Pumpkin Spice season is coming to a close at Starbucks — but it doesn’t have to in your dorm room.
The pumpkin spice latte came out on Sept. 2 this year and usually lasts about four months. A 12 ounce or ‘Tall’ PSL from Starbucks will cost you $4.00 on average.
So, if you were to buy one from Sept. 2 until Christmas, it would cost over $448.00.
Say you only buy the tall pumpkin spice latte 13 times within the next four months, it would cost $52.00 not including tax.
That’s a lot of money for a small coffee that doesn’t even have any real pumpkin in it.
To avoid dropping all that cash and going through pumpkin spice withdrawal after January, here’s how to make your own PSL, any time of year.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 1
Ingredients:
½ cup whole milk
3 ½ tablespoons pumpkin spice flavored coffee (I used Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice coffee, but any medium/dark roast will do)
½ teaspoon pumpkin spice mix
1 tablespoon whipped cream
Directions:
1. Steam the milk. You can do this in the microwave. Put the milk in a microwave safe cup with a lid for 30 – 60 seconds. Take off the lid and place it in for another 30 – 60 seconds depending on your microwave. It should look foamy and bubbly without boiling. If on the stove, just keep stirring until it starts to heat up then leave it covered. It should also look foamy at this point.
Photo by Sydney Gabel
2. While the milk is heating up, brew the coffee. To give the coffee a bolder flavor, use less water and place more coffee in the filter.
Photo by Sydney Gabel
3. Prepare your cup with a little bit of sugar and a dash of pumpkin spice.
Photo by Sydney Gabel
4. Pour coffee over the sugar and pumpkin spice a little less than halfway in your cup. Slowly add in the steamed milk until the cup is full. Stir the milk and coffee as you add the steamed milk.
Photo by Sydney Gabel
5. Add a bit of whipped cream on the top and an extra dash of pumpkin spice for decoration.
Photo by Sydney Gabel
You deserve that whipped cream. Think of all that money you saved by cutting out the middle-mermaid.