With baristas already slinging pumpkin spice lattes as of Thursday, Starbucks has ushered in the beginning of autumn a complete month early.

This yr is the soonest the Seattle-based coffee chain has released its famous seasonal drink, and inflation-weary Americans are sure to note its price. A hot, 16-ounce — that is “grande” in Starbucks lingo — pumpkin spice latte now costs $6.50, in response to average menu prices across several U.S. cities.

Since its creation in 2003, the pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove-infused Starbucks latte has rocketed in popularity, spurring copycats, candles and offshoots like pumpkin cream cold brew and pumpkin-flavored chai. The drink has also sparked quite a lot of backlash, becoming a lightning rod of public disdain over seasonal creep, overconsumption and capitalism normally.

“I might be subject to its tyranny now not,” Last Week Tonight host John Oliver proclaimed in a 2014 tirade against the drink. “It stops here.”

Except it didn’t. A decade later, the pumpkin spice latte lives on. Actually, it’s thriving.

The PSL, as fans seek advice from the drink, stays Starbucks’ hottest seasonal beverage, the corporate said in a news release Wednesday. And Starbucks relies on it to get people within the door: Per week after PSL’s launch in 2019, store traffic increased 14%, in response to the business-intelligence firm Placer.ai.

More broadly, Starbucks has begun to depend on major seasonal menu launches, saying that about 10% of sales come from seasonal items.

But will price-conscious Americans be willing to shell out over $6 for the (in)famous latte this yr?

Pumpkin spice latte prices over time

Money charted the associated fee of the PSL over the past twenty years, finding that because the drink’s popularity exploded, so did its price.

While the pumpkin spice latte was created in 2003, it wasn’t released nationally until the next yr.

Money’s earliest price estimate begins in 2005, when a hot, grande PSL cost $3.35.

Since 2005, Money estimates, the associated fee of that very same autumn latte has risen roughly 94%, far outpacing inflation. Against this, overall prices have increased about 57% from fall 2005 to today.

Here’s a more in-depth take a look at prices for warm, grande-sized PSLs.

Price estimates are based on two dozen sources, from archived news stories to customer receipts, reviews and Starbucks menu prices across various cities.

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