Review: Starbucks' New Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte And Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam Are A Hit

One of the best things about the changing of the seasons is getting to indulge in favorite Starbucks seasonal beverages. Beyond enjoying your favorite drinks, I also love that Starbucks is constantly coming up with new tasty flavors to add to its repertoire. With releases of different bouts of seasonal flavors about every two to three months, Starbucks gives customers reasons to keep coming back.

While the company released its fan-favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte and other fall flavors in August, I am particularly excited about the latest debut of Starbucks' fall drinks: the Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte and Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam. Debuting on September 19, I was lucky to get an early taste of these delicious fall flavors. Keep reading to see what I thought of these two items, and if it's worth it to stray from your usual Starbucks order.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Starbucks first came out with cold foam in 2014 at its Seattle Reserve Roastery location. Since then, it has come out with many other flavors of cold foam, such as vanilla sweet cream, pumpkin cream, and salted caramel. Cold foam is basically like a foamy creamer that can add extra flavor and depth to your drink.

The Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam can be made with dairy or non-dairy options, and combines pecan syrup and salt into the base. It can be added onto any beverage on the menu for $1.45. When tasting this delicious cold foam, I particularly loved the nutty flavoring. It was sweet, but not so sweet that it felt like a sugar overload. My first reaction was that it was reminiscent of Harry Potter Butterbeer because of the creamy, buttery flavoring matched with a hint of salt. Overall, I found this cold foam to be delicious.

The Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte was created to be a nostalgic-feeling beverage that will bring a cozy warmth to the holiday season. Patrick Penny, Starbucks' lead beverage developer, specifically tapped into his memories of his grandmother's homemade pecan pie, and recreated that delicious taste into a drink perfect for the fall and holiday season.

The latte comes in both hot and iced versions. Both are made with Starbucks Blonde Espresso as the base, which is soft and balanced, complimenting the creamy oat milk perfectly. The new beverages have notes of nutty pecan, rich brown butter, and holiday baking spices. The hot drink is topped with a pecan crunch topping, and the iced version has a non-dairy Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam with pecan crunch topping.

The hot Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte has a creamier, pie-like taste; I had a deeper sense of the holiday baking spices when sipping on the hot latte. The iced version, however, is lighter and nuttier — which was also delicious. I did notice quite a difference in the drinks' flavor profiles, but thoroughly enjoyed each one. 

You can get the hot beverage for a slightly cheaper price, as the range for a grande (depending on your area) is between $5.75 and $7.25. For the iced version, the grande size ranges from $5.95 to $7.45.

The Starbucks Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte and Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam will be available as a seasonal item. For Starbucks, this usually means they will be sold until supplies last, and are usually phased out as a new seasonal drop happens. Typically, the holiday beverages are released at the beginning of November, so we know that we can enjoy these pecan-flavored beverages at least until then.

I'm hoping the drink lasts through Thanksgiving, though, since pecan pie is truly a Thanksgiving classic. What better way to stroll up to your family gathering than with a Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte in hand? Since it's not guaranteed to last that long, make sure you head to Starbucks now to get your pecan-flavored drink fill.

I always indulge in Starbucks's fall and holiday flavors about once per year. In all honesty, however, I'm usually not too big a fan of many of the lattes because of how sweet they can be. I usually ask for half the amount of flavoring that normally comes in a drink. I was a bit hesitant that the Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte would be the same, but I was pleasantly proven wrong.

When comparing this new latte to the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the Apple Crisp Macchiato, there is a major difference. Both the Pumpkin Spice and Apple Crisp have very strong, sweet flavors. Sometimes it's hard to get the actual pure taste of the pumpkin and apple in both of them because sugar and cinnamon overrides those flavors. The Pecan Crunch, however, has a very pure nutty flavor that is complemented by the Blonde Roast. You can still appreciate the pure taste of the coffee with the pecan flavoring alongside it.

There is also a certain depth to the pecan latte that I personally don't find in the other fall flavors. It's almost like the Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte is the sophisticated older sibling to the classic fall Starbucks drinks.

I was able to taste the Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam on top of a Starbucks Cold Brew drink. It added a nice sweetness and flavor profile to it, however I did find that it got lost in the watery-ness of the cold brew. When taking a spoonful of just the cold foam itself, I was able to appreciate the taste a bit more.

Often, I add the Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam to plain iced espresso lattes or to enhance iced chai lattes, and now I can foresee myself opting for the Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam instead. I enjoy the fact that cold foam is a great way to add sweetness and flavor to a drink without making it too sugary. Pumpkin is a very specific and strong flavor, while pecan is a bit more subdued and can be mixed with a ton of different flavors.

It would taste great with a hazelnut latte, amplifying that nutty flavor. It would also be a great compliment to an iced mocha — creating a flavor similar to a brownie with little nuts on top. Another great option could be to add it to an iced shaken espresso, that way you can really get a full taste of the cold foam mixed purely with espresso.

I'm very excited about the release of these new fall items. I enjoyed both the hot and cold versions of the Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte, however, I do think that I'm going to opt for the hot one more often. It has such a creamy, full-bodied flavor that is unlike any other Starbucks latte I've had. It'll be the perfect drink to bring on a walk throughout New York City on a brisk fall day, and I'm excited to share this drink with friends on the release date.

As for the cold foam, I definitely want to try it with a variety of different drinks. Although I do prefer a hot beverage, there are many fall days where the sun is baking down and it's just not a good idea for me to go for the hot drink. In those cases, you will definitely see me traipsing around the city with some version of a Starbucks iced latte with Salted Pecan Cream Cold Foam on top.