The pumpkin spice era is changing—if not over, as McDonald’s replaces the flavor for the first time in a decade

After dominating America’s seasonal drink lineup for years, pumpkin spice may be losing its grip on fall.

McDonald’s, one of the largest restaurant chains in the world, said last week it would not include pumpkin-spice-flavored coffee in its offering of autumn-themed drinks this fall. Instead, the company has replaced it with another fall flavor in a clear sign that the archetypal fall flavor of the 2010s is changing with the warming globe.

“Caramel Apple Pie is the only fall coffee flavor McDonald’s is releasing this year,” a spokesperson for McDonald’s USA told Fortune in a statement. “While Pumpkin Spice will not be part of this year’s lineup, we’re always exploring new ways to give fans seasonal flavors to enjoy.”

While McDonald’s has never been as closely associated with the drink flavor as other chains, particularly Starbucks and New England’s Dunkin’, the company’s decision not to offer it at all says something about where we stand in the fall flavor wars.

Pumpkin spice’s maturity as a flavor also comes as the youngest millennials, the generation most associated with the drink, reached 30 this year. While an Empower survey from 2025 shows Gen Z customers are slightly more likely than millennials to buy pumpkin-spice-flavored coffee, they aren’t sticking to one........

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