THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE
Drinking pumpkin spice lattes is one of the best, although stereotypical, things about fall. That delicious taste and fragrant smell really put me in the fall spirit.
A couple of years ago, I went on the hunt for the best pumpkin spice latte. I tried all the coffee shops near me and been disappointed. Either the pumpkin spice taste doesn’t come through enough, it’s too sweet, not sweet enough, missing cinnamon, etc.
I also experienced shaming for searching for the best pumpkin spice latte. I had this pumpkin spice craving for a couple of weeks when I walked into a specialty coffee shop. I looked around a bit for a seasonal menu but didn’t see one. I asked the barista if they served pumpkin spice lattes. I received a scoff, a head shaking, and a resounding “no.”
Bummer. I left.
I’ve come to find that this is actually fairly, and unfortunately, common among specialty coffee shops. Maybe they are bucking the trend, maybe they think it’s too mainstream, maybe they want to differentiate from the big green giant. Whatever the reasoning is, I think it falls short of the big idea: serving the customer.
MAKING PUMPKIN SPICE LIKE A COFFEE SHOP
I used to own a third-wave specialty coffee shop. And we served pumpkin spice lattes. We made our own house flavors and did this for pumpkin spice, too. It wasn’t easy, but it tasted incredible. I was able to serve my customers what they wanted while staying on brand and aligned with my business’s own mission.
After realizing that there may be others out there going through the same struggle in search for the best pumpkin spice latte, I decided to share the recipe for pumpkin spice that I used at my coffee shop.
Make it at home or at your coffee shop (if you own one)!
PUMPKIN SPICE SYRUP RECIPE
Makes 1/2 liter
1.5 Cups Hot Water
1 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
Pour sugar, water, and pumpkin puree into large mixing bowl and whisk until fully dissolved. This will take several minutes and must be done while the water is still hot!
Once fully dissolved, remove pumpkin puree through a strainer. Then mix in nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon and let mixture cool for 30-60 minutes.
Once cooled, mix in vanilla extract and put into one liter flip-top bottle.
Label, date, and store in flavor cabinet. Keeps for approximately two weeks.
Hope you try this out and enjoy!
