Anyone who drinks Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSL) will agree, it’s not a matter of IF you should buy/drink/obsess about them, it’s a matter of how much you have to spend on them each winter season (yes, I know, spoken like a true addict). At $3.89 per 12-ounce drink, I decided to see how closely (and cheaply) I could replicate this fall treat.
Without further ado, meet my focus group:
We tested four PSL concoctions (recipe for each below):
- (A) Pumpkin spice mixed with espresso beans and ground together
- (B) Starbucks original pumpkin spice latte
- (C) Homemade PSL syrup
- (D) Trader Joes pumpkin flavored coffee
Our *very scientific* experiment concluded that:
- (A) was a delicious fall beverage (and was easiest to make) but tasted more like a gingerbread latte;
- (B) was obviously the SBC option and had the strongest pumpkin flavor even though my homemade syrup had 1/2 cup of REAL pumpkin in it. (I’ve read about the SBC PSL syrup is that there is not much pumpkin in it. I will investigate further to see if I can figure out what ingredients are in that delicious/confounded syrup!)
- (C) was passable but not as potent as SBC (=I should have put more syrup in it, might have been closer in taste);
- (D) was gross. Sorry Trader Joes.
And now, the recipes! (For one, 12-ounce beverage)
(A) Mix 1-2 tsp. of pumpkin spice in with 2 TBSP of espresso beans and grind together. Use espresso machine or alternate coffee making contraption. Mix with steamed milk, sprinkle with more pumpkin spice and serve!
(B) Go to Starbucks and pay nearly $4 to buy a PSL. Cry a little in your cup while drinking this delicious beverage because you just spent so much money.
(C) Mix together (1.5 cups water, 1.5 cups sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree) in a pan and simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced. Stir in (1/8 tsp. pumpkin spice, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and a dash of allspice) to liquid and voilà! You can improvise on the spices depending on what you already own. This recipe cost me $2 for the pumpkin and 15 minutes to make about 1 cup of syrup (that’s a lot of lattes!!)
(D) Don’t make this recipe. Although if you do purchase the coffee blend, it makes a much better drip coffee beverage.
Seattle From Scratch 