Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte That Actually Tastes Like Real Pumpkin (Not a Candle)
Real pumpkin, real spice, and a 10-minute syrup you'll keep in your fridge all month long — throw it in a glass with strong iced coffee and milk, and you're done. The one step everyone gets wrong is simmering the pumpkin with the sugar, and it's the difference between a candle and a warm pumpkin tart.
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Whisk
- Fine-mesh strainer
- Mason Jar
- Tall glass
Ingredients
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee, chilled (or cold brew)
- 1½ tablespoons pumpkin puree
- 2½ tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2½ tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup whole milk (or oat milk)
- 1½ cups ice
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar, water, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk to break up the puree. Bring it to a gentle simmer and let it bubble slowly for 3 full minutes, whisking once in the middle.
- Watch for the smell shift — the raw sugar smell turns deeper and almost baked, like a pie halfway through the oven. That's your cue that the pumpkin has melted in and the spice has bloomed.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the vanilla and the pinch of salt, and give it one final whisk.
- Pour the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a jar. This catches the last fibrous bits of pumpkin so the drink is silky instead of stringy. If you skip it, the drink is still delicious.
- Cool the syrup — or don't. Warm syrup poured over cold coffee works beautifully because the ice does the chilling for you.
- Fill a tall glass with ice, then pour the chilled coffee over the ice first. Coffee first, milk second, syrup last.
- Pour in the milk, then add about 2 tablespoons of the syrup. Stir, then taste. Add another teaspoon if you have a serious sweet tooth.
- Dust the top with a pinch of pumpkin pie spice and drop in a cinnamon stick if you're feeling fancy. Serve immediately, ice cold.
Notes
Make the syrup in a double batch and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It will separate slightly as it sits — just give it a good shake. For longer storage, freeze the syrup in an ice cube tray for up to 3 months and pop a cube straight into your glass. For a hot version, warm the milk, stir in 2 tablespoons of syrup, then add hot strong coffee. Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Oat milk is the best dairy-free swap.