What’s the deal with pumpkin spice lattes?

You can’t escape it. The leaves on the trees transform to a crisp auburn, the sun sets at dinnertime and cardigans are everywhere. Fall is here, and with fall comes the over-bearing addition of the seasonal taste of choice: pumpkin.

Weeks before the feeling of fall had even come to Boston, Dunkin Donuts announced the return of pumpkin through a promotional snapchat filter, and the craze behind the autumn item almost immediately.

Now, not everyone likes PSL. Some people don’t even know what the acronym stands for, as demonstrated by Ben, a sophomore in CAS who couldn’t answer my question of “How do you feel about PSL?” Luckily for him, a young woman swooped in to save the day and poked her head into our conversation and whispered “Pumpkin Spice Latte”.

However, beyond that scope of neutrality lies a group of people who are fed up with the frenzy.

“Fuck Pumpkin Spice Lattes,” commented an employee of Starbucks located on Comm. Avenue. “Making them isn’t that bad, it’s dealing with everyone who orders them.”

When asked to elaborate, the employee informed me that when these people aren’t ordering PSLs, they’re notorious for having the most complex orders one can concoct after glancing at the Starbucks menu. “It’s like.. thanks for giving me a break from making that… but now I have to make this maybe 15 times an hour.”

Baristas aren’t the only protesters of PSLs, however: students are also fighting back against the fall favorite. “I just don’t get the hype,” admitted Lauren, a junior in COM. “I’ve had one before and it was.. Okay. Not worth what all the Tumblr posts make it out to be.”

In fact, the consensus against Starbucks’ most profitable item may be greater than that for it, and yet pumpkin continues to reign over our lives until December. When asked why she was a fan of PSL, Becca, a senior in CAS, had this to say: “It’s just so cozy. Pumpkin is such a nice smell and it’s a warm drink so grabbing a quick PSL before a 9am is a must.”

“A basic drink for basic bitches…like me,” shrugged Brendan of Questrom. (Note: Not only is he a fan of PSLs, but was actually drinking one when I spoke to him.)

As for the hype, it may be just as inflated as we all expected. “They actually are pretty easy to make,” explained Andros, a student manager of the Starbucks in the George Sherman Union. “It’s just a vanilla latte with pumpkin and chocolate syrup.” Though it continues to stir controversy year after year, PSLs and all pumpkin products seem to be here to stay.