Pumpkin spice season starts before fall now. There’s a reason we keep falling for it

The useful part

The leaves can still be green, the afternoon temperature can still feel like summer and somehow your coffee shop has already decided it is autumn. Pumpkin spice season arrives earlier every year—or at least it can feel that way. The persistence of pumpkin spice is more interesting than the flavor itself because the drink has become something food rarely gets to be: a calendar.

How it works

• Pumpkin spice became a signal that fall has begun Humans organize time through rituals.
• Food companies may be selling coffee and cookies, but what many shoppers are buying is anticipation.
• Birthdays, holidays, school years and seasonal traditions create […] The post Pumpkin spice season starts before fall now.

Details worth keeping

This year Starbucks brought back its Pumpkin Spice Latte on Aug. 25, nearly a month before the astronomical start of fall.