The seasonal creep of pumpkin spice is one of those things we’ve all had to learn to live with. So, too, have we had to learn to accept pumpkin spice expanding its borders from lattes to things like Oreos and Cheerios. But 7-Eleven might have finally taken things too far.
The convenience-store chain, on Thursday, announced plans to debut a pumpkin spice Slurpee in select stores across the country.
(Go ahead. Take a minute. We had to do so as well.)
Before the pumpkin-spice junkies and TikTok influencers rush out the door, it’s worth noting that when the chain says “select,” they’re not kidding. Just five stores—located in Texas, Ohio, California and New York—will carry the unique frozen beverage.
“7-Eleven customers are huge pumpkin spice fans, so we’re always looking for reasons to bring out the pumpkins a bit early and delight customers with new creations,” Dennis Phelps, senior vice president of merchandising (vault & proprietary beverages) at 7-Eleven, said in a press release. “The introduction of the Pumpkin Spice Slurpee drink is a fun experiment for fans in some of our top Slurpee drink markets.”
7-Eleven isn’t stopping with Slurpees. The company is also rolling out a pumpkin cream cold brew, pumpkin spice coffee and pumpkin spice latte starting Thursday in most stores, as well as Stripes locations. Devotees can also have the beverages delivered to them via the 7Now delivery app.
Starbucks is still the king of pumpkin spice season. While it’s not the cultural phenomenon it was a few years ago, the drink still has a tremendous fan base. That’s expected to go on sale sometime around Aug. 22, according to food influencers. Starbucks has not formally announced any dates yet.
As of Thursday, roughly one-quarter of the country is still under major or extreme heat warnings, according to the CDC’s HeatRisk map.
