Starbucks Unveils PSL Society Merchandise as Pumpkin Spice Latte Returns to Menus Aug. 25 With New Chaider

Starbucks officially welcomed fall back to its menus Tuesday, bringing back the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte alongside a new PSL Society merchandise collection and an expanded lineup of seasonal drinks, including a debut fall-meets-winter beverage called the Chaider.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte, one of Starbucks' most iconic and consistently popular seasonal offerings, returned to coffeehouses nationwide Aug. 25, marking the start of what has become one of the coffee chain's most anticipated annual traditions. According to Starbucks, the fall lineup extends well beyond the PSL itself, including new pumpkin spice beverages, returning pecan-flavored favorites, banana bread-inspired drinks and the newly introduced Chaider, a cozy, cider-inspired take on chai.

To mark the occasion, Starbucks launched a dedicated PSL Society merchandise collection in U.S. coffeehouses the same day. According to the company's official announcement, the collection is inspired by the colors and cozy rituals of the season, featuring vibrant drinkware and a hat designed specifically with fall's biggest PSL fans in mind. The lineup includes a PSL hat priced at $29.95, featuring an embroidered pumpkin design alongside the letters "PSL." A stainless steel, 16-ounce orange cold cup, also priced at $29.95, features a vibrant orange finish accented with a pop of purple inspired by the season's color palette. Rounding out the collection is a 12-ounce PSL ceramic mug priced at $19.95, pairing a warm orange hue with a soft pastel purple handle for what Starbucks described as an unexpected twist on traditional fall colors.

Beyond the PSL itself, Starbucks' expanded fall drink lineup includes several new additions alongside returning customer favorites. According to Starbucks, new offerings this season include the Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso, Pumpkin Spice Chai and Iced Pumpkin Cream Matcha, while returning fan favorites include the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai and the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino blended beverage. The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is crafted with cold brew coffee and vanilla syrup, topped with velvety pumpkin cream cold foam, while the Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai blends black tea infused with cinnamon and other spices with milk and pumpkin cream cold foam.

The newly introduced Chaider represents one of the more notable additions to this year's fall menu. According to Yahoo News, the drink combines cinnamon, warm spices and apple cider-inspired flavors with chai, and is available in both hot and iced versions. Starbucks is also expanding its banana-flavored offerings this fall with two new beverages inspired by freshly baked banana bread, including an iced banana bread latte and an iced banana bread chai, both of which Starbucks has indicated will remain available on the menu beyond the fall season specifically, unlike the more strictly seasonal PSL and pumpkin-flavored offerings.

On the food side, returning items include the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, featuring a spiced pumpkin muffin with sweet cream cheese filling topped with spicy chopped pepitas. According to LiveNOW from Fox, new menu additions this fall also include a Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket, part of Starbucks' broader push to expand protein-forward food offerings, along with a Hedgehog Cake Pop.

Starbucks Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Niccol addressed persistent speculation about whether the company might eventually make the Pumpkin Spice Latte a permanent, year-round menu item, telling Yahoo Finance the company has no such plans. "We've talked about this a couple times, and we come back to the conclusion that it's really the defining drink of a season," Niccol said. "And as of right now, we've got no plans to put it on permanently. But we will make the most out of people wanting to experience a great pumpkin spice latte season. And it's not too far away."

To celebrate the return of the seasonal favorite, Starbucks partnered with lifestyle icon Martha Stewart, alongside actor Belmont Cameli, to promote what the company has framed as an invitation for fans to unapologetically embrace everything they love about fall. According to Starbucks, the partnership is intended to remind customers to fully lean into the season's traditions and rituals surrounding the drink's return each year.

This year's Aug. 25 return date lands slightly later than in some recent years but still fits within Starbucks' well-established pattern of launching its fall menu in the final week of August, regardless of actual weather conditions or the calendar date of the official autumn equinox, which does not arrive until Sept. 22. According to Yahoo News, Starbucks' announcement this year came earlier than usual relative to the actual reveal of the specific return date, even though the return date itself, Aug. 25, closely tracks the timing of the chain's launches in prior years, including a 2021 return that also fell on Aug. 24, one day earlier.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte first debuted in 2003 and has grown into Starbucks' most successful seasonal beverage in company history, according to LiveNOW from Fox, with hundreds of millions of the drinks sold since its introduction. Its popularity has also spawned a wide range of imitators across the food and beverage industry over the years, with Dunkin' introducing its own pumpkin-flavored drinks in 2007 and McDonald's launching a competing pumpkin spice latte in 2013.

The PSL's return also arrives at a significant moment for Starbucks' broader business strategy. The coffee chain has faced ongoing challenges in recent years, including slumping sales and intensifying competition, developments that contributed to the company bringing in Niccol as its new chief executive with a mandate to, in his own words, "fundamentally change" the company's strategic direction. Given the Pumpkin Spice Latte's status as one of the company's most reliable revenue drivers each year, this year's seasonal rollout, paired with the new PSL Society merchandise collection and the debut of the Chaider, represents a significant piece of Starbucks' broader effort to reinvigorate customer engagement and sales momentum heading into the final months of 2026.

With the full fall menu now live in U.S. coffeehouses, Starbucks customers looking to bring the seasonal flavors home can also find a range of Starbucks-branded fall products, including Doubleshot Energy Pumpkin Spice, Iced Espresso Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Spice Latte-inspired coffee creamers, already available on grocery store shelves nationwide.