Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

A pumpkin spice latte is three things: strong coffee, steamed milk, and sweetened pumpkin spice. Nothing about that requires a $1,200 machine or a $6 transaction. Strong drip coffee works. Moka pot coffee works. Concentrated cold brew works, and makes an iced version without any extra steps.

The part worth getting right is the milk. Warming it with the syrup rather than pouring the syrup on top lets the spices bloom into the fat, which is the difference between a drink that tastes integrated and one that tastes like coffee with sweet stuff floating in it. Whisking the milk hard as it heats builds enough foam to cap the cup. A jar with a tight lid does the same job if you shake it for thirty seconds.

Made at home with syrup from a batch already in the refrigerator, this lands somewhere around eighty cents. Bought on the way to work five days a week, the same drink runs past $1,500 a year.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

The coffee-shop drink rebuilt from strong coffee, warm milk, and a spoonful of pumpkin syrup — about eighty cents a cup, no espresso machine required.

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Prep Time 3 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 1 serving

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee moka pot coffee, or 2 shots espresso
• 3/4 cup milk any kind
• 2 tablespoons homemade pumpkin spice syrup or to taste
• 1 tablespoon canned pumpkin puree optional
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon for dusting
• whipped cream optional

Instructions

 

• Brew the coffee strong. If you are using a drip machine, use about one and a half times your usual grounds for the same amount of water – a standard-strength cup will taste thin once the milk goes in.
• Combine the milk, pumpkin spice syrup, pumpkin puree if using, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
• Heat for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking constantly and briskly, until the milk is steaming and frothy. Do not let it boil – boiled milk turns thin and takes on a scalded flavor.
• Pour the hot coffee into a large mug, filling it about a third of the way.
• Pour the warm spiced milk over the coffee, holding back the foam with a spoon, then spoon the foam on top.
• Dust with cinnamon and serve immediately. Add whipped cream if you want the full coffee-shop version.

Notes

For an iced latte: shake the syrup, pumpkin, and cold milk in a sealed jar for 30 seconds, pour over ice, and top with cold brew concentrate. No heating at all.

No saucepan needed if you prefer: microwave the milk and syrup for 60 to 90 seconds, then shake it in a lidded jar or run a handheld frother through it for 20 seconds.

Whole milk gives the richest foam because of the fat content. Skim milk foams the highest but tastes thinner. Oat milk is the closest non-dairy match and behaves well under heat.

Adjust the syrup down before you adjust it up. Coffee shops sweeten heavily, and two tablespoons is already sweeter than most people expect once they taste the homemade version.

Make the milk mixture for the whole week at once – four servings’ worth of milk, syrup, and spices in a jar in the refrigerator. Heat one cup at a time and the morning drink takes ninety seconds.

Grocery-store whole bean coffee ground at home tastes noticeably better than pre-ground and usually costs the same.

Keyword Autumn, coffee shop copycat, homemade coffee drink, pumpkin spice latte