barista banter- pumpkin spice lattes (to order and to make at home!)

*We've invited our favorite barista (our sister/sister-in-law, Kedron) to do a monthly column about all things COFFEE! This month she has the 411 on pumpkin spice lattes- yum! Without further ado, here's Kedron-

Fall to me is synonymous with things like the rollout of Caramel Apple Spice, Salted Caramel Mochas, and yes- Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Let's just have a moment of silence for the yummyness I just listed off................pausing...........reflecting.........mouth is starting to water........

 

image via lunacafe

Ok, now that I have that behind me I would love to share my own personalized favorite of the Pumpkin Spice world of drinks. This is my go-to fall order when I am in a Pumpkin Spice kind of mood.

Two disclaimers- I am not a HUGE latte person so most of my drinks I convert into americanos (meaning that instead of the drink being made with milk you just make the drink with hot water instead). And before I write out my drink, do know I  realize it makes me sound ridiculous and high maintenance,  but I blame that on working at Starbucks for six years- This is what it will do to a person :)

So without further ado- here is the best drink in town when it comes to Pumpkin Spice drinks (seriously, order it, you'll see):  
A Single Grande (or 16 oz.) 2 pump Pumpkin Spice 2 pump White Mocha with half and half, whipped cream, and pumpkin spice sprinkles Americano. 
*NOTE- I had to cut back on my coffee intake since becoming a mom but you can add shots here if you like more of a coffee taste. Same with the pumps- I don't have a real sweet tooth so these are half the amount of pumps in a grande but if you love sweet things this amount can easily be increased as well.

The glorious part of this drink is it can easily be made at home as well. I personally, being a Starbucks barista and all, love our instant coffee called Via. One packet will be enough for this drink.

DIRECTIONS for doing this at home instead of getting it at a coffee shop:

1. Boil 16 oz of hot water and combine 1 packet of Colombia Via in your 16 oz mug. *Make sure before you add anything else the coffee is fully dissolved. The easiest way to do this is add about 2 tbsp of the hot water then your packet and swirl in your coffee mug before adding the rest of the water. 

2.  In the world of syrups you can buy at stores I personally like the Monin brand of syrups because they last longer and have more a of a raw sugar taste versus an artificial sweetener taste. You can usually find these at most grocery stores- if yours doesn't have Monin, Torrani works too. I use the Monin Pumpkin Spice and Monin White Mocha when recreating my drink at home. 2 pumps equals about 2 oz ,which most shot glasses are measured out to, so I put 2 oz of each the white mocha and the pumpkin spice and stir my drink.

3. Add desired amount of half and half.

4. Although I prefer real whipped cream and would LOVE a whipped creme dispenser- (you know the ones I am talking about? They sell them at William Sonoma I think...well I do not own one of those...yet! [Christmas present?!?]). So I just use regular Reddi Whip and top the drink with Pumpkin spice seasoning- I found this at our local whole foods store! If you can't find any using a little nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon will suffice as well!

5. Now this is my favorite step- ENJOY!

See you next month for more Barista Banter!

*Kedron