I had their pumpkin spice latte for the first time yesterday. And while, I couldn't taste a lick of coffee it was utterly delicious. Dessert in a cup. Totally bad for me, but still...

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A few weeks ago my local barrista told me to expect a new maple muffin in early October, sounds like she was right.

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They've had them in at some stores in the southeast, including at least one I know of (meaning the one I frequent) in midlands SC for the last week.

They are DELICIOUS, especially with triple espresso. :)

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How come maple syrup is a fall flavor? The maple season and maple syrup are made in early spring. No?

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I never knew about the Maple Macchiato. I really like the Pumpkin Spice Latte and am happy to see it back. I think I will try one of these maple things later today...

Thanks for letting me know about it.

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Maple Macchiato and a Maple Oat Scone = Crazy Delicious!

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Eh, I've kinda maxed out on the sweet coffee drinks. A maple muffin plus unsweetened plain old coffee sounds okay.

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Lucito- I was wondering the same thing myself. You are correct, maple sugaring occurs before the first leaf buds appear on the maple trees when there are warmer spring days and cold nights- April-ish.

The best idea I could come up with is that maple seems to "go" (flavor-wise) with a lot of other fall things such as pork, squash, roasted carrots and spicy flavoring like clove or nutmeg. Also, I think many people think "hearty" in fall which goes along with big pancake breakfasts, etc.
Also seems to replace honey, which in my mind is definitely a summer sweet.

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Adiane - Being originally from Quebec and living out in the woods in those days, I do use maple syrup all year long in cooking, though it can be challenging at times since I now live in Mexico City. It indeed does mix well with fall cooking, even here, but I never thought about it as a fall seasonal ingredient. Where I was raised the big maple syrup rush comes in spring when everybody goes to the 'Cabane à Sucre' for huge parties...

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One of the flavors I love at this time of year is nutmeg. I place a small amount into my coffee bean grinder I got from http://www.eHenrys.com/page/page/3693491.htm. It makes the perfect fall flavor served on my homemade biscuits made with honey butter made in my food processor from http://www.eHenrys.com/page/page/3810090.htm. It could not be better for a cool fall morning.

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I tried one today, I live in the Bay Area (in California), and Starbucks seems to have instituted a full-on marketing blitz for these. It sounded great, but when I got it, I realized it must not be actual maple syrup (that would be too expensive, and good for you), but it's actually a flavored syrup. I guess Nicole said as much in the post above, but I have to say I was disappointed, because I naively thought it would actually be real maples syrup. This kind of has an aftertaste. Oh well. Not going to get one again, but maybe I'll make a real one at home (I have an espresso machine with Lavazza pods, and yes, I do have real organic maple syrup at home).

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Barrie, since when is real maple syrup "good for you"?!?

By the way, I just had my first maple macchiato this morning. Good God. It's heaven in a cup.

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