Tuesdays are for tattoos when you stop by Starbucks. 

On Oct. 10, customers who order a pumpkin spice latte at the coffee chain will receive a sheet of temporary tattoos in honor of the PSL’s 20th birthday, which is on Tuesday. The birthday will have tunes, of course — Starbucks is throwing it back to 2003 and playing hits from that year at Starbucks locations.

Each tattoo sheet contains pumpkin-themed art. One tat is of a pumpkin and coffee cup and another is of a pumpkin and a leaf. The other options have cute phrases on them. One spells out “spice-y”; one has a pumpkin and coffee cup image paired with the phrase “pumpkin forever”; and a different tattoo is of a broken heart with the words “PSL” and “BFF” on it. 

Customers can buy their PSL hot, iced or blended to get the tattoos.

The coffee chain also teamed up with KidSuper Studios to drop a limited-edition Team PSL Varsity Jacket in honor of the anniversary. It goes on pre-order on Tuesday at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Celebrates 20th Year.

Starbucks

During the lead up to the anniversary, the Pumpkin Spice Latte creator Peter Dukes detailed how the seasonal drink came to be. In 2003, following the success of the Peppermint Mocha drink, which was released the winter prior and marked Starbucks' first hit seasonal beverage, Dukes was leading the Starbucks Espresso product team at the time, and together they knew they wanted another hit for the fall.

“We started with a huge brainstorm list and filled the wall with ideas,” Dukes said in a press release. “We probably had at least a hundred ideas up on the wall."

After customer surveys ranked pumpkin highly on "uniqueness," the team worked hard for three months to come up with the drink's recipe — espresso, pumpkin spice sauce and steamed milk topped off with whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie topping.

But the PSL was almost named something different. “There was a desire to choose a really unique name, such as the fall harvest latte,” Dukes said. “We ultimately ended up landing on Pumpkin Spice Latte because the spices play a really important role in bringing out the flavors of pumpkin, while also highlighting the espresso in the cup.”

The drink was an immediate hit with the few cities they initially sold it before bringing it nationwide the following year.

“Nobody knew at the beginning what it would grow to be,” added Dukes, who now works with Starbucks' market strategy team within store development. "20 years later, it’s taken on a life of its own.”

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