Faux Pumpkin Spice Latte

OK, y'all. This is information you need to have. Well, only if you like pumpkin spice flavored coffee drinks, I guess. Or if your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/mother/father likes them. Then you could be super-considerate and make one for them sometime this fall.

I'd seen this DIY recipe before, but it's kinda complicated. They want you to use canned pumpkin and a whisk. I don't usually have time for that just for a coffee drink.

But my version, while it does not taste precisely like a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, has the advantages of being cheap, easy, and free of processed sugars (if you're into avoiding that sort of thing).

So, here's the plan. Brew some coffee. Stronger is better. I make strong decaf, for whatever that's worth.

Put some stevia and/or honey in the bottom of a mug. That's how I do no-processed-sugar in my coffee, anyway. You can put plain sugar in if you want, or just stevia, or just honey, or probably even maple syrup and/or molasses, which would probably make this drink even better, come to think of it. Mental note.

Sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice on top of your sweetener(s). About 3 small shakes for about 12 oz of beverage, I find.

Pour in your coffee. Stir.

Add a significant amount of half and half, or if you're me, heavy whipping cream. Stir. Sip. Melt into a puddle of happiness on the floor.


It's true, there's no foam involved. If you like foam, it's gonna require more time or more money. I don't like foam enough to give up either of those. But if you do, go for it! You can make foam by whizzing milk around in a blender (if you don't have an espresso machine, of course).

But the real lesson here, is this: You can just plop pumpkin pie spice in your coffee and it tastes good! I wouldn't have guessed that would work until one day I was lazy enough to try it. So even in laziness, it's possible to be productive. Which might be the real real lesson.