Cafe Telegrama’s pumpkin spice latte in Melrose Hill.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The best pumpkin spice lattes and seasonal drinks to sip in L.A. this fall
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Warm Santa Ana winds that scatter palm fronds on sidewalks. The Dodgers playing in another World Series. A new lineup of cozy caffeinated beverages at your favorite local coffee shop. These are the signs of fall in Los Angeles.
It’s been more than 20 years since Starbucks first released its pumpkin spice latte, but the autumnal trend is showing no signs of slowing down — now it starts at the end of summer. Here in L.A., neighborhood cafes embrace the season by pulling inspiration from our abundance of farmers market produce and the diverse cultures that shape our city.
In addition to now-classic pumpkin spice, you’ll find espresso lattes sweetened with sweet potato, horchata and whiskey-caramel, as well as an influx of embellished matcha and hojicha creations that reflect L.A.’s growing tea scene.
From a pumpkin pie latte crowned with graham cracker crumbles to a subtly sweet salted maple option, here are 15 of the best seasonal drinks to sip in L.A. this fall:
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Alder & Sage
Long Beach Coffee Breakfast/Brunch $$
(Rimi Abuhussein)
The community-minded cafe from Kerstin Kansteiner puts an emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients, starting with the on-site garden that provides herbs and veggies for the menu. Three new drinks were added for the fall season, including a classic pumpkin spice latte dusted with pumpkin pie spice, a pumpkin cream cold brew topped with pumpkin cold foam and a whiskey caramel latte with house-made whiskey caramel sauce infused with oak smoke and a black salt rim.
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Be Bright Coffee
Fairfax Coffee $
(Stan Lee )
Owned by 2024 U.S. Barista Championship winner Frank La, the Melrose coffee shop takes its brews seriously, from coffee beans that are roasted locally every week to expertly crafted Einspanners. The fall menu celebrates the comforting flavors of the season, including a pumpkin pie latte that’s topped with crushed graham cracker, a vanilla cappuccino with smoked sea salt and grade A maple syrup, a spooky black sesame mocha with black sesame cold foam and spiced apple espresso cream soda garnished with cinnamon.
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Bonsai Coffee Bar
West Los Angeles Asian Cocktails $$
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
The Asian-inspired coffee shop and bar went viral for its matcha martini that’s only served after dark, but it’s worth stopping by during the day when it bustles with students from nearby UCLA ordering Vietnamese iced coffee with sea salt cream tops, buns filled with red mochi and curry pork and signature tiramisu lattes. A trio of autumn beverages was recently added to the menu, including a pumpkin spice latte; a maple cinnamon latte with your choice of espresso, hojicha or matcha; and a pumpkin cream latte with your choice of espresso or dirty chai and crowned with a pumpkin spice cream top.
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Café Telegrama
Coffee Breakfast/Lunch $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Being attached to a full-service restaurant has a number of perks, and this season at Cafe Telegrama, that perk comes in the form of a pumpkin spice latte. The chic, popular Melrose Hill cafe sits tandem to sibling spot Etra, where pastry chef Marissa Brown devised the coffee shop’s first ever PSL. Brown separately toasts the whole spices — including cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg — then meticulously steeps them for perfect flavor release. This pumpkin spice syrup gets used in lattes both hot and cold, and can be found at Cafe Telegrama through December.
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Clark Street
Beverly Hills Bakery $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Zack Hall never wanted to offer pumpkin spice at his lauded Clark Street bakeries and cafes, which are spread across Echo Park, Brentwood, Larchmont, Beverly Hills and a Hollywood diner in the former 101 Coffee Shop space. But in 2022 the baker and founder decided to dabble, and Clark Street’s pumpkin spice lattes — both the iced and hot versions — are returning again this year, and with an updated recipe. The 2025 tea-like infusion of spices, the pumpkin purée, brown sugar and vanilla amps up the cinnamon and ginger, and it’s designed to be even smoother than in years past.
But Hall didn’t stop at lattes. The baker’s pumpkin spice white chocolate cookies are studded with Valrhona white chocolate, which gives the cookies an almost cream-cheese-like gooey center, and at the bakeries, he’s also added pumpkin tea cake to the roster this year.
But Hall didn’t stop at lattes. The baker’s pumpkin spice white chocolate cookies are studded with Valrhona white chocolate, which gives the cookies an almost cream-cheese-like gooey center, and at the bakeries, he’s also added pumpkin tea cake to the roster this year.
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Dayglow
Silver Lake Coffee
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Tohm Ifergan often concocts whimsical drinks in Silver Lake, West Hollywood and Larchmont, but they’re usually tied to films, not seasons. Wanting to add something pumpkin spice to his menus, but wanting to be sure it still fit his cafes’ ethos, he revisited an old favorite: An apple-hewed iced latte called the Fantastic Mr. Fox, a nod to the Wes Anderson movie and its apple-thieving protagonists.
“The addition of pumpkin just made more sense,” he said. “I think apple and pumpkin work really well together, but you don’t see it often.”
