Starbucks' pumpkin cold brew drink is so popular, some workers say they're struggling to keep it in stock even though there's no shortage of base ingredients

• Six Starbucks workers told Insider that they can't make cold brew, which must steep for 20 hours, fast enough.
• Cold brew is an ingredient in the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, a popular fall drink.
• Starbucks is likely feeling the effects of the labor shortage across retail.

Pumpkin spice season is in full swing at Starbucks, and some workers say that its popularity is causing temporary shortages of cold brew.

Specifically, the seasonal Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew drink's popularity is causing some stores to run low on cold brew according to six workers in six states who spoke with Insider. All workers requested anonymity, but Insider confirmed their employment.

The workers say there isn't a shortage of the ingredients required for cold brew, but they aren't able to prepare it quickly enough to keep up with demand.

"We just burn through it faster than we can make it this time of year because of Pumpkin Cold Foam Cold Brew drinks," Erika, shift supervisor in Ohio told Insider.

A Pennsylvania barista said the situation is the same at her location.

"There isn't a shortage as far as we've been told, but it does take 20 hours to brew so if they don't keep up on it we run out," she told Insider. Workers at stores in North Carolina, New York, Alabama, and Hawaii confirmed that they were also having trouble keeping up with demand.

Customers have also taken to Twitter to vent about the lack of cold brew. "Starbucks is out of cold brew on September 3 when it's 54 degrees outside and I'm spiraling," one person tweeted.

A Starbucks spokesperson declined to comment on any cold brew brewing issues in stores but confirmed that the drink is made by combining coffee grounds with cold water to steep for 20 hours. That becomes cold brew concentrate, which is then diluted with water for serving. The long steeping time is key to the brewing process, giving the drink a sweeter, less acidic taste than iced coffee.

Workers say that the exact process can vary from store to store, but cold brew is made in batches of three to five pounds of coffee grounds. The grounds go into a piece of equipment called a Toddy, along with a ratio of water. Once brewed, the concentrate is good for up to five days, though these baristas told Insider that they run through it much more quickly.

Starbucks stores have four or five Toddys of cold brew, holding four liters of concentrate each. Once those are gone for the day, there's no way to brew more until the next day.

The Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is the drink these workers say is mostly to blame for higher demand. In 2020, the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew outsold the Pumpkin Spice Latte, with 90 million drinks sold last year as cold drinks continue to dominate.

When her store runs out of cold brew, the Pennsylvania barista says that at her store they suggest iced coffee to customers, with an espresso shot if they want the extra caffeine. A lack of cold brew doesn't stop customers from ordering pumpkin foam on other kinds of drinks, she says, even hot ones.

These six workers attribute their inability to keep up with customer demand to the labor shortage hitting retail outlets across the country, including Starbucks. If workers at a certain store is swamped with orders, they may not have enough time to make a new batch of cold brew. The brewing would then be delayed until the baristas can catch up on fulfilling orders and other tasks, on top of the already long 20 hour steeping time, workers say.

Starbucks stores, like most restaurants across the country, are facing a labor shortage with difficulty attracting and retaining workers. Baristas have previously told Insider about high turnover and few applicants. Some restaurants are so understaffed that they've been forced to close without any workers, while others have turned to incentives like bonuses or free perks for interviewing.

In just 11 months on the job, "I've also seen almost 30 partners leave and working conditions fall to the wayside," Buffalo barista Katie Cook said in a statement.

Workers say it's a problem across the country. "We cannot keep employees or hire enough workers to continue under the strains of working in these conditions," Erika previously told Insider.

"Employees have been fired or people are quitting because we're so overworked and stressed and abused," a worker in the Midwest told Insider. "My store is down one-third of our staff and for the past month or so we have been losing a person a week, sometimes more."

Do you work at Starbucks? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.