The hot drink bomb has become a trendy little seasonal item in recent years, and I think I’m on board. Plopping an orb of chocolate into a mug of hot milk and watching mini marshmallows burst forth isn’t just fun, it’s delicious. And I’m supportive of any instant hot cocoa concept that explicitly instructs you to use milk rather than water.
But what about a pumpkin spice-flavored drink bomb? It’s not really chocolate, so what is it? (Answer: confectionary coating.) And would it manage to be a sweet treat despite the often bitter nature of pumpkin spice? We grabbed this drink bomb from Target and popped some milk in the microwave to find out.
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Favorite Day Pumpkin Spice Hot Drink Bomb with Mini Marshmallows
This drink bomb had a lot of adversity to overcome to earn a solid Spork Score. First of all, it makes orange milk and that’s weird. Second—and I know we don’t typically dwell on nutritional info here at Sporked—but this bomb contains 16 grams of fat and 30 grams of sugar, which seems egregious for something that isn’t food and isn’t going to fill you up.
But this ended up scoring pretty high marks because it just tastes so, so good. I think a lot of pumpkin spice products miss the mark by being excessively nutmeggy and borderline bitter, but the hot milk really tempers the spices in this bomb in a wonderful way. Still, this feels like a once-a-year treat, something you couldn’t necessarily justify drinking on a regular basis. Excellent flavor, so-so meltability (my milk definitely wasn’t hot enough, to be fair), but a fun time all in all. A real soul-warmer on a chilly fall day.
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Gwynedd Stuart
Tyler Bowers
Danny Palumbo
Justine Sterling
Jordan Myrick
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!