With August bank holiday weekend upon us, and it still being considered summer by many, it probably seems a little early to be talking about pumpkin spice lattes.
Despite the sun still shining in the sky though, Greggs managed to grab headlines the other day when it confirmed that PSL season is officially here, as the cult-classic coffee drink would be making a return to branches of the bakery chain up and down the country from this week.
Starbucks may be the place that most people associate with the popular autumn drink, but a whole host of other chains and independent cafes brew up their take on the coffee each year.
And now, one company is looking to pay someone to test them all out.
But if you were already planning on spending the colder months sipping away on a pumpkin spice latte, then how about getting paid for drinking them while you’re at it?
Clothing brand Pour Moi is hiring an official ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte Tester’ to test all the seasonal drinks available at popular coffee chains, and decide once and for all, which one will be crowned the best of the best.
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The successful applicant will receive a payment of £300, plus a budget to spend on the Pumpkin Spice Lattes and other autumnal drinks.
So, what will the job actually require then? Well, the Pumpkin Spice Latte Tester will be asked to rate and review each of the coffees to reveal which ones give the best autumnal vibes from the first sip, and after trying each spiced coffee, they will then give each one a score based on various factors – sweetness levels, flavour, cosiness, smell, and added bonuses like cream, sprinkles, gingerbread etc.
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The job requirements for the role are having a solid enthusiasm for autumn, a penchant for pumpkins, and the ability to get to and from a range of different coffee shops.
You’ll also need to have lots of experience in drinking pumpkin spice lattes.
Pour Moi is hiring an official ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte Tester’ to test all the seasonal drinks available / Credit: Starbucks UK | Greggs
“Despite the hot summer we have all faced, there are still fall fanatics who cannot wait for their autumn wardrobes to make a return,” said Maria Ryan – Sales and Marketing Director from Pour Moi.
“Because so many of our customers talk about how much they love everything about this cosy season, we wanted to do something that ensures they have the best start to their favourite season, so by hiring a Pumpkin Spice Latte Tester, we can help all fall-lovers tell the gourd from the bad when it comes to the limited-edition seasonal coffees on offer this year.
“It means everybody can relax with a hot drink knowing they will feel autumnal from the first sip.”
Fancy sticking an application in for the role of Pumpkin Spice Latte Tester then? You can find out more information and apply on the Pour Moi website here.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
26th August 2022 
