Another seasonal food release, another review. For the past two years, reporters from the B have tried fall or winter-themed Trader Joe’s food items to embrace the spirit of the season. This year, we are still following that tradition, but with the addition of Starbucks drinks!

Starbucks drinks:

We started the review with seasonal drinks from Starbucks, rating each drink’s flavor and consistency from one to five.

The Chai Tea Latte with Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam was creamy and thick with the expected autumnal chai flavor. The drink was sweet and filling, earning an overall score of 4.5 in flavor.

The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew tastes just like a normal, slightly watered-down cold brew. There wasn’t much of a pumpkin flavor, which made it pretty underwhelming, but the coffee wasn’t bad. This drink got a score of two out of five. 

The Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL), a popular go-to drink of the season, had the right amount of pumpkin flavor. Although the PSL is notoriously basic, it does not disappoint. We gave this drink a five out of five.

Unfortunately, the last drink on our list, Starbuck’s Iced Apple Oat Milk Macchiato, did disappoint. We described it as tasting like an air freshener because the apple flavor was too strong and sweet.

Next, onto the Trader Joe’s foods. 

Trader Joe’s foods:

The Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse Cakes were so cute, and although they didn’t taste much like fall, the looks of the desserts made up for their taste. The inside was a chocolate cake with icing that was moist and light, layered to ensure that each bite would include a bit of everything. This chocolate bite-sized dessert got a rating of four of five.

The Pumpkin Brownie Blondie had a strong pumpkin flavor, and the texture was a bit mushy but not in a bad way. It was sweet and the bread was thick. There were also nuts inside; the surprising crunch in the treat was both liked and disliked. We gave this treat a four and a half out of five.

The Pumpkin Tortilla Chips didn’t taste any different from a regular tortilla chip other than that there were nuts in them. They didn’t really change the flavor of them but overall it was a great tasting chip with great texture. Four out of five.

The next treat seemed like a no-brainer: yogurt-covered pretzels with a pumpkin twist, plus a mini size? These cute little snacks were strong and flavorful despite their size. They were pretty filling and received a score of three out of five.

The Pumpkin Spice Cookies were shortbreads covered in a yogurt coating. They had a very subtle pumpkin flavor but were also very sweet at the same time, so we landed on a score of two out of five. 

Trader Joe’s Non-Dairy Pumpkin Oat Beverage was underwhelming, to say the least. Immediately, the  Orange color was a huge red flag. The consistency was warm and thick — but not in a good way. We would only recommend this if you are a fan of oat milk in general — otherwise, it’s a two out of five. 

Last, but not least, came Pumpkin Joe Joe’s. Joe Joe’s are Trader Joe’s riff on classic  Oreo cookies. They have seasonal ones and this one was covered in white chocolate and had a pumpkin flavored cookie. They were very sweet and had lots of heavy layers — three out of five.