What is in a Pumpkin Spice Latte? Every ingredient, explained

A Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is four components: espresso, steamed 2% milk, pumpkin spice sauce, and whipped cream dusted with pumpkin spice topping, and the milk, not the coffee, is the number one ingredient by volume, per Tasting Table's breakdown of the ingredient list. The sauce is where the fall flavor lives: sugar first, then condensed skim milk, pumpkin puree, and the spice quartet of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove. A grande runs about 390 calories with 50g of sugar and 150mg of caffeine, all of the caffeine coming from the two espresso shots underneath.

The four components and what each one does

Sauce composition and the 2% default are per Tasting Table, which walks the ingredient list Starbucks publishes on its menu. The espresso shot count and per-size caffeine are in our PSL caffeine breakdown: 75mg tall, 150mg grande, and up to 225mg for an iced venti.

Yes, there is real pumpkin in it

The most-asked question has a short answer: pumpkin puree is in the sauce, listed right after sugar and condensed skim milk. Starbucks even publishes a make-at-home version of the sauce on its own site, and per The Daily Meal's walkthrough of that recipe, it is water, sugar, six cinnamon sticks, a teaspoon of ground ginger, a teaspoon of ground cloves, two teaspoons of nutmeg, and four tablespoons of pumpkin puree, strained through cheesecloth. Starbucks uses three tablespoons of sauce per drink, which is why the PSL drinks more like dessert than coffee. If you want to run that math at home, our PSL-at-home cost breakdown prices it per cup, and the DIY pumpkin spice syrup guide covers the thinner, pourable version.

What it is not: spice-only, caffeine-free, or light

Three misconceptions cover most PSL confusion. First, "pumpkin spice" does not mean spice-only; the sauce has contained actual pumpkin alongside the spices. Second, it is not a gentle-caffeine drink; it is a full two-shot latte, identical in caffeine to a plain one, which surprises people who think of it as a dessert. Third, it is not light; the grande's roughly 390 calories and 50g of sugar, per Tasting Table, put it among the heavier standard-build drinks on the menu. Ordering it without whip or with fewer sauce pumps trims the sugar but never touches the caffeine, which follows the shot count alone.

For context, the FDA cites 400mg of caffeine a day as an amount generally not associated with negative effects in healthy adults. How caffeine affects you depends on your own tolerance and health, so treat these numbers as information, not advice.

Related reading

• PSL caffeine by size
• PSL vs regular latte caffeine
• Fall menu caffeine tracker 2026
• The caffeine database hub

FAQ

Does the Pumpkin Spice Latte have real pumpkin in it? Yes. Pumpkin puree is an ingredient in the pumpkin spice sauce, listed after sugar and condensed skim milk, alongside cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove.

What kind of milk is in a PSL? Steamed 2% dairy milk by default. You can swap in nonfat, whole, oat, almond, soy, or coconut milk; none of the swaps change the caffeine, which comes entirely from the espresso.

How much sugar is in a Pumpkin Spice Latte? About 50g in a grande with 2% milk and whipped cream, most of it from the pumpkin spice sauce, which lists sugar as its first ingredient. The same drink carries about 390 calories.