Grab your pumpkin spice whatever — it’s officially autumn

History of pumpkin spice in America

From pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin-flavored doughnuts, it's clear the flavor is now an autumn staple of the American diet. (Photo credit: Anheuser-Busch)

Now is the time to trade those summer margaritas for fall pumpkin spice lattes, drinks and flavored foods — if you haven’t already.

Wednesday marks the official start of fall. Technically, the season will start at 3:21 p.m. ET, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

But some businesses didn’t wait until then to roll out America’s favorite fall flavor.

Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Credit: Starbucks)

In late August, Starbucks began serving its iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte and a new twist on the traditional flavor combo: Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. The company’s limited-edition Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin and Pumpkin Scone also joined the brand’s Pumpkin Loaf, which is a year-round menu mainstay.

In early September, Anheuser-Busch rolled out new flavors for its Bud Light Seltzer: pumpkin spice, toasted marshmallow, maple pear and apple crisp. The limited-edition flavors will be marketed as "Bud Light Seltzer Fall Flannel Variety Pack" and will be available through the end of October. The drinks will be packaged in 12 oz. slim cans.

"Since launching Bud Light Seltzer, we have continued to disrupt the seltzer category by expanding our portfolio with unexpected and delicious flavors," Andy Goeler, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, said. "We’re excited to bring our limited-edition Fall Flannel variety pack to the market, giving consumers a new innovation that is inspired by the season and perfect for all autumn occasions."

Nissin Foods announced on Monday its newest flavor cup: pumpkin spice. (Nissin Foods)

Nissin Foods announced its newest flavor cup: pumpkin spice. Cup Noodles’ new pumpkin spice-flavored instant noodles will hit Walmart shelves worldwide in late October.

Last year, Hormel Foods Corp. unveiled Pumpkin Spice Spam, but the item is currently out of stock. While Pumpkin Spice Spam originally started as a joke back in Fall 2017 when the company posted the idea on its Facebook page, a spokesperson recently confirmed that it is very real.

Once upon a time, pumpkin spice lived pretty much only in pies. That was a long time ago.

The first reference to what we now know as "pumpkin spice" can be traced back to 1796. That’s the year Amelia Simmons published "American Cookery," regarded as the nation’s first cookbook. In it, she includes a recipe for "pompkin pudding," a pie made with stewed pumpkin and spiced with ginger and nutmeg.

As Americans moved to urban areas during the Industrial Revolution and sought to maintain a connection with agrarian life, pumpkin pie — and the spices used in it — became an essential slice of Americana.

Pumpkin-flavored items went from reaching 6 to 14.5 percent of U.S. restaurant menus from 2005 to 2015, according to Datassentials. National chains and fine dining restaurants are the biggest proponents of pumpkin, and when it comes to geography, the northeast tops every other region: 19 percent of restaurant menus there featured at least one item.

Regardless of the current attention, pumpkin spice blends have been a mainstay of spice cabinets for decades. McCormick & Company introduced a pumpkin pie spice blend in 1934. It contained cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice — the same spices used to make pumpkin pie. Through the years it became known more simply as "pumpkin spice" and it remains one of the company’s strongest sellers. McCormick sold nearly 4 million bottles of the spice in 2014 — enough to make nearly 8 million pies stretching from Boston to Chicago.

In the early 1990s, pumpkin spice began trending as a flavoring in coffee, introduced in the fall alongside other seasonal coffee specialties, such as cinnamon-hazelnut and eggnog.

"Americans root themselves in this tradition," Cindy Ott, a scholar and author of "Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon," said.

"When times feel uncertain that they can turn to these things for a sense of comfort and goodness," she added.

The Associated Press, Austin Williams, and Skylar Rivera contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.

Food and Drink Consumer