The ULTIMATE Pumpkin Spice Latte

When the world doesn’t serve you the flavor you’re craving, it is an invitation to light your own fire and stir your own pot. Creation begins the moment you stop searching and start shaping.

Pumpkin Spice Latte - Dall·e AI

Fall is here which means that pumpkin is softly wafting through the air.

For pumpkin lovers, this is the perfect time of year, pumpkin spice worms its way into anything and everything that can be sold. Most of those items though tend to not be very pumpkiny nor spicy and more often than not, way too sweet. After searching high and low for the best pumpkin spice latte's, and after lots of disappointment, I decided to make my own, which I have deemed to be the ULTIMATE pumpkin spice latte. Sure I'm a little bit biased in that but I think the result below stands apart and lives up to the name.

To figure out how to properly spice things, with flavorful spice, jet off to India to learn from the best. Or pull up some YouTube videos (not nearly as fun). For this, we're starting with a base Chai recipe, adding lots of pumpkin, coffee and that's all it needs.

Here's the real, very pumpkiny, very spicy (flavorful spice, not hot spice) recipe:

What You Need:

-Espresso Style Coffee - 2 to 3 shots (or whatever suits your fancy)

-Powdered Ginger - 2 to 3 dashes

-Powdered Cinnamon - 2 to 3 dashes

-Nutmeg - 2 to 3 dashes (freshly ground or powdered)

-Allspice - 1 dash

-Black Pepper - 10 turns of the grinder

-Cloves - 2 whole cloves

-Cardamom Seeds - Small sprinkling of whole seeds, roughly 10 to 15 seeds

-Pumpkin Puree - 3 large heaping spoonfuls

-Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (or milk or your favorite milk substitute, oat milk froths the most, the fattier the milk the better)

-Water - 1 cup

-Honey or Maple Syrup (optional)

-Wire Mesh Strainer

-Mug

What You Do:

1) Make coffee in Moka Pot for espresso style coffee

2) Put a pot on the oven over medium heat

3) Add to the pot: Coconut Milk, Water, Pumpkin Puree, Cardamom Seeds, Cloves, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, Allspice

4) Add Honey or Maple Syrup if you're wanting a sweet version (optional)

5) Let pot come to a simmer, stirring occasionally, let simmer for about 5 minutes

6) Take pot to low heat, once Moka Pot coffee is done, add coffee to pot and let sit in ingredients for an additional 3 to 5 minutes

7) Stir pot, take off heat, pour through wire mesh strainer into mug (the pumpkin can be a little thick so if it's a fine strainer you may need to use a spoon to move everything around in the strainer as it fills up so the liquid can still move through, a medium strainer will likely work better, still catch the hard ingredients but allow the drink to flow through easier)

8) Froth with frother (optional), add whipped cream (optional), add sprinkles (optional), add small chocolate chips (optional), add ginger bread crumbles (optional)

9) Enjoy!!!

For the Pumpkin Puree, canned is going to be the easiest. If you happen to have some pumpkins laying around, you can certainly make your own pumpkin puree by following this Squash Soup Recipe. Basically cut the pumpkin in half, take the seeds out, throw it in the oven for an hour or two, take it out, scoop out the pumpkin into a blender, add a little water to thin it out and now you have boatloads of pumpkin puree for this and/or pumpkin soups. 

That's all there is to it! It may seem like a lot but it's really not that hard, especially once you've made it once or twice and the deliciousness of it makes it well worth the effort for a five star resort pumpkin spice latte right at home for a fraction of the price. If you don't drink coffee or if you're making this for kids, leave out the coffee, it stands on its own (perhaps reduce the spice levels for the little ones). Or add chocolate, or caramel, or cherry, or whipped cream, or more chocolate, or anything else that sounds delicious. There are a lot of different directions you could take this. Once you find your perfect version, you could even setup a roadside stand and hawk some real pumpkin spice latte's (or hot chocolates)!

Drink up all the pumpkineness and keep it real out there!