Picture Perfect Pumpkin Pastries

As students begin to ease into the new school year, dropping temperatures and a change of seasons indicate one of the most important events at Lawrenceville: the release of fall-flavored treats. Arguably, no one on campus is more excited about this development than Sofia Carlisi ’24, who has made it her goal for the Fall Term to taste every pumpkin-flavored snack at Starbucks. 

An avid pumpkin fan, Carlisi has patiently waited for this opportunity all year. Her current goal “is to have a ranked list of all Starbucks pumpkin drinks and food items,” but in the long run, she wants “pumpkin domination in the cafe world. I want pumpkin flavors served all year long, ” she said. Sadly, achieving this will not be easy for Carlisi, as she admitted, “it’s expensive to maintain my pumpkin love, and unfortunately, other people do not understand pumpkin's importance. They only think of [the pumpkin flavor]  during the fall, but afterward, they forget and move on. It’s a tragedy.” Even with these obstacles, Carlisi explained that along with the flavor’s short period of availability, her love of pumpkin keeps her motivated  to eat “as much pumpkin as possible” in the time that she can. 

 So far, Carlisi has sampled all three seasonal food items on the Starbucks menu: the Pumpkin Scone, the Pumpkin Loaf, and the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin. The Pumpkin Loaf scores the highest on her rankings, with Carlisi describing it as having the perfect flavor intensity: airy but moist, excellent at all temperatures, and a true “delicacy.” Judged as  “pretty good,” the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin landed in the middle of Carlisi’s rankings. But she expressed disappointment in the overwhelming amount of cream cheese at the center of the muffin. Ranking dead last was the Pumpkin Scone, which was described as having solid pumpkin flavoring but being extremely dry.

Carlisi has yet to try Starbuck’s three fall drinks: the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, the Pumpkin Spice Latte, and the Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, which she plans to sample within the next week. Despite her dislike of coffee, she is most excited for the Frappuccino, rumored to be the sweetest of the three; Carlisi believes that the pumpkin flavor will make up for the coffee taste. As the Lawrenceville student body anxiously awaits her verdicts, Carlisi is certain that everyone on campus will be wishing her good luck in her final endeavor.