Thirsty Thursday Eve - Hard Pumpkin Spice Latte (October)

I'm a basic white girl at heart, so the October cocktail obviously had to involve pumpkin. I wasn't alone in that thought process. A lot of recipes online recommended starting with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and adding ingredients to it. In my opinion, that felt like cheating. I, too, can throw a shot of vodka into a Starbee's drink. No, I wanted to make something with pumpkin in it myself.

October

  • Theme 1: Pumpkin Spice & Halloween. The absolute quintessential fall theme. A Pumpkin Spice Martini, a Pumpkin Old Fashioned, or a spooky-themed cocktail with dark colors and fun garnishes.
  • Theme 2: Campfire Comfort. Focus on whiskey and bourbon. A cozy Spiced Bourbon Smash or an Apple Cider Hot Toddy.

The AI suggestions corroborated the focus on pumpkin, but I didn't love the specific suggestions. I don't really love a martini and I wanted another type of old fashioned (to come later). The apple cider hot toddy sounded interesting, but that would be two apple cocktails and no pumpkin. I would have to keep looking.

One article with a few options recommended making your own pumpkin spice latte. THAT was much more intriguing. It gave me the ubiquitous pumpkin that I was looking for, while not forcing me to buy a pre-made drink from an overrated coffee shop. That seemed like exactly what I wanted.

Unfortunately, this recipe makes a ton and there didn't seem like a good way to downsize it. A quarter cup of pumpkin puree, a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, and a single cinnamon stick aren't getting divided much smaller. I could invite some friends over so there were at least more people available to drink it, but we hardly ever host. I decided I would just make the full amount and hope that it served cold well enough for me to drink the leftovers.

  • 8 ounces dark rum, bourbon or Frangelico (optional)
  • 5 cups coffee, freshly brewed
  • 4 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Garnish: 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
  • Garnish: cinnamon or nutmeg, freshly grated
  1. Add your preferred spirit, brewed coffee, milk, sugar, heavy cream, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon stick into a slow cooker, and heat on high for at least 90 minutes.
  2. Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form.
  3. Divide the heated mixture among 10 to 12 mugs, and top each with whipped cream. Garnish with freshly grated cinnamon or nutmeg.

The recipe offers flexibility with the liquor, suggesting either rum, bourbon, or Frangelico. I didn't want to focus on rum again for a second month in a row, and I had no idea what Frangelico was, so I opted for bourbon. Unlike the apple cider cocktail, these ingredients were all easy to procure, even during August when I first started researching. That's evidence to me that pumpkin spice is acceptable to drink year-round. If I can get canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice during all four seasons, I can turn it into a latte whenever I want.

I threw everything in the crockpot as instructed and let it go. When my wife got home, she asked what I was cooking, and I told her it was a homemade pumpkin spice latte. I left out the alcohol part, not to be misleading, but simply to see how detectable it was. After it had simmered long enough, I gave it a stir and ladled some out for myself. It was surprisingly good, and the bourbon gave a nice depth without tasting alcoholic. I gave samples to my wife and a friend without commentary, and neither mentioned tasting alcohol.

If you wanted something more intoxicating, you could absolutely double the alcohol or add another shot after pouring for those who do prefer a stronger drink. The provided recipe creates a drink that does HAVE alcohol, but I could see this just being something to cook over a fire and share with guests, regardless of the alcohol content. It's genuinely that good by itself.

Hot was a success, but what about cold? I had about two quarts left over, and I certainly couldn't drink that much coffee in a day without negative consequences. I put them in the fridge and hoped I hadn't just wasted a whole lot of otherwise good coffee AND bourbon. The next day, I poured a glass over ice and gave it a try. The cream had separated a bit and the pumpkin had settled to the bottom, but otherwise it was still really good. I have found that pumpkin doesn't play well, even when I try to make just coffee creamer with pumpkin in it, so I expected that. All in all, I was very pleased with the results.

If you're looking for something other than a spiked Starbucks drink to celebrate pumpkin season with, I highly recommend making this slow cooker pumpkin spice latte.

References:
Covington, L. (2021, March 8). This pumpkin spice latte has liquor in it. Liquor.com. https://www.liquor.com/recipes/pumpkin-spiced-latte/
Shecan2cook. (2023, June 30). Pumpkin spice martini. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/180314/pumpkin-spice-martini/
u/theleftflank. (2021, September 20). R/cocktails on reddit: Getting into the falling leaves - pumpkin spice white russian. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/ps5hsj/getting_into_the_falling_leaves_pumpkin_spice/

Young, N. (2021, October 13). 11 pumpkin cocktails to put Autumn in your glass. Liquor.com. https://www.liquor.com/articles/pumpkin-cocktails/ 

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