Pumpkin Spice Latte (Hot or Cold)

It’s that time of year when pumpkin shows up in every conceivable product. From the obvious choices (Donuts! Cookies! Coffee!), to the questionable (Body wash? Trash bags??), there’s a pumpkin spice version on the shelf.

It makes some sense here in the Americas where pumpkins grow giant and abundantly in the fall. We can imagine the earliest harvesters of the massive gourd trying to figure out what to do with all of that treasure. We suspect the first pumpkin spice tea was brewed in or around October 1622 by someone who just could not eat another mashed pumpkin with pumpkin bread.

The thing is—we should consider ourselves lucky. We really dodged a turnip. In the ancient tradition of Samhain, the Celtic people carved turnips to ward off spirits. And we give thanks to the great pumpkin that we do not now live in a world of turnip lattes and danishes.

That’s a reason to celebrate with a couple of pumpkin spice lattes!

Gather your ingredients

Makes 2 lattes

For the pumpkin spices

Combine these spices together in a small bowl, adjusting the amounts to your personal preferences. You’ll need 1 tbsp of the combined spices for this recipe.

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 tsp ground cloves

  • 1 tsp ground allspice

  • 2 tsp ground ginger

  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

For the latte

  • 1 cup of milk (we recommend oat milk or full-fat dairy, you’re going for creamy here)

  • 2 tsp of pumpkin puree

  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

  • 1 tsp of vanilla

  • 1/4 cup strong coffee (cold or hot brewed)

Make your lattes

In a small pan over medium heat, warm the milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, vanilla, and 1 tbsp of spice blend, stirring until everything blends up nicely. You don’t want the milk to boil, so turn down the heat if it gets past a simmer.

For hot lattes, pour hot coffee into two mugs and stir 1/2 the milk mixture into each.

For cold coffees, remove the pan from the heat and let the milk mixture cool slightly, then pour the cold brew directly into the pan to cool things down further. Fill two glasses about half way with ice, and pour the lattes into the the two glasses.

Top with any remaining spice blend.

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