It should just be sold all year round anyway. The hell I have to wait until October/September for things to taste like pumpkin pie? It doesn’t ever actually have pumpkin in it, so it’s not because of a growing season.
Yeah, this doesn’t look to be Halloween-themed or anything. I have cans of pumpkin and pumpkin extract that last for years. They can do pumpkin stuff whenever.
I can’t stand pumpkin but it, I think obviously, should be made all year. Is there some problem with production or maybe people only like the taste of it exclusively at that time of year?
People go out of their way to buy pumpkin spice versions of products they likely would not have bought originally because the limited time nature makes them seem more enticing. And to also buy products in greater volume or more frequently than they otherwise would, to enjoy why it lasts. FOMO, basically.
Same reason why “McRib is back” keeps being a thing.
It’s part of that “you’re in the season of happy now think of your childhood” thing that companies just sort of dreamed up
I’ll buy a pumpkin or apple cider donut once or twice when they release around September. If they were available all year, I honestly doubt I would think about it or have it anymore than that. I can’t be the only one that feels that way.
Might as well make it year round. Hell, vanilla was considered the fanciest of fancy rare spices, and now it’s in everything.
Biggest problem i have with “seasonal” food, is the absolutely infuriating amount of food wasted just because the box/product needs to be swapped for the version that has hearts and bunnies on it.
Vanilla, actual vanilla, is a pain in the ass to make, and almost all of the world’s actual vanilla ends up in ice cream. We can synthesize the same chemicals out of, among other things, wood pulp and beaver secretions, which is why it’s easier to make things vanilla flavored now.
Do you mean the vanilla bean is a pain in the ass to grow? Vanilla is really easy to make from vanilla beans. Just use alcohol to extract the vanilla
yes.
wood pulp
This is also why barrel-aged spirits don’t just taste like vanilla, they have literal vanillin in them, which is vanilla’s main flavor compound.
I’m surprised whiskey aged in oak doesn’t come out as bitter af due to the tannin in the wood. Is that the point of charring the barrel?
IDK, TBH. Though I do think that many aged spirits are kind of bitter, especially the extra-long aged ones. Seems to depend on the oak species, too, French Oak often seems to lead to bitterer spirits (might be part of the reason why cognac often has added sugar) compared to White Oak (the standard for bourbon barrels).
Or I wonder if the bitterness isn’t just hidden by the overwhelming flavor of motor fuel.
You mean the flavor of alcohol? If alcohol specifically hides bitterness but somehow lets all the sweet-ish barrel flavors shine through, no one would be able to taste the bitterness of cocktail bitters in drinks like the Old Fashioned. Cocktail bitters are very bitter, but the same is true for tannins.
Oh I’m convinced that the demand for fancy booze is pretty much entirely marketing.
First of all, wine is almost entirely judged by its packaging. Take Franzia, that extremely mid boxed wine, put it in a striking bottle with a real wood cork and a fancy or trendy looking label and people will start discussing bouquet and mouthfeel.
Beer (and I will pause after typing this parenthetical to take a swig from my Red Oak Bavarian Amber Lager) tastes kinda like puke. Like orange juice after brushing your teeth. Fancy schmancy beers will taste like burned oatmeal, and the craft beer industry died and now there’s just IPAs which taste like yesterday’s grass clippings and the occasional “we’re not as big as Budweiser” company making “Amber lager”.
As for spirits, vodka outsells fancy aged whiskies by a WIDE margin, and while flavors can be found in whiskey, a bottle of Pappy or Blantons or whatever ain’t worth thousands of dollars, it’s all just Buffalo Trace.
I’ve seen footage of a restaurant where rich people pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to have chocolate sauce poured into their bare hands from a gravy boat. I’ve heard this phenomenon explained by the axiom “poor people prioritize quantity, middle class prioritize quality, and the rich prioritize experience.” So the best you’re going to get is a $40 bottle of scotch, because a $40,000 bottle of scotch will be the same booze in a really, really complicated bottle.
Have you ever had Johnny Walker Blue? It taste like ash. Johnny Walker Red is honestly a better experience, because it tastes like whisky. Johnny Walker Blue is more expensive because they tell you it is.
might as well just keep them year round at this point
From what I recall Starbucks used to keep Pumpkin Spice available much longer out of season than they advertised.
-I was on the pumpkin spice train before it was cool.
Has this ever happened to you?
I got Halloween candy at CVS today in June.
With more people tapping into the trend of Summerween
Summerween
Your marketers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.
They’ve never once considered if they should. Heck, Adam Smith said so himself:
“The wealth of nations relies on dumb ass marketing and stupid fuckers buying into it.” - Adam Smith
They could’ve said “Thanksgummer.” Count your blessings
It’s dumb to take a super popular flavor off the shelf in the first place. Unless people don’t actually like it, and it’s some sort of commentary about people happy about fall coming around.
I don’t think I’ve tried any pumpkin spice food or drink (they aren’t that common here), but I definitely want christmas sweets like gingerbread and spiced cookies available year-round - why eat cookies that are flavored with just butter, vanilla or chocolate, when you could have cookies with spices?
It’s clearly the anticipation that gives it the flavor!
I bet it also builds character.
It’s either season creep or retailers don’t think we’re going to make it through fall so they’re dumping products ahead of schedule.
Menards has plastic skeletons out
I have two neighbors that decorate their plastic skeletons seasonally all year long. It’s my favorite thing.
Have to get it out early; Christmas has already taken over all of the fall season.
The auto shop in my hometown had a sign that said “pumpkin spice oil change”
I appreciate the humor of the random mechanic that thought that was a hoot
And there it will stay, until fucking Autumn.
I saw Christmas supplies at Costco a couple days ago…
So what, if people enjoy having those, let them.
This is why we need seasonal regulation goddamit
https://www.pastafariancalendar.com/
Friday, July 25, 2025 🍨 Hot Fudge Sundae Day 🍨
These seasonal food regulations should definitely reflect the clearly-correct religious position and not some false religion’s take on things.
