Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Copycat Recipe
Fall is finally here (even though we’re still getting summer temperatures in Southern California), but it’s never too early to celebrate pumpkin season in my opinion!
When Starbucks released their Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew in 2019, I was had. This quickly became my favorite drink and I said goodbye to the Pumpkin Spice Latte.
This year, though, I’ve finally decided it’s time to figure out how to make my own at home! Whether you’re trying to reduce your coffee expenses or you’re foregoing Starbucks for personal reasons, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yummy fall coffee drinks from home! And as an added benefit, this recipe is super quick and easy and really stretches your dollar!
Click here to jump straight to the recipe!
Making the Cold Foam
Tools You’ll Need
To create your cold foam, I recommend using a french press if you have one. This has given me the most consistent and most accurate result. I first tried an immersion blender, but it took almost 5 minutes and most of the milk basically disappeared, and it didn’t have the thick consistency of the cold foam I was trying to make.
This is what the milk froth looked like using the immersion blender. Lots of bubbles, but not very thick
First attempt - The cold foam barely held.
The french press is really simple to use, though it does take a little elbow grease as well!
I’m currently using the MIRA stainless steel double-walled french press, but my other favorite french press to use is the Bodum Chambord french press. The small size of the Bodum french press is perfect for a small batches, but mine is currently out of operation because I need a new carafe, so the MIRA one has been very handy lately!
Ingredients
To add flavor to my cold foam, I started off by creating a pumpkin flavored syrup. I started off with this recipe I found online for the syrup, and adjusted it for my taste by adding more pumpkin. This syrup is essentially the source of all the pumpkin flavor in the drink and the foam.
Then for the cold foam, I use half and half. I think half and half gives the foam the thickness and creaminess that I’m looking for, but feel free to play around with what milk fits you best. I’m not exactly sure how non-dairy milks froth and if you’ll obtain that same consistency, but a little experimentation could be fun!
And just to be a little extra festive, I like to add one to two drops of orange food coloring to get that pumpkin cold foam look. The pumpkin syrup itself doesn’t color the milk much, so the orange just helps it out a little, but that’s completely optional.
The Cold Foam
Now all you have to do is add the ingredients to the carafe, and start churning away! There’s no precise way that you need to do it, but I start off with slow, larger pumps to get the air into the milk for about 40 seconds, then proceed to quickly churn for the next 20-30 seconds. Then it’s pretty much done! You can look into the french press to see if the milk is the consistency you want, and if not you can continue churning until you get there, but I don’t think you need more than 2 minutes.
Assembling the Drink
All you need here is your favorite cold brew, a cup, some ice, and your fresh made cold foam! You can also make your own cold brew coffee at home, but my personal cold brew of choice right now is SToK Cold Brew.
Cold foam made with a french press! The thickness is exactly right to maintain separation, but the foam is also super light and airy.
I also like to add an additional ~ 2 tsp of pumpkin syrup to the coffee itself for more sweetness and flavor, but it’s completely adjustable to your taste!
Total Cost of Ingredients
To make this recipe, here’s how much I spent for all of the ingredients:
🎃 Pumpkin Puree (15 oz) - $1.29
☕️ SToK Cold Brew (48 fl oz) - $5.99
🥛 Half & Half (16 fl oz) - $1.79
🥧 Pumpkin Pie Spice (1.7 oz) - $1.99
🍨 Vanila Extract (1 fl oz) - $3.94
🍯 Light Brown Sugar (32 oz) - $2.44
Total: $17.44
And after doing the math, this is roughly how much each cup costs:
🎃 Pumpkin Puree (0.43 oz) - $0.04
☕️ SToK Cold Brew (8 fl oz) - $1.00
🥛 Half & Half (2.28 fl oz) - $0.25
🥧 Pumpkin Pie Spice (0.02 oz) - $0.03
🍨 Vanila Extract (0.02 fl oz) - $0.08
🍯 Light Brown Sugar (0.43 oz) - $0.03
Total: $1.43
I was able to make around 7 cups of coffee with the amount of half & half that I had, but lots of these ingredients are pantry staples that I’ll be using for other things, so I tried to calculate how much I actually used in this recipe to determine what the cost per cup would be.
A tall (12 oz) pumpkin cream cold brew from Starbucks costs $5.75 in my area. For the equivalent of what I make at home, which is an 8 oz cup of coffee, a Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew would cost $3.83.
So not only is making your own pumpkin cream cold brew at home better for your wallet, but it’s also much more customizable and adjustable!
Give this recipe a try, and let me know what you think! Did you make any changes that you’d recommend?
Pumpkin Coffee Syrup
Ingredients
ºoº 3/4 cup water
ºoº 3/4 cup brown sugar
ºoº 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
ºoº 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
ºoº 2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Mix together all ingredients in a saucepan
Whisk over medium-high heat until simmering
Simmer for 3-5 minutes
Allow to cool before storing in an airtight container
Pumpkin Cold Foam
Ingredients
ºoº 1/4 cup half & half
ºoº 2 tsp pumpkin coffee syrup
ºoº 1-2 drops orange food coloring (optional)
Directions
Add all the ingredients to a french press
Slowly churn the ingredients for 30-40 seconds
Quickly churn the ingredients for 20-30 seconds or until desired consistency
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