As autumn settles into Los Angeles, local coffee shops are rolling out a diverse array of seasonal beverages that draw on the city’s rich cultural fabric and abundant farmers market produce. While pumpkin spice lattes have been a staple since Starbucks introduced the flavor more than two decades ago, the trend now begins as early as August and has expanded to include a wide variety of creative interpretations.
Across neighborhoods from Burbank to East Hollywood, cafes are offering unique takes on fall flavors beyond the traditional pumpkin spice. BLVD Cafecito in Burbank serves pumpkin spice and maple spice lattes topped with cinnamon sugar, alongside s’mores lattes featuring marshmallow cold foam and graham cracker crumble. Meanwhile, Kavat Coffee in Eagle Rock offers a pumpkin spice cheesecake latte crowned with a house-made salted cream cheese cold foam, as well as a cinnamon-spiced maple oat latte.
Santa Monica’s Demitasse blends espresso and matcha lattes with unconventional ingredients such as black cardamom and “cigarette ash,” a mixture of powdered sugar and activated charcoal. Its menu also includes an Ethiopian Kyoto iced coffee infused with walnut miso rosemary syrup and a non-alcoholic spirit refresher made with persimmon syrup sourced from the local farmers market.
In the South Bay, Reu Cafe in Hawthorne presents a lineup that features hot and iced pumpkin spice lattes, a horchata latte with pumpkin syrup, and a cookie butter latte topped with vanilla cold foam. Laidrey, with locations throughout the city, highlights a salted maple pancake latte alongside its signature pumpkin spice offering, incorporating house-made syrups and rich cream tops.
Other establishments such as mu.so coffee in West Adams introduce flavors like honey cardamom, apple pie, and espresso cream-topped coconut water drinks. Nam Coffee operates locations in East Hollywood and Chinatown where customers can find pumpkin spice Viet lattes enhanced with Saigon cinnamon and pumpkin cream toppings.
Chinatown’s Homegirl Cafe emphasizes fresh, house-made pumpkin syrup extracted from real pumpkins, extending the seasonal theme to pastries like a pumpkin variation of a popular coffee cake from Homeboy Bakery.
Notably, Dayglow, operating across multiple locations, features The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a layered espresso drink combining cider-infused oat milk, apple-fermented coffee beans, and pumpkin-tinged cream. Kumquat Coffee on York Boulevard offers a Harvest latte blending pumpkin, butternut squash, and sweet potato purée, garnished with sunflower seeds.
Glendale’s Loose Cannon complements its pumpkin pie-flavored latte with ingredients such as roasted pumpkin purée, brown sugar syrup, salted maple cold foam, graham cracker crumble, and roasted hazelnuts. The café also provides distinctive fall drinks like the Marlowe iced cortado and a tonic combining espresso or matcha with house-made sage, honey, and peppercorn syrup.
Finally, Mad Lab, with multiple locations, rounds out the season with offerings like the Figgy Pudding latte, incorporating dried figs, vanilla, and maple sugar syrup, alongside a Wintermint drink featuring matcha, mint, and mocha.
This year’s fall beverage selections in Los Angeles reflect a growing trend toward innovation and cultural fusion, moving beyond traditional pumpkin spice while still embracing the flavors synonymous with the season.