Paris Alston: You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition. For some, it is a long awaited sign of the season to come. For others, it's an unwanted, overhyped, flavored syrup. It's the release of the seasonal flavor, the all-star pumpkin spice latte. We here at GBH know at least one person who is not into it at all.

Callie Crossley: I don't get why everything has to be pumpkin spice. None of that makes me crazy. But I really don't get why they have to bring it before the end of August. I think it's ridiculous.

Jeremy Siegel: That is GBH's Callie Crossley, a very outspoken critic of the early release of pumpkin spice and someone who I am proud to call my colleague when I hear that.

Alston: Hear, hear, Jeremy.

Siegel: A recent article in The Washington Post took a look at the fall flavor and the timing of its release, specifically how much earlier it's arriving. Because, after all, it is still summer. We are joined now by reporter Lauren Tierney , who looked into this issue. Good morning, Lauren.

Lauren Tierney: Good morning.

Siegel: So today is the day, according to our producer, Karen Marshall, she saw this at her local Starbucks, that Starbucks is actually releasing its pumpkin spice-flavored products. It is August 24. It's going to be like 80 degrees in Boston today. And there are other places that have been releasing these products for weeks now, right?

Tierney: Yeah, that's correct. So Dunkin' actually released their pumpkin flavored menu for the fall on Aug. 16. And 7-Eleven was one of the earliest I could find in my research which released their pumpkin spice beverages on Aug. 1.

Alston: Oh, my goodness. That is, I mean, what do you think, Lauren? Is that too early for you?

Tierney: Personally, it's early. It's hard to imagine, you know, drinking, taking pumpkin stuff when it's, you know, I live in Washington, D.C. It's very hot here, very humid. We're still dealing with like 90-plus degree days. And so, yeah. And, you know, looking at our story as well, it's the temperatures aren't even falling for most of the country in August. Maybe Alaska and the Rockies. But it is still summertime in most of the U.S.

Siegel: Let's talk a little bit about companies doing this. I mean, we don't want pumpkin spice right now. You don't want pumpkin spice right now. But clearly, there must be a desire for it, because looking at your story, it is a trend that companies are, earlier and earlier and earlier, releasing pumpkin spice products.

Tierney: Yeah. So my story didn't dive in so much into the business side, but from our reporting from last year, it is a really big moneymaker for a lot of companies. There is a lot of hype around it. It also has a big social media presence, you know, with the hashtag PSL and that type of thing. So it is definitely — people get really excited about it. And that's kind of becoming clear with how early they're releasing it, in my opinion.

Alston: And of course, you know, a lot of these companies, as you stated in your article, they will end the sales of the pumpkin spice right towards the end of November, right? Because obviously at that point, we're changing over to a different point in the holiday season. But I wonder, I mean, since it's so popular, they're starting earlier, I almost wonder if it makes sense to keep it going even longer in some regards.

Tierney: Yeah, it is a big change. So once, you know, once Halloween comes around, that's typically when a lot of these companies, from the press releases I was looking at, switched to their more holiday menus. So you're bringing in peppermint, you're bringing in kind of the cinnamon type stuff. But yeah, really it's the weather is it's just barely entering fall typically based on average temperatures for lows in the 50s or lower. You know, but talking with some local coffee roasters in the area, I think a lot of the local ones tend to keep things going a little bit longer. So that's not always the case here in Washington, D.C., We have Compass Coffee, which has a couple of days ago actually released their fall menu. But then we have some others that are waiting until September and then they'll keep them going a little bit, a little bit longer.

Siegel: I want to get dark here because, I mean, it is fun debating whether there should be pumpkin spice lattes and whether there should be this time of year or not. But looking at your story, I mean, you have these amazing graphics, which I tweeted out your story if people want to see it. My Twitter handle is @jersiegel, where you look at the temperatures and how much later they're staying warmer in some parts of the country, how essentially summer temperatures are lasting longer, while at the same time we are seeing companies do earlier and earlier release dates of pumpkin spice lattes. And it's hard not to look at your story and get the takeaway, kind of, that climate change, at the end of the day, when you put it alongside, you know, embracing corporate, seasonal releases, climate change is creating a disconnect, basically, with the way that businesses and consumers act and reality.

