Ignore the temperature outside. Pumpkin Spice Latte season is upon us.
After teasing fans for days, Starbucks has begun pouring its extraordinarily popular drink, but not everywhere.
Officially, say employees at some Starbucks locations, the “PSL” won’t go on sale until Tuesday. (Starbucks’ corporate office has not made an official announcement and did not immediately return a phone call.) But several stores have decided to ignore that date and began offering the fall favorite earlier today.
In 2016, the PSL—a coffee drink topped with pumpkin pie flavor and seasoned with cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg—went on sale Sept. 1 at most locations, even though the “official” availability date was Sept. 6. Early availability has been more sporadic this year, though. That means that while some of the sweet-toothed caffeine-faithful are celebrating, others are more than a little miffed.
Well? It's almost 7 am on the West Coast and nothing yet. Was hoping to get a PSL on the way to work.
— Jen (@try2grabthis) September 1, 2017
Um Hello, @Starbucks, it's September 1, where are the Pumpkin Spice Lattes?! @TheRealPSLpic.twitter.com/hUH2xS5bnb
— Cakezz (@KimmyCakezz) September 1, 2017
No @TheRealPSL at my local @Starbucks this morning! How disappointing!
— Amber E Stevens (@thebookstoregal) September 1, 2017
Adding insult to injury? Starbucks customers in Canada were able to pick one up with no trouble.
🙌 Surprise!
🍂 Fall has arrived early
🎃 And fall = #PSLSeason!
Enjoy the classic #PSL in store Sept 1. Pic.twitter.com/yqQJm1hzJ2— Starbucks Canada (@StarbucksCanada) August 31, 2017
The reveal of the launch date certainly hasn’t been a quick one. Starbucks has kept fans since waiting about 11am ET with a multi-hour livestream on its Facebook page that channeled April the giraffe, the zoo animal who became a pop culture phenomenon earlier this year when the zoo livestreamed her pregnancy and birth. Hundreds of thousands of people watched the stream obsessively.
The PSL livestream included vague signs, such as “pumpkins are born hairless and blind,” a pumpkin sitting in a nest, and an employee dressed as a farmer trying to “play fetch” with the pumpkin by rolling a ball against it for roughly 30 minutes. (No, really.)
Starbucks plans to push the PSL in new ways this year. The company announced earlier this month it would begin selling ready-to-drink pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin spice-flavored ground coffee to grocery chains this year.