DIY Barista: How To Make Pumpkin Spice Lattes At Home

Bringing a whole new meaning to the PSL’s ‘basic’ reputation

Pumpkin spice season is finally here – or you know, autumn as some people like to call it. At this time of year, it’s far too tempting to grab a coffee every time I’m on campus. To be honest though, my bank account just can’t handle it. Yeah, obviously I can make coffee at home, but it just doesn’t hit the same as ordering a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. For weeks now, my housemates and I have been trying to think of ways to make our own. Could we just add spices to a normal coffee, call it pumpkin spice? Should we order a syrup off amazon? Or would we be able to make our own? Luckily, Good Food’s Anna Glover pulled through with her extremely easy pumpkin spice syrup recipe that I’ve used below.

Here’s how you can bring the wholesome pumpkin spice aromas into your kitchen:

Ingredients

200g golden caster sugar

50g light brown soft sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp canned pumpkin puree

125ml water

Method

Making the actual syrup is super simple, just add all the ingredients to a saucepan and stir it over medium heat until all of the ingredients have melted into a syrupy-like substance. We forgot to buy caster sugar so used granulated sugar, making our syrup much thicker than Glover’s desired ‘thin syrup’ consistency. Once you’ve made the syrup once, you can really have some fun with it by playing with different quantities to suit your individual taste. Whether you fancy using a bit more cinnamon or another spoon or two of pumpkin puree, it will taste amazing! The syrup can last up to two weeks in the fridge, but I can guarantee you’ll use it up before then!

To make the actual latte, I used a Nespresso machine with Tesco’s seasonal pods (these were £2.50 for 10 pods – what a bargain!). Add the syrup to your taste, I found that 2 heaped spoons gave a lovely strong pumpkin spice flavour. Microwave approximately 200ml of milk in the microwave, before frothing it and pouring it into the coffee. If you’re feeling extra fancy, add some cream on top along with some of Tesco’s new cinnamon sugar dusting. To complete the autumn vibes, curl up with your latte in front of a cosy T.V. series. 

Feature image by Valeriia Miller from Pexels