatures,” he said. “We see apple as going through a resurgence this year with new items being added to more and more menus as another flavor to consider for those who are going through pumpkin spice fatigue. In fact, our internal data shows nearly three-quarters of customers are highly interested in eating apple-based foods this fall, as they find the fruit tasty, versatile, and indicative of the fall season.”
As is usual with beverages, Starbucks was ahead of the curve on the apple trend, having introduced the Apple Crisp Macchiato in the fall of 2021.
That was made with brown sugar apple syrup and a drizzle made with apple juice, apple purée, cinnamon, and nutmeg that was crosshatched over steamed milk foam.
It’s back this year, but with oat milk as the default creamy element, both because that dairy alternative is performing well and because oat and apple flavors are a natural combination, just as apple and caramel are.
An iced version, the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso, is also available, as is an Iced Honey Apple Almondmilk Flat White. Like the other apple offerings, it’s made with the Seattle-based chain’s lighter roast Blonde espresso. It also has almond milk and a little honey and is topped with a non-dairy apple flavored cold foam.
Rounding out Starbucks’ coffee-and-apple lineup is an Iced Caramel Apple Cream Latte, which is espresso, milk, and apple, cinnamon, and brown sugar flavors over ice topped with salted caramel cold foam.
It also has a tea option. The Iced Apple Crisp Nondairy Cream Chai is spiced tea mixed with oat milk and topped with a cold foam that’s a blend of oat milk, soy milk, and apple purée.
HTeaO, a tea specialist based in Fort Worth, Texas, with 125 locations in six states, also has an apple chai. The Dirty Chai Apple Crisp is made with the chain’s signature Texas Chai with a Monin apple syrup added along with cinnamon powder and a shot of espresso from fellow Texas company Free Rein Coffee Company.
HTeaO president Heath Nielsen said in an interview that choosing to add an apple item in the fall was “a really long discussion.”
HTeaO teamed up with another Texas brand, Free Rein Coffee Company, for drinks including its Dirty Chai Apple Crisp.
“Fall traditionally falls to pumpkin, but dare I say there’s a little pumpkin fatigue,” he said, adding that pumpkin items do continue to perform well.
The item, and other potential LTOs, were tested in the chain’s 10 corporate stores, and the apple item stood out there, and data on it from menu research companies also popped (along with pecan and honey).
He said the addition of cinnamon helped the combination work. “The nose on it is quite remarkable,” he added. “We’ve been pairing it with a really good carrot cake cupcake, and you definitely get the coziness of the fall feeling. We’ve been playing with a green apple iced tea that we might look at for spring.”
Caribou Coffee is focused on Honeycrisp apple flavors for the lineup it debuted in late August.
The apple purée and caramel sauce are being added to shaken espresso which, like Starbucks’, is topped with oat milk, as well as in a latte. It also can be had with nitro cold brew, blended with coffee and ice, or simply added to steamed oat milk topped with whipped cream and caramel for a coffee-free treat.
Honeycrisp apple flavor is also a seasonal option in its sparkling energy drink.
Caribou coffee category manager Gretchen Hashemi-Rad said that the chain based in Minneapolis has had apple drinks in the past, but the Honeycrisp aspect is new.
“Honeycrisp apples provide a crisp, tart flavor that pairs exceptionally well with the buttery notes in our real caramel sauce. Combining those two ingredients with espresso provides a rich, flavorful fall beverage,” she said, adding that the drinks are seeing “great success.”
“It’s challenging to put any flavor up against pumpkin, but the Honeycrisp apple platform has been outperforming our expectations,” she said. In fact, it has accounted for nearly 40% of total seasonal beverage sales since their launch.
Tim Hortons’ apple offerings are more limited: It’s simply the Caramel Apple Latte, made with espresso and apple, caramel, and cinnamon flavors garnished with whipped topping and caramel sauce. It can be had hot or iced.
Tim Hortons fall specials include a Caramel Apple Latte.
The Oakville, Ontario-based chain’s director of beverage innovation, Ian Björn Thurston, said in an email that it is the second best performing fall beverage, after the pumpkin spice line.
He agrees that apples and fall go together.
“This flavor connects with nostalgic moments, especially for our guests who have fond memories of apple-picking or enjoy the activity with their families around this time of year,” he said.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
