Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup

It was a bummer when I found out that Starbucks puts dairy in their pumpkin spice flavoring. Lame, Starbucks, lame! I always look forward to the holiday coffees, especially the gingerbread latte. A couple of years ago, a friend got me hooked on the peppermint mocha. (No dairy in the mocha chocolate!) It's funny. I don't even drink coffee on a regular basis. I'm more of a tea girl, really. Even so, I usually treat myself to a holiday coffee once a week when they're out. Usually on a Friday, just to make that day a little better.

Well, last year I found out that I have a bit of a sensitivity to soy. I can have it every now and then, but then I have to steer clear of it for a few weeks before I can have it again. I've noticed that some things affect me more than others. Soy milk is pretty much a no-go now. For some reason that gets me every time, no matter how long it's been. Not many coffee shops offer any other alternatives to dairy and soy so I spent last holiday season longing for my seasonal lattes.

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Last week as I was walking home from work, I decided to poke around Williams-Sonoma since it's on the way. It's always fun to look at the gadgets and baking pans and dream of owning a full set of Le Creuset pans. As I was poking around one of the sales people told me that there were a couple of tables of clearance items at the back that I might want to take a look at. It's mostly Thanksgiving stuff that they're getting rid of since we had that holiday a month ago and it's encroaching on the winter holidays now. I spied a bottle of pumpkin spice latte syrup on the table. I was immediately suspicious, assuming it would have ingredients in it that I don't want. But no!

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The main ingredient is pumpkin puree with nothing else but real ingredients. No strange flavorings or anything like that. Oh, man. I really need to go back and pick up a couple more bottles, especially since it's on clearance. It tastes so good, too! I had some espresso powder in the cabinet that I use for baking sometimes so I made a little of that, heated some rice milk and added a couple tablespoons of pumpkin spice latte syrup. Yum! It tastes so amazing, really warm and comforting. Like drinking a pumpkin pie or something.

On another awesome note, I found out this morning that Blenz has almond milk now! (For those of you not in Canada, Blenz is like the Canadian Starbucks.)  Now to find a way to make a peppermint mocha at home...

4 comments:

  1. It is quite tasty stuff but somewhat expensive. I did a post on it last year and this year, while I have three bottles of it stashed away, I have moved to making my own for daily use.


    http://nashveggie.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/06/pumpkin-spice-latte-syrup/

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  2. Ooh, nice. I'll have to try making yours sometime! It is a bit pricey, but seeing as how it's on clearance at the moment, it's not *so* bad. I don't really drink that much coffee anyway, so a bottle or two will likely last me until next year. :)

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  3. It's not on clearance here and rarely makes it that point. Typically, it sells out prior to Thanksgiving and is not restocked.

    Let me know how you like the recipe!

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  4. I think because Canadian Thanksgiving is at the beginning of October, people get out of the mood for that sort of thing quickly and start getting on the Christmas bandwagon. Either way, yours sounds pretty much the same and way better since it's homemade. If it goes well, I might try making some for Christmas gifts. I do a have a pumpkin that I don't know what to do with. :)

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