By Clare Aman

Just as the humidity subsides and the first brisk gust of wind passes through our windows, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, and apple cider are shoved in our faces. Brands like Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Dunkin, and Crumbl all drop special fall-themed items, some as early as late August. Classic fall flavors like apple, pumpkin, and maple make their way to the shelves, and people go crazy. I took it upon myself to test out some of these special fall items and recruited my friends and family to also give them a try.

I journeyed to my local Trader Joe’s in Bon Air’s Stony Point Village shopping center to check out the scene. Even at 2:50 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, the parking lot was very chaotic. Almost every spot was full, and I had to park far from the entrance. As I walked through the automatic sliding doors, I was immediately met with a strong aroma that resembled cinnamon, apple, and a mix of other spices. It almost seemed as if the scent was being pumped into the air. The pleasant detail automatically set the mood for my shopping experience. The first thing that caught my eye was a giant display of Spiced Cider that was perfectly arranged, the bottles stacked intricately on top of another. I knew I had to try it. 

By the time I had found a basket to use, I had already said, “Excuse me” three times. The place was extremely crowded, and the number of display tables that filled the produce section made it hard to navigate around other people. I quickly seized my cider before turning down the first aisle to start browsing. As my eyes traveled over countless delicious-looking fall bakery items, I knew that I would face some difficult decisions when choosing which ones to take home. After grabbing everything I wanted, I headed to the checkout line. Once the cashier bagged my seven items, the total came out to be $26.49. I hustled to my car and headed home, anxious to try the food.

On the drive home, only one thing was on my mind: the Pumpkin Spice Mini Sheet Cake. This is a big slab of pumpkin bread complete with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting, for $5.49. As a pumpkin lover, this item is right up my alley, so when I saw it, I couldn’t wait to taste it. I immediately broke open the container and cut myself a piece. The moment it reached my taste buds, I was already in love. The cake was moist and sweet, but not too overpowering. There was a distinct pumpkin spice flavor that I loved. The frosting was delicious, and as put so eloquently by my father, Matt Aman, “The pumpkin flavor is offset very nicely by the cream cheese icing.” This set the bar pretty high for the rest of the items.

Next, my varsity volleyball teammates and I explored some of Trader Joe’s fall-themed snacks. The first one we tried was the Maple and Sea Salt Kettle Popcorn. This one didn’t blow us away. While it was yummy, it lacked the maple flavor we were looking for. A.V. Musick (‘26) said, “It just tastes like caramel popcorn.” Although it was very sweet and salty, there was truly nothing special about it, and it could be compared to an average kettle popcorn. But for $2.99, we can’t complain. 

Then we gave the Maple Leaf Cookies a whirl. In my opinion, these were incredible. There was a smooth creamy filling that reminded me of the filling in an Oreo. These cost $3.99. The two outer cookies had a strong maple flavor that worked well with the cream inside. My teammates, on the other hand, had some mixed reviews. Makenzie Weiss (‘26) said “They are okay.” Ashley Grace Johnstone (‘26) was more aligned with my opinion, saying, “I like it. It has a lot of flavor and it tastes like maple syrup.” Overall, these cookies got mostly positive reactions, but for me, the pumpkin sheet cake was still at the top of my list. 

Finally, we tasted the Pumpkin Spiced Teeny Tiny Pretzels. These are mini-pretzels covered in a white chocolate and pumpkin spice-flavored coating, with crushed pumpkin seeds on them. Personally, I enjoyed these; they have a very strong pumpkin flavor, but they could come across as tasting a bit artificial at times. You have to truly love pumpkin to be a fan, and for $3.49, it’s important that you enjoy it. This came to light when Harper Murphy (‘25), an avid pumpkin hater, gave these a taste. Her only reaction to the pretzel was the word “No.” In general, most of my other teammates liked these; however, and I recommend them. 

Later that night, my dad and I decided it was time to try the last fall item that I got, the Salted Maple Ice Cream. This ice cream was top-tier. It was bursting with maple flavor and had the perfect ratio of saltiness to sweetness. My dad said, “It reminds me of those maple cookies,” and I couldn’t agree more. The strong maple flavoring that appears in both the ice cream and the cookies from earlier is very similar. Another similarity with the ice cream is that these pretzels cost $3.49. The ice cream was delicious, and it was surely second in line to the sheet cake.

Pumpkin spice is the most notable fall flavor to most, but Trader Joe’s had some maple-flavored items that hit it out of the park. I was not expecting to like the ice cream as much as I did and was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely be back to see what other fall treats I can get into.

All images courtesy of Trader Joe’s.