After getting busted by Food Babe for using a carcinogen (caramel color level IV) to create the illusion of pumpkiny goodness in their Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Starbucks announced they would be instead including real pumpkin in this years PSL.

There was a time in my life when I was a frappuccino, mochachino, machiato lover and the PSL featured prominently in all of my autumn day dreams. But, somewhere along my journey in food, I found I was relying less on additives and grew to enjoy the flavor of good coffee. If I sweeten my coffee now, I do it with a little drizzle of honey or agave.

Unfortunately, every year when PSL season hits my old sugar loving, ranch dipping, McDonald’s addicted subconscious convinces my matured palate that I do, in fact, desperately need a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

This year was no different. After weeks of hype over the new PSL, I caved and typed in the password “pumpkin” got my “PSL fan pass” and induced my sweet husband to pick one up for me knowing full well I would end up hating it.

I choked enough down so I could add a couple more shots of espresso and vowed yet again to stick to my homemade version. But after this experience I had to find out what was in the new PSL, how it truly did taste the same, even with real pumpkin.

The new ingredient list includes sugar, pumpkin puree, condensed skim milk, fall spices and salt. Sound familiar? It’s the same ingredients list as a homemade pumkin pie. Add a few eggs and you could probably make a decent tart, but as a drink it falls flat for me. I would rather stick to a Flat White and make my own PSLs.