Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is a fall spin on iced coffee reminiscent of the popular drink from Starbucks...except this recipe is easy to make at home with natural ingredients including real pumpkin puree!

'Tis the season for all things pumpkin! October has arrived, and while many parts of the country are already enjoying cool fall weather and glorious fall foliage, those of us in Texas are (alas!) still seeing temperatures creep into the 90s. And so this year -- rather than willing the temps to drop by perspiring in my cute sweater while sipping on a warm pumpkin drink -- I decided to instead carry my iced coffee infatuation beyond the summer months. Say hello to this scrumptious, easy-to-make Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew recipe!

If you're a fan of the pumpkin coffee drinks at Starbucks, you are probably already familiar with this drink. So while we're on the topic, I have a shocking confession to make: Even though I love pumpkin drinks, the ones from Starbucks aren't my favorite...because I think they taste rather artificial. (We can still be friends, right?)

I had high hopes the first time I ordered a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, but the orange color and the synthetic pumpkin flavor gave me that same not-so-great reaction I always have to a PSL. So, like any good food blogger would do, I decided to try making my own version of a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew at home using more straightforward ingredients!

• Half-and-half. My personal preference is to use half-and-half in my coffee. I find milk to be too thin and heavy cream to be too rich. That being said, you can use any type of milk or cream that you prefer in this recipe. Skim milk, 2%, whole milk, half-and-half, heavy cream, soy milk, almond milk, oat milk...the choice is yours! Just keep in mind that the ability of different types of milk to foam can vary (for better or for worse) when you whip or froth them.
• Pumpkin puree. Use Homemade Pumpkin Puree if you've already got some on hand, or you can crack open a can of plain pumpkin puree and then use the leftovers for other pumpkin delicacies. A tablespoon of puree was as much as I could add to my foam and still get it to stabilize. But fortunately, that's still enough to give your drink authentic pumpkin flavor!
• Vanilla syrup. While I typically use maple syrup as the sweetener in my homemade coffee creamer recipes, for this Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew recipe, I wanted to be able control the sweetness and the vanilla flavor of both the coffee and the foam (as Starbucks does). So I found that by using vanilla syrup, I could add it to both components. Store-bought vanillasyrup will work just dandy (I do check the ingredients to make sure it's basically just water + cane sugar + vanilla), or you can scroll down to the next heading to easily make your own homemade vanilla coffee syrup.
  • If you wish to use a different type of sweetener, however, go right ahead! Maple syrup, simple syrup, granulated sugar, or your favorite sugar-free sweetener will all work, though amounts may have to be adjusted. Also, a syrup (such as simple syrup in place of granulated sugar) is going to work better in a cold drink since the granules are already dissolved.
  • Finally, you could always add a tiny splash of vanilla to your iced coffee components to compensate for using a plain sweetener. For example, you could use 1 tablespoon maple syrup + an additional ½-teaspoon vanilla in the pumpkin cream recipe, and 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup + ¼-teaspoon vanilla per glass of coffee.
• Pumpkin pie spice. If you don't already have a bottle of Pumpkin Pie Spice in your spice cabinet, you can easily make your own Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice. Or, if you don't want to whip up a whole batch, simply substitute ¾ teaspoon cinnamon + ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg + ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice + a pinch of ground cloves for the 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice that this recipe calls for.
• Salt. You only need a tiny pinch to help the other flavors pop! I use my favorite fine sea salt.
• Pure vanilla extract. Use real, high-quality vanilla extract in a drink like this since you'll really taste it.
• Cold brew coffee. My favorite cold brew coffee that I've tried thus far is easy to make (let the bags steep for a day in a pitcher) and the flavor is smooth and delicious. But let's be real here. I'm not always on top of my game enough to have cold brew coffee prepped and waiting when I wake up. So since my husband makes a pot of coffee every morning, I am not above pouring a cup of hot, freshly brewed coffee into a mug, popping it in the freezer long enough to cool down, and then pouring it over ice and proceeding with my recipe. Don't judge me.