Ifergan’s is a refreshing take on the pumpkin spice latte in more ways than one. It’s a little like an Einspänner, topped with pumpkin cream, but it’s layered below: At the base is a house-made crisp apple cider that’s reduced to a syrup, which becomes creamy with the addition of oat milk. The next layer features an on-theme espresso: Fresh apple ferments along with the coffee cherries at origin, which adds a bright, fruity flavor to the beans. The top cream involves pumpkin puree, a range of spices and brown sugar. “[The drink] is actually quite simple,” Ifergan said, “but I think it’s all the little elements that make it nice.”
“The addition of pumpkin just made more sense,” he said. “I think apple and pumpkin work really well together, but you don’t see it often.”
Ifergan’s is a refreshing take on the pumpkin spice latte in more ways than one. It’s a little like an Einspänner, topped with pumpkin cream, but it’s layered below: At the base is a house-made crisp apple cider that’s reduced to a syrup, which becomes creamy with the addition of oat milk. The next layer features an on-theme espresso: Fresh apple ferments along with the coffee cherries at origin, which adds a bright, fruity flavor to the beans. The top cream involves pumpkin puree, a range of spices and brown sugar. “[The drink] is actually quite simple,” Ifergan said, “but I think it’s all the little elements that make it nice.”
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Eruta Nature
University Park Coffee $
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times )
Operating out of Rock & Reilly’s USC during the day alongside Bagels by Kneady, Eruta Nature is expanding beyond its usual lineup of embellished coffee and matcha lattes with two Halloween-themed specials including Trick ‘r Treat, a French vanilla latte with pumpkin cold foam, and Jack O’ Lantern, a pumpkin latte with brown sugar-cinnamon cold foam that glows neon green thanks to food-safe dye.
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Guisados
Pasadena Mexican $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
One of the city’s favorite local taco chains is putting a spin on its stalwart horchata for the season. At all Guisados locations now through Nov. 30, find pumpkin horchata that’s mixed to order. The team augments its already cinnamon-scented rice drink with real puréed pumpkin, making for a rich, sweet, autumnal take on a classic. For those missing the caffeine, Guisados can add a shot of espresso to top it off. Find it in Boyle Heights, Echo Park, Long Beach, Burbank, Pasadena, downtown, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice and Hermosa Beach.
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Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen
Inglewood Coffee Breakfast/Brunch
(John Garduno)
Hilltop Coffee was born out of co-owners Yonnie Hagos, Ajay Relay and Issa Rae’s love of coffee shops as third spaces and wanting to bring a similar offering to the South L.A. neighborhoods where they grew up. The cafe has since expanded to four locations, but the menu remains as consistent as ever, with complex Ethiopian brews, smoothies, breakfast burritos and beignets. Three new drinks were added for the fall season, including a sweet potato latte, gingerbread cold brew and brown sugar cookie chai latte.
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Layla Bagels
Beverly Hills Bagels $
(Layla Bagels)
One of L.A.’s best bagel shops has a coffee and matcha program to match. Pair the new cinnamon raisin bagel that’s smeared with whipped honey brown butter with a seasonal sesame matcha latte that swirls black with activated charcoal or the salted maple latte with house-made salted maple syrup and garnished with maple-sugar cocoa powder.
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Muddy Paw Coffee
Eagle Rock Coffeehouse $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
A fundraising cafe is offering pumpkin spice with a bit of philanthropy. At Muddy Paw Coffee, with locations in Eagle Rock and Silver Lake, each purchase helps rescue dogs, and for nearly a decade every fall the fan-favorite rendition of the pumpkin spice latte has made its return. “One of our big things at our store, just in general, is that everything’s all natural and from scratch,” said co-founder Darren La Borie. “It’s the way I approach most of my drinks, including this pumpkin spice latte: It has real pumpkin, real spices, real vanilla. With the stuff we carry, it’s the real deal.”
Muddy Paw’s PSL is available hot or iced, and in both, freshly ground spices like cardamom and cinnamon — similar to a classic pumpkin pie spice blend — make their way into organic pumpkin puree, which is sweetened by brown sugar and a hint of agave. The lattes are finished with a sprinkling of the cafe’s custom spice blend, which includes a pinch of black pepper for bite. This year the cafes also revived their pumpkin spice chai, which uses the from-scratch pumpkin-spice mixture and can be ordered hot or cold, plus a new concoction called the Bernese, where pumpkin spice gets layered with matcha, then topped with house-made pumpkin spice cold foam. The drinks can be enjoyed with baked goods and other themed snacks made by a range of local bakers: pumpkin bread, gluten-free pumpkin maple scones, pumpkin doughnuts and more.
