On the wall at Sailor’s Brew Coffeehouse in Mexico, owner Lori Hopkins keeps a list of seasonal flavors. Currently there are six coffees – three laced with pumpkin spice and three with caramel.

Christmas flavored coffees are in the works. But, said Hopkins, “We’re going to keep the pumpkin until after Christmas.”

At Color Me Bleu on Mexico’s downtown square, Sharon Koontz ticks off the flavors that sell during the holidays. People crave peppermint, so she sparks up a candied mocha. There’s pumpkin pie, of course. And “anything with cinnamon.”

The most popular? “I do more chai latte,” she explained.

Color Me Bleu’s version of chai latte is like a gingerbread cookie, with the spicy notes softened by whole milk. This plush, sweet blanket carries only a trace of cured tea’s stringent bite. Koontz sees chai latte as a canvas – the space doubles as an art studio, after all. Add caramel, a shot of espresso, hot chocolate, oat milk or whatever to nudge its flavor profile in different directions.

One could also sprinkle cinnamon on top, but the spice is typically part of the chai mix, along with cardamom, ginger, clove and star anise. With a swirl of sugar, no wonder it smacks of Christmas.

Chai is just common tea in India. By steaming the milk as a latte, the drink takes on a gentle yet almost sultry aspect – think freshly baked gingerbread served while “Santa Baby” plays in the background.

The research firm Mintel reports that for 27 percent of Americans, seasonal flavors evoke nostalgic notions, which is a considerable number. Almost 40 percent find comfort in such flavors, a third associate them with feelings of warmth.

New coffee flavors in the works at Sailor’s Brew are all of those things. There’s peppermint bark, sugar cookie, chocolate mint and cinnamon dulce. Hopkins says she will add others.

But there’s always pumpkin.

People love pumpkin spice latte,” Hopkins pointed out. “Pumpkin is a big seller.”

Green Mountain Coffee brought pumpkin pie flavors to coffee in 2001 and started a revolution. It’s difficult to find any food or beverage not affected in some way by the pumpkin craze. Some make more sense than others. Cereal, sure. Ice cream? Why not. Beer, almonds, pretzels, kale chips, pilaf, deodorant, soap …

It went off the rails last year when Hormel introduced limited edition pumpkin-flavored Spam – although, to be fair, it did receive favorable marks from those who dared try it.

Despite the prevalence of the fall and winter flavor, it remains popular among coffee drinkers. At Color Me Bleu Koontz starts with espresso freshly ground from whole bean, using the proper grinder and technique. She will dress it up from there as customers wish.

But, as Koontz points out, “you have your coffee drinkers and your non coffee drinkers.”

So there’s chai latte.