Tierney: Yeah, and that's what I was seeing in the data as well. So near the end of the story, we've got a map showing what this year's fall temperature outlook is for the country, and it's something that NOAA puts out quite frequently for different seasons, for different months across the country. And for this year it is — and it essentially shows abnormalities. So it'll show if it's going to be warmer than average or if it's going to be cooler than average. And for this fall, it's expected to be a warmer than average for most of the country, and that includes Alaska as well. And even the Boston area is in the more higher percentage for a higher chance of it being a warmer than normal fall.

Alston: Mm. I was also reading, Lauren, that the pumpkin supply chain has responded to this demand, right? There's been increased pumpkin production to sort of meet the need that comes up this time of year for pumpkin, pumpkin spice flavored things. But we also know that Starbucks probably harvests most of that revenue, right? I mean, it's a large chain. It was reported that in 2019 it made somewhere around $424 million off of its pumpkin spice flavored products. But how much do you know about what we're seeing that trickle down to smaller companies, smaller businesses, maybe mom and pop shops who are trying to keep up with what this larger business is doing?

Tierney: Yeah, that is a great question and that's not one that our story dove into specifically. But I can say from chatting with local coffee shops and whatnot that there is a demand. So the pumpkin spice latte, Starbucks released it 20 years ago this year. And that definitely has, like through how I mentioned on social media and just this hype over the drink, it has had a little bit of a trickle down effect in terms of like people are looking for this. So even if you want to support your local coffee shop or whatnot, they're typically going to have full menus, at least in the D.C. area and from the coffee shops that I spoke to.

Siegel: That's Washington Post reporter Lauren Tierney. Lauren, thank you so much for your time this morning.

Tierney: Thank you so much.

Alston: You're listening to GBH News.

For some, it is a long-awaited sign of the season to come. For others, it's an unwanted, overhyped, flavored syrup.

Thursday marked Starbucks’ annual release of its signature fall flavor, the all-star pumpkin spice latte. Yes, in August. Yes, on a day where temperatures were expected to creep near 80 in Boston.

Lauren Tierney, a senior graphic reporter at the Washington Post, said companies have, indeed, been releasing pumpkin and pumpkin spiced-flavored items earlier and earlier. And that’s a bit confusing for consumers, who take their lattes out into a world in which effects of climate change mean cool temperatures begin later and later.

“Dunkin' actually released their pumpkin flavored menu for the fall on Aug. 16,” she told GBH’s Morning Edition co-hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Siegel. “And 7-Eleven was one of the earliest I could find in my research which released their pumpkin spice beverages on Aug. 1.”

While the release marks the unofficial start of corporate autumn, fall temperatures are nowhere near a reality in most of the country.

“I live in Washington, D.C. It's very hot here, very humid. We're still dealing with like 90-plus degree days,” Tierney said. “The temperatures aren't even falling for most of the country in August. Maybe Alaska and the Rockies. But it is still summertime in most of the U.S.”

So why the pumpkin spice dissonance?

“It is a really big moneymaker for a lot of companies,” Tierney said. “There is a lot of hype around it. It also has a big social media presence, you know, with the hashtag PSL and that type of thing.”

With demand high, stretching the pumpkin spice season earlier into summer makes more sense than dragging it further into winter, where it will bump up against Christmastime offerings.

“Once Halloween comes around, that's typically when a lot of these companies, from the press releases I was looking at, switched to their more holiday menus,” she said. “So you're bringing in peppermint, you're bringing in kind of the cinnamon type stuff.”

Some smaller, local coffee shops might keep fall flavors around for longer, she said. It’s hard to say whether Starbucks, which introduced its PSL 20 years ago and in 2019 reported about $424 million from sales of pumpkin and pumpkin spice-flavored products, is also boosting business at those smaller cafes.

“I can say from chatting with local coffee shops and whatnot that there is a demand,” Tierney said.