Muddy Paw’s PSL is available hot or iced, and in both, freshly ground spices like cardamom and cinnamon — similar to a classic pumpkin pie spice blend — make their way into organic pumpkin puree, which is sweetened by brown sugar and a hint of agave. The lattes are finished with a sprinkling of the cafe’s custom spice blend, which includes a pinch of black pepper for bite. This year the cafes also revived their pumpkin spice chai, which uses the from-scratch pumpkin-spice mixture and can be ordered hot or cold, plus a new concoction called the Bernese, where pumpkin spice gets layered with matcha, then topped with house-made pumpkin spice cold foam. The drinks can be enjoyed with baked goods and other themed snacks made by a range of local bakers: pumpkin bread, gluten-free pumpkin maple scones, pumpkin doughnuts and more.
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Mystyx Coffee
East Los Angeles Coffeehouse
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
This year one of L.A.’s most metal baristas is amping up his pumpkin-spice game. Mystyx Kafe owner Julian Anguiano keeps things spooky year-round with his East L.A. coffee cart, which offers drinks with names such as Black Magic and Inferno Tea. He never paid pumpkin much attention until last year, when he offered his first PSL. Now, inspired by his recent marshmallow latte, Anguiano is getting fully into the Halloween-candy spirit with the Chocolate Pumpkin.
The new creation utilizes mocha syrup and house-made pumpkin sauce with fresh pumpkin, plus cookie crumble, espresso and pumpkin cold foam.
The new creation utilizes mocha syrup and house-made pumpkin sauce with fresh pumpkin, plus cookie crumble, espresso and pumpkin cold foam.
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Nonna Mercato
Long Beach Italian Restaurant
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Chef-owner Cameron Slaugh’s Nonna Mercato is part full Italian restaurant, part pastaio making fresh pastas for home cooking, part market bearing fresh bread and imported pantry staples, and part pastry shop. This Long Beach spot can do it all — especially when it comes to coffee. Head straight to the long counter for an Italian-leaning espresso program year-round, but you’ll also find an autumnal treat there this fall: a gourmet PSL that gains its flavor from a house-made maple pumpkin sauce. Nonna Mercato’s baristas simmer pumpkin purée with a warming-spice blend and organic maple syrup, and use it as the base for the latte that gets topped with a stencil of a grinning cinnamon pumpkin.
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Recreational Coffee
Long Beach Cafe
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
One of Long Beach’s favorite cafes is back with its seasonal drinks — including a new option. Recreational Coffee specializes in fair-trade beans that owner Brooklyn Warden and her team roast in house, and while the classics include some tantalizing options (chocolate cappuccinos and ice-coffee growlers abound), the seasonal menus feature inspired, festive options. This fall the team is running a trio of special brews, including a shaken iced latte that’s tinged with maple, and a brown butter pumpkin latte, which features house-made-syrup, a silky texture and a nutty note beneath the pumpkin’s bright, fresh flavor. A third, new option is the roasted hazelnut latte: Riffing on Recreational’s in-house ethos, this latte’s hazelnuts are also roasted on site.
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Thank You Coffee
Chinatown Coffee $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Thank You Coffee began serving its play on pumpkin spice in 2020, but the Chinatown and Anaheim coffee counters riff on Asian ingredients and flavor profiles with options such as the five-spice latte year-round. Around fall, however, the scent of gourd spice always makes its return: the seasonal, signature KSL — or kabocha spice latte — which swaps pumpkin for kabocha squash.
“We don’t really eat pumpkin, but we eat a lot of kabocha,” said co-owner Jonathan Yang. “My wife, Julia, and I love kabocha but not all people know it, and we realized this is a neat way to highlight that kabocha is pretty much like a Japanese pumpkin.”
Thank You Coffee’s KSL derives its chief flavors from a blend of toasted spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and ginger, which are turned into a syrup with a combination of white and dark brown sugars and ginger bitters; it all gets steeped and strained. Yang steams fresh kabocha squash, then purées it and incorporates it into the spice syrup, adding depth without detracting from the spices, he says. In both locations, a hint of condensed milk is added to the lattes, and they’re dusted with kinako, a roasted soybean flour, for added earthiness and a pie-crust effect. This year they’re adding another fall-inspired drink to the menu at both locations: a persimmon-and-apple latte that’s meant to evoke coziness and comfort throughout the season.
“We don’t really eat pumpkin, but we eat a lot of kabocha,” said co-owner Jonathan Yang. “My wife, Julia, and I love kabocha but not all people know it, and we realized this is a neat way to highlight that kabocha is pretty much like a Japanese pumpkin.”
Thank You Coffee’s KSL derives its chief flavors from a blend of toasted spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and ginger, which are turned into a syrup with a combination of white and dark brown sugars and ginger bitters; it all gets steeped and strained. Yang steams fresh kabocha squash, then purées it and incorporates it into the spice syrup, adding depth without detracting from the spices, he says. In both locations, a hint of condensed milk is added to the lattes, and they’re dusted with kinako, a roasted soybean flour, for added earthiness and a pie-crust effect. This year they’re adding another fall-inspired drink to the menu at both locations: a persimmon-and-apple latte that’s meant to evoke coziness and comfort throughout the season.
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