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The History of Pumpkin Spice

From more valuable than gold to basic AF, this essential time line explains exactly how pumpkin spice jumped the shark

Pumpkin spice reportedly was once worth more than gold. But today? It’s beyond basic and has officially jumped the shark. Illustration: Julia Moburg/Medium. Source: Walt Disney Television via Getty Images.

Confession time: I was this close to falling off the Sober October wagon twice this month. Why? Because I spotted apple cider spice-infused cocktails on a couple of menus — one was based off the classic Moscow mule — and I almost lost it!

I didn’t imbibe, but it got me to thinking: What’s the deal with pumpkin spice overshadowing all fall flavors and how exactly did this go down?

For me, the taste profiles for apple cider spice as well as maple syrup, pear, brown butter, cinnamon, and, of course, sweet potato are so much more nuanced, but clearly pumpkin spice has the better marketing squad. It dominates menus everywhere, from coffeehouses to retail stores to high-concept restaurants. I thought I had seen it all until someone recently posted an article about pumpkin-spiced crab cakes. Say what, now?!

After reading that, I needed to get to the bottom of how this pumpkin spice obsession got started. I reached back a thousand years to get my answer, and now I’ve laid it out for you in this simple timeline spanning from the 1300s to today.