- The Cinderella Latte— a sweet combination of Starbucks' iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) and White Chocolate Mocha — has taken the internet by storm in recent weeks.
- Insider spoke with Erica Howard-Cox, a former Starbucks barista and self-described Disney fanatic who concocted the viral drink back in 2010, about her viral creation.
- Howard-Cox also invented two other drinks at Starbucks, the Christmas-gram and the pixie dust latte —the latter of which Insider recreated for a taste test.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
The Cinderella Latte — a sweet combination of Starbucks' iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) and White Chocolate Mocha — has taken the internet by storm in recent weeks. But its origin story actually dates back nearly a decade.
Erica Howard-Cox created the Cinderella Latte while working as a Starbucks barista in Burlington, Washington. Howard-Cox told Insider that she's long been a Disney fanatic, and wanted to incorporate her love for "the most magical place on Earth" into her creations behind the Starbucks counter.
The Cinderella Latte was born just a few months after Howard-Cox began working at Starbucks in the summer of 2010. She loved White Chocolate Mochas and added the flavor to many of the drinks she concocted behind the counter, so it was only natural that she would do the same once the ultra-popular PSL returned to stores for the fall.
"I've always loved white mochas and obviously I'm Disney-obsessed," Howard-Cox told Insider. "So when the Pumpkin Spice Latte came around I was just trying it for fun with white mocha because I put white mocha in everything and it reminded me of Cinderella's white pumpkin coach."
The resulting drink boasts the PSL's 'yummy pumpkin flavor' but the White Chocolate Mocha 'makes it creamier and sweeter'
I tried the viral drink myself, and Howard-Cox's description rang true. The Cinderella Latte was sweet, decadent, and frothy. The creaminess of the White Chocolate Mocha serves as an ideal vehicle for the rich pumpkin flavor of the PSL. But be warned, the Cinderella Latte is less of a drink than it is a dessert. If you aren't looking for a sugary treat, then you should look elsewhere.
Back when she first created the Disney-inspired latte, Howard-Cox spent most of her shifts working the drive-through or at the front counter and often let regulars in on her magical secret drink.
"I was just telling them about it," Howard-Cox said. "'Have you tried this pumpkin spice with white mocha? I call it a Cinderella Latte.' And that's exactly how it started."
Locals soon began to ask for the Cinderella Latte by name, even when she wasn't working. Soon, word got back to Howard-Cox that customers were ordering the drink at Starbucks' locations up to a 45-minute drive away.
Still, as far as she knew, the Cinderella Latte hadn't traveled outside of the Pacific Northwest.
Then, before she knew it, the Cinderella Latte went viral
Last year, long after she had moved on from Starbucks and began devoting her time to raising two Disney-loving sons with her husband James, as well as creating a Disney-inspired apparel company that has an Instagram account with more than 90,000 followers, Howard-Cox decided to share the Cinderella Latte with her sizeable social media following.
"I just posted it and then before I knew it, all of my follower friends were tagging me with their cups," Howard-Cox said. "Everyone was trying it and sharing it in their stories and before I knew it, there were some food articles popping up. Then this year is where it boomed."
Howard-Cox developed two other off-menu specialty drinks in her time at Starbucks: the Pixie Dust Latte and the Christmas-gram
Also inspired by Disney, the pixie dust latte combines Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Latte with the White Chocolate Mocha to create a rich drink that tastes "kind of like a cinnamon roll but without the frosting," Howard-Cox said.
"I just kind of have a Disney mindset in most things in my life," Howard-Cox told Insider. "My supervisor used to roll her eyes at me because she was like 'are you for real?'"
Meanwhile, the Christmas-gram — named in honor of the Will Ferrell classic "Elf"— combines the Gingerbread Latte with the White Chocolate Mocha.
Although I couldn't try the Christmas-gram because the Gingerbread Latte has yet to come back in season, I managed to get my hands on a pixie dust latte. While it didn't exactly capture the essence of a cinnamon roll in my experience, it was certainly a sweet and sugary combination I'd welcome again for the autumn season.
Howard-Cox acknowledged that the PSL's popularity had a lot to do with the Cinderella Latte's success
But she also identified another, less concrete, contributor.
"I think it truly is just the magic and the happiness that it creates," Howard-Cox said. "They're in the drive-through line and when they order that Cinderella Latte, it just brings a smile to their face. Even the baristas. It's just a happy thing."
"I've happy cried so many times since this has happened," she added. "I'm not making money off of this — Starbucks is — but I don't care because I love that a thing that I created is making people happy."
- Read more:
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- Krispy Kreme is bringing back its fan-favorite pumpkin spice cake doughnut just in time for fall
- Starbucks is rolling out a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, its first new pumpkin coffee drink in over a decade
- I tried Dunkin's new Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Signature Latte, and I thought it was better than Starbucks' PSL