The best pumpkin spice coffee has a good balance of spice, doesn’t taste like steeped potpourri, and warms your soul on a crisp fall morning—not that we have those here in Southern California. We brewed up some of the biggest brands on the market to find the best pumpkin spice coffee you can buy—and, no, Starbucks pumpkin spice coffee didn’t make the list.

It’s fall (sort of), and that means you can’t swing a stick in the grocery store without hitting at least 15 pumpkin and pumpkin spice products, from pumpkin spice cereal to pumpkin tortilla chips (yes, these actually exist). And, of course, there’s the one that started it all: pumpkin spice coffee. Sure, you could create a pumpkin spice latte at home by simply adding a pumpkin spice creamer to your morning cup or, easier still, you could simply pluck some pie spice from the pantry, sprinkle it on your coffee, and voila. Of course, there are dozens of pre-pumpkin-spiced coffee blends on the market. We curated a selection of pumpkin spice K Cups, pumpkin spice ground coffee, and pumpkin spice cold brew, and tasted them all to find the best pumpkin spice coffee you can buy.

Best Nutmeg Forward

The name of this coffee is a mouthful and so is its nutmeg flavor. On the whole, we preferred a pumpkin spice coffee in which you couldn’t necessarily isolate one spice flavor over another, but if nutmeg is your thing (and if you like pumpkin spice, it probably is), then this brand of pumpkin spice K-cups is the way to go. You could even balance things out by adding a flavored creamer that leans to the cinnamon side, like Coffee-mate’s Cinnamon Vanilla Creme. Plus, the coffee itself is roasty and good.

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Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Coffee Flavor

It may be a medium roast, but this pumpkin spice ground coffee brewed up nice and bold in our coffeemaker. The aroma is a little off-putting (I wrote in my notes that it had “the worst smell of any of the coffees we tried”), but if you can get past that, you’ll be rewarded with a good, strong coffee flavor that avoids dipping into bitterness, even with cinnamon in the mix. If you tend to add a lot of cream to your coffee, this is the best pumpkin spice coffee.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Cold Brew

Stok Pumpkin Creamed Cold Brew is like a premade iced pumpkin spice latte that’s ready to drink right out of the fridge. Plus, it actually tastes like pumpkin spice and coffee. I tasted similar bevs that tasted nothing like coffee whatsoever—even sweet creamy lattes should taste like coffee, dudes. Otherwise you’re just drinking spiced milk! No thanks! If you gravitate toward cold pumpkin spice coffee rather than hot pumpkin spice coffee because it’s still 800 degrees in October where you live, this is the best pumpkin spice cold brew you can buy. It does contain actual dairy, though, so keep that in mind if you have lactose issues!

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Balanced

In some pumpkin spice coffee, you mostly taste cinnamon. In others, the nutmeg overpowers everything else. In this Dunkin’ pumpkin spice ground coffee—which we brewed in our cute li’l one-cup coffee maker—you can really taste all of the spices equally, and it makes a beautifully balanced cup of coffee. Plus, you can still taste that classic Dunkin’ flavor in the coffee itself. I personally love Dunkin’ coffee and they make the best pumpkin spice coffee if balance is your thing..

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Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Cheap

I got it on good authority from Mythical Chef Josh that this pumpkin spice ground coffee from Trader Joe’s slaps, and he’s right. I think what makes this one special is the addition of orange peel and vanilla bean. So, so many pumpkin spice coffees (and other products) lean heavily on nutmeg and cinnamon, which can become bitter when brewed with coffee beans. This has other flavor agents to brighten things up a bit. It works nicely with the medium-dark roast beans. Best part? Trader Joe’s coffee is cheap, which means you can very easily stock up on the best pumpkin spice coffee if you get hooked.

Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

I live in a neighborhood with a Starbucks and a Peet’s, like, feet from one another (yay, corporate America!), and I gotta say that after tasting this pumpkin spice blend from Peet’s, I may forsake Starbucks in the future. From its well-rounded aroma to its balanced blend of pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove), this coffee is incredibly pleasant. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, Starbucks Pumpkin Spice K-Cups did not taste good. The coffee had an almost fruity aroma and a potpourri-like taste to match. If you’re at the store and have to choose between the two, pick Peet’s. It’s the best pumpkin spice coffee two years running.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Other products we tried: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice K-Cups, Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice K-Cups, Califia Pumpkin Spice Latte

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