Frappuccinos. Mochas.Cappuccinos. Pumpkin spice whatevers. My question is, what ever happened to just plain, black coffee? As someone who has been drinking black coffee since sixth grade (when every other girl was drinking their frappuccinos), I stood back and couldn’t understand my classmates “coffee drinks.” Coffee is meant to be strong. It is supposed to wake you up and get you going. It’s a fresh start each morning. A Pumpkin Spice Latte isn’t strong, dark, or true coffee.

Nowadays, people think that their drink with one shot of espresso, loaded with different flavors and topped with whipped cream falls into the category of coffee, but it doesn’t. In the hallways, I hear girls of all grades say that they are the biggest “coffee lovers.” Just because your drink came from Starbucks doesn’t mean it counts as a true coffee drink.

Starbucks’ number one fall drink is the Pumpkin Spice Latte. On their website, the ingredients are listed as: pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, topped with whipped cream and pumpkin spices. If you are anything like me, you had to go back and reread that sentence to double check if coffee was even listed. It is ridiculous that about three ounces of coffee can still qualify as coffee. On Starbucks’ website they have 33 frappuccinos listed, while they have ONLY 15 freshly brewed coffee options, which is clearly a big difference.

It’s proven that black coffee is obviously the healthier option. For example, one 16 ounce Pumpkin Spice Latte has 290 calories, while the same size of plain coffee is only five calories. Why not go for the healthier choice?

In the end, plain black coffee helps you stay awake, saves money,  healthier, and still tastes good! As a daily coffee consumer, I personally think Starbucks lovers can’t call themselves coffee lovers until they try true coffee. So while everyone is drinking their fancy drinks, I’ll be sticking to good old black coffee.