It's that time of year again: leaves are falling, sweaters are being pulled out of hiding, a fire or two has already been lit, and we are craving a Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte (or PSL, as it's affectionately known). But hearing how it's mostly syrup and has a whopping calorie count had us ready to make our own in our brand new Keurig 2.0 we were recently sent by the sweet Keurig folks. But finding a zillion Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe ideas already out there, Chloe and I got smart and decided to put those recipes to our (ahem) expert and very subjective PSL taste test. And the smell of them cooking even lured brother/son out to help us - yes, we had fun!
We scored each recipe on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the lowest, for ease, cost, availability of ingredients, healthiness. The category for taste comparison to Starbuck's PSL was out of 10 since taste is the most important factor, after all. Once we devised our scoring and gathered our ingredients, we settled in for a hard day's work of sipping lattés... just for you. #WeLoveBlogging Chloe tasted and tasted and tasted some more!
52 Kitchen Adventures SCORE = 19 ease: 5 cost: 4 ingredients: 3 healthiness: 3 taste: 4 Thick, a little chunky, and frothy. Would be better with whipped cream, but the flavor is perfection. Beware, pumpkin sludge might be at the bottom of your cup... a little gross.
The Kitchn SCORE= 21 ease: 4 cost: 2 ingredients: 2 healthiness: 3 taste: 10 We wish the directions were more specific, but the result was beyond amazing. The tastes reminds me of marshmallows on top of a pumpin pie and I would drink this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Eating Bird Food SCORE= 17 ease: 4 cost: 3 ingredients: 2 healthiness: 5 taste: 3 Too bitter but thinness was on point. The flavor is just a little too sharp for me.
The Original Starbucks PSL SCORE=17 ease: 4 cost: 0 ingredients: 5 healthiness: 0 taste: 8 I know, weird that the original is only an 8. But it is what it is. The original sort of tastes like drinking a hot pumpkin smoothie to me, and now that I've made some at home, I've learned that I like being able to tweak my PSL how I want it.
And the winner was: The Kitchn Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe, and to be honest, it looks like I can save tons of calories and $$ this fall. Thanks to our Keurig 2.0, we can easily make the recipe for 1 or for 10 with the new pod system. Guess whose house is going to be smelling like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte this fall? My brother is definitely happy!