Co-creator of Starbucks' beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte shares how the iconic fall drink came to be - revealing he poured espresso shots over pumpkin pies to achieve the perfect flavor

The co-creator of Starbucks' beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte has opened up about how the iconic fall drink came to be - revealing he poured espresso shots over pumpkin pies to achieve the perfect flavor.

There's a lot to look forward to when fall rolls around - the changing of leaves, cooler weather, Halloween - but there's one thing that's become a staple that millions around the globe can't wait to get their hands on when the end of summer approaches, and that's Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The delicious drink is now synonymous with Autumn - but if it wasn't for an idea that Peter Dukes had one afternoon two decades ago, the tasty concoction would have never been created.

The Starbucks employee - who hails from Seattle, Washington, and now serves as the director of store development and market strategy for the company - recently spoke about how he came up with the beverage while chatting with Insider, and detailed the long and strenuous process that he and his team went through to get it just right.

The co-creator of Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte has opened up about how the fall drink came to be - revealing he poured espresso shots over pumpkin pies to achieve the perfect flavor

Millions around the globe can't wait to get their hands on Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte when the end of summer approaches

The delicious drink is now synonymous with autumn - but if it wasn't for an idea that Peter Dukes had two decades ago, the tasty concoction would have never been created

From pumpkin pancakes to pumpkin cookies, you can find a slew of pumpkin products when fall hits these days. 

But according to Peter, who is now known as the 'father of the PSL,' it was almost unheard of to mix pumpkin with anything back in 2001, when he joined Starbucks' team as a product manager.

In early 2003, the coffee brand told Peter and his team that they wanted to release some new seasonal flavors that year, and asked him to do some brainstorming.

He said they came up with 100 different ideas for what would be Starbucks' first-ever autumn-inspired drink, but one stuck out to him - a pumpkin latte.

While the concept seems easy to achieve now, at the time, they had no way to just add pumpkin flavoring into the drink.

So to see how it would taste, he combined espresso and pumpkin pie - and it was delightful. 

'The idea of pumpkin in a beverage did not exist [then],' he explained to the publication.

'So we started pouring espresso shots on the pumpkin pies and tasting it, getting a sense of what those flavors tasted like when you combined them. And we found - wow, that tastes pretty good.'

Peter, from Washington, spoke about how he came up with the beverage with Insider, and detailed the long and strenuous process that he and his team went through to get it just right

'The idea of pumpkin in a beverage did not exist [then],' he explained to the publication. So to see how it would taste, he combined espresso and pumpkin pie - and it was delightful

He also told Fox that while he was confident that he had made something delicious right away, he never imagined what it would become

He recalled experimenting with tons of different types of pumpkin pie, some his team got from the grocery store and others they made themselves. 

While he knew right away he had found something 'unique,' he had to make sure he 'optimized' the combination.

'Our team would come together multiple times a week, tasting different iterations of the PSL and working to get it optimized to the recipe that exists today,' he continued.

According to Starbucks' website, the pumpkin spice syrup is made from sugar, water, cinnamon sticks, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and pumpkin puree.

It's combined with whole milk and Starbucks espresso, and topped with whipped cream and 'pumpkin pie spice.'

Peter said the recipe has stayed the same for 10 years now, and will likely never change because he thinks the public might 'revolt' if they alter anything at this point.

While Peter was confident that he had made something delicious right away, he never imagined what it would become.

'If you asked anybody in that room if pumpkin spice was going to become an entire industry… nobody would have guessed that,' he added to Fox News. 'It's been kind of cool to see it take off.'