Autumn Flavours: overview
- Apple, blackberry and peach are expanding across wine, RTDs and spirits.
- Brands are using fruit flavours to drive both accessible and premium innovation.
- Jack Daniel’s and Echo Falls are extending orchard fruit into new formats.
- Seasonal flavours are also growing in workplace coffee through pumpkin spice launches.
- Familiar tastes, seasonal packaging and limited editions are helping boost consumer engagement.
From apple crumble matcha to pumpkin-spiced beer, drinks brands are taking familiar autumn flavours beyond their traditional categories, using seasonal cues to refresh established products and introduce new combinations.
Orchard fruits, warming spices, smoke and chocolate are among the profiles highlighted in IWSR’s Radius Fall Flavour Focus 2026. The report explores how these flavours are appearing across categories, from wine and ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails to whisky and beer.
Beyond pumpkin spice
Pumpkin spice remains a recognisable autumn staple, but this year’s launches demonstrate how brands are expanding the seasonal flavour palette.
Starbucks UK introduced an Iced Apple Crumble Matcha Latte alongside its returning pumpkin spice drinks. The beverage combines baked apple flavours with apple-flavoured cream cold foam and a crumble topping, bringing a familiar dessert profile to the matcha category. The brand also introduced a Maple Pecan Macchiato, pairing maple and toasted pecan with espresso.
Coffee isn’t the only category drawing on dessert-inspired flavours.
Sheffield-based Abbeydale Brewery has brought back its Pilgrim pumpkin-spiced pale ale for 2026. First launched in 2017 following a trip to the US, the 5% ABV beer has since become a Halloween staple, despite initially being a risk for the brewery.
This year, the brewery has expanded the range with Marshmallow Pilgrim, a 5% ABV pumpkin pie stout. The new beer retains the original’s warming pumpkin pie spices, adding roasted malts, vanilla and marshmallow for a flavour profile inspired by toasted marshmallows around a campfire.
The launch gives the brewery a new take on an established seasonal flavour, applying it to a different beer style.
Orchard fruit moves beyond traditional categories
Apple, blackberry and peach are appearing across a range of beverage categories, from flavoured wine and RTDs to whiskey.
In the UK, Echo Falls has expanded its Fruit Fusion range with Sour Apple, a 9% ABV wine featuring crisp green apple notes and a tangy finish. The 75cl bottle has an RRP of £6 and features vivid green liquid alongside a glow-in-the-dark monogram on the label. Launched through wholesale in September, it rolled out across grocery in October ahead of Halloween.
In the US, Jack Daniel’s has extended its Tennessee Blackberry flavour into the RTD category. Following the launch of its 35% ABV flavoured whiskey in August 2025, the brand introduced a canned Tennessee Blackberry and Lemonade cocktail in autumn 2026. The drink combines the flavoured whiskey with lemonade in a ready-to-drink format.
Peach is also featuring in whiskey launches. Colorado-based Breckenridge Distillery launched a peach whiskey in August, made with locally sourced Palisade peaches. Meanwhile, Angel’s Envy’s sixth Cellar Collection release, launched in October, features rye whiskey finished in peach brandy casks and toasted oak barrels.
These examples show how fruit flavours can be applied across different beverage styles, from accessible flavoured wine and canned cocktails to premium spirits. They also demonstrate the range of approaches available to brands, whether introducing a recognisable flavour to a new category or using cask finishing to add complexity to an established spirit style.
Seasonal flavours beyond the high street
Seasonal innovation is also extending into workplace coffee, with brands tapping into autumn flavours to create new consumption occasions.
Nespresso Professional has launched its first limited-edition Pumpkin Spice blend for workplace environments, combining South American Arabica coffees with cinnamon, clove, cardamom and sweet pumpkin pie flavour. Designed particularly for milk-based drinks, the blend can be served hot or over ice.
Research commissioned by Nespresso found that 43% of UK respondents aged 18 to 34 look forward to pumpkin spice drinks each year, while 57% said they were more likely to treat themselves to a special coffee during autumn.
Silvio Pella, B2B commercial director at Nespresso UK&I, said the launch gives businesses “a simple way to make the office feel a little more welcoming”.
Packaging can also contribute to a seasonal product’s appeal. Echo Falls’ Sour Apple wine, for example, pairs its vivid green liquid with a glow-in-the-dark monogram on the label, linking the product’s visual identity to Halloween. IWSR’s Radius Fall Flavour Focus 2026 also highlights limited-edition packaging, interactive designs and film collaborations as part of autumn’s seasonal offering.
Across these launches, autumn provides a platform for experimentation, from dessert-inspired drinks and fruit-led spirits to seasonal packaging. Familiar flavours give brands a recognisable starting point, while new combinations, formats and presentations offer different ways to bring seasonal products to market.
