Hellooooooo OCTOBER!! And hello Pumpkin Spice. If you're anything like the rest of the world, you've already had about 20 pumpkin spice lattes (or PSLs), pumpkin pie smoothies, pumpkin frappes, and pretty much whatever branded pumpkin drink you can get your hands on. And, if you're really like the rest of the world, you don't have money to buy a PSL from your local coffee pick-up point every day. Lucky you, they're really easy to make at home.

Do it yourself

First off, you've gotta make a pumpkin spice.Cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves are all you need for this recipe.

I like to use whole cloves and grind them myself in a mortar and pestle for a deeper, fresher flavor, but you don't have to be that fancy to have some super good pumpkin spice, super quick. Here's the recipe:

  • 5 tablespoons of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of ginger (use maybe half a teaspoon more if you like ginger, but it's not my fave)
  • 3 teaspoons of allspice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cloves (or about 2 1/4 teaspoons of fresh cloves, grind them first though)

Mix all this good stuff up and store it in a lidded container. This will help keep the flavor and scent of it as strong as it should be.

The secret to great pumpkin spice lattes is good cold brew coffee or espresso. I'm assuming you don't have an espresso machine in your house (if you do, kudos) so let me walk you through how to make cold brew coffee concentrate.

  • grind up some coffee. a pumpkin, mocha, or caramel flavor will work best for this, but any blend will do
  • put the coffee in a coffee sock (or just a regular sock lol) and let it sit in cold water (you're looking for a 1:8 ratio coffee to water for this)
  • let the coffee sit in the water for about 20 or so hours or so. Don't let it sit in there for more than 24 or your coffee will start to taste bitter
  • pull the sock out

Quick heads up, this is coffee concentrate.

Meaning you should absolutely not drink a whole glass of this, or you will be too shaky and wired to properly enjoy your PSL.

For hot drinks

Okay, now that you have some cold brew concentrate and pumpkin spice, you're ready for action. Grab a pot and mix in

  • 3 ounces of cold brew concentrate
  • enough soy or almond milk to fill your mug (a little bit will evaporate when we're done making the drink, so overestimate a little bit)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice

Heat this up on your stove until it's steaming, but not boiling.

Once the milk boils it just doesn't taste as good. Stir it every once in a while so the pumpkin doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot or the milk doesn't film up on the sides. Your house should smell like fall by now, and hopefully, you're doing this in a sweater and some fuzzy socks. Pour this into a cute fall mug, and enjoy on the porch while watching the leaves fall (this is mandatory, thanks for asking).

For blended drinks

I like these blended PSLs more than I like hot ones (sorry not sorry) and if you make it at home, it'll be waaaaaaay healthier (girls, guys, the stuff we put in those blenders is not the best for your bodies). Here's a quick recipe, all you need is

  • 2 frozen bananas (don't worry, you won't taste them in the drink, they're just for consistency)
  • 3 ounces of cold brew concentrate
  • enough almond or Soy Milk to blend
  • 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice

Blend this up in a nice blender until it's smooth (really smooth, like run the blender for about 15 seconds after you think all the chunks are definitely gone smooth).

Pour it into your cup, and you're ready for fall.

For iced drinks

This is the fastest way to get a PSL. Here's what you need:

  • 3 ounces of cold brew concentrate
  • 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
  • 16 ounces of almond or soy milk

Mix this all up, throw some ice in it, and you're ready to go. That's literally all it takes.

Ready, set, FALL.
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