It is officially fall season; a time where the green leaves turn to various beautiful shades of orange, red and brown and the air gets that little cold kick as summer season sets in the west. Puns can be cringey, but it is now time to fall in love with pumpkin spice lattes again, the popular caffeine-based beverage showing its steaming hot face every year coming up to the Halloween season.
As a barista, writing this is much easier with the knowledge of how a pumpkin spiced latte is made; ingredients varying from a mix of autumn spiced flavours, steamed milk of your choice, one – two espresso shots, sugar and pumpkin spice. However, if you want to make it really fancy then whipped cream is a good add in to give it that extra creamy kick that warms us up during the cold autumn season.
An interview with Starbucks conducted by CNBC showed the chain reportedly sold more than 600 million pumpkin spice lattes since the coffee’s debut in 2003 and continues to sell more than 20 million per year. It makes you want to set up your own coffee stand, doesn’t it?
SIN conducted their own observation and paid a visit to Starbucks located in the Eyre Square Centre, their findings being that the beverage is being served hot and cold. The menu showed three beautifully crafted caffeine beverages; the pumpkin spiced latte, a pumpkin cream cold brew and an iced pumpkin spice latte.
Three recipes that embody a spooky season excitement as well as emanating autumn vibes that will last into the rest of September and to the spooky month of October. Pumpkin is a rather nutritious vegetable, but it belongs in the fruit family as it contains seeds.
Kerri-Ann Jennings wrote an article in Healthline and outlined the nutritional value of canned pumpkin and pumpkin seeds; perfect for people who follow low carb or plant-based diets; nutrients including fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, also an aid to the heart, skin, eye and metabolic health.
However, you don’t only need to limit yourself to pumpkin spiced caffeine beverages for the fall season, use this time to get creative and integrate pumpkin spice into more than just a cup of coffee.
The possibilities are endless and writer, Betty Gold, has a list of pumpkin spice treats ready to try; pumpkin spice bread, smoothie, muffins, cake and how to create your own pumpkin spice with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and allspice.
These specific recipes are super easy to follow and won’t break the bank in the process; the smoothie consisting of only four ingredients of plain pumpkin puree, nutmeg, milk and honey.
You’ll be thanking Betty Gold for this as her recipe list also includes a pumpkin spiced martini which includes maple syrup and cinnamon; a perfect beverage for student nights-in watching a movie with your pjs on.
Fall season isn’t just welcoming in pumpkin spiced lattes, but a whole new range of activities that include all things pumpkin whether it be cooking, baking, carving or drinking those delicious steamy delicacies in a coffee shop near you. As the Spice Girls say “Spice up your life.”
Think of those lyrics when you’re sipping on your caffeinated pumpkin spice and thinking about the coming spooky season when you’ll be carving latte art designs into your pumpkins.
