Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Recipe (Starbucks Copycat to Make at Home)

Every autumn, we look forward to cooler months, beautiful fall colours, and a drink that’s developed a cult following: Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte. Creamy, smooth, spicy, and full of all the warm flavours of autumn, this latte inspires designs for sweatshirts, candles, cookies, cakes, and even plushies. But as great as the PSL is, there’s a better coffee drink: Starbucks’ pumpkin cream cold brew.

Never tried it? Keep reading to learn about what it is, why it’s better, and how to make a better-than-Starbucks copycat pumpkin cream cold brew recipe.

The Drink that Dethroned Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte

Starbucks is well-known for its mochas, frappuccinos, regular cold brew, Refreshers, and macchiatos. But, their pumpkin spice latte—affectionately dubbed the PSL—inspires over 3,000 daily tweets during the autumn season (1).

Since its release in 2003, the PSL has garnered a cult following, inspiring a billion-dollar pumpkin spice industry. According to Yahoo Finance, by 2013, stores couldn’t even keep up with the demand (2). But according to Business Insider, the PSL was officially dethroned in 2020. Meet the new crowning champion of autumn-themed drinks: the pumpkin cream cold brew (3).

The Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Recipe

In a cup, this creamy, rich pumpkin pie is layer upon layer of delicious spicy, warm vanilla goodness (4). According to Starbucks, the pumpkin cream cold brew is made with “Cold Brew sweetened with vanilla syrup and topped with a pumpkin cream cold foam and a dusting of pumpkin spice topping.”

While there is pumpkin puree in the pumpkin spice syrup, it isn’t much. Moreover, vanilla and pumpkin spice syrups contain preservatives, thickeners, natural flavours, and colour additives.

In developing this recipe, Home Grounds decided to strike a balance between indulgence and health. Though the original recipe uses sugar—and lots of it—we’ve chosen to use monk fruit and make this recipe low-carb.

The Sweetener: What Is Monk Fruit?

Monk fruit is a gourd that’s indigenous to China (5). As a close relative to the cucumber and melon, this fruit-based sweetener has become quite popular among people looking to reduce or altogether eliminate sugar in their diets.

Unlike sugar, honey, or even maple syrup, monk fruit doesn’t cause blood sugar to spike. This is because our bodies naturally break down the mogrosides in monk fruit, eliminating it as waste instead of storing it.

Additionally, since monk fruit is up to 250 times sweeter than traditional sugars, you only need to use a quarter or less of monk fruit sweetener to achieve the same results.

How to Make a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew

What comes to mind when you think of delicious ways to use cold brew? Perhaps, popsicles made with cold brew? Or maybe you’re more partial to almond milk cold brew or even more delicious coffee-based drinks.

What about a rich, creamy, frothy coffee-infused pumpkin pie in a cup? Yes, please.

Please note that there are four major components to our recipe.

1. The cold brew coffee
2. The pumpkin spice and vanilla syrups
3. The pumpkin cream cold foam
4. And the pumpkin spice topping

As a quick note, though we’ve listed specific ingredients and proportions, feel free to adapt this recipe to your palate and dietary needs. For instance, you could substitute coconut milk and coconut cream for the milk and cream in the cold foam. And if you want a little more depth and complexity to your cold foam, substitute maple syrup for the monk fruit sweetener.

With all the preliminaries out of the way, keep reading for the best pumpkin cream cold brew recipe.

1. Make Your Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate

In a 12-cup (1.5 litre) French press, combine 2 cups of coarse ground coffee with 8 cups of room-temperature water. Stir gently to combine.

Let it sit out on your countertop for 16 hours. Then, plunge the cold brew concentrate into a 1.5 litre glass jug.

2. Make Your Simple Syrup

Combine 2 cups of room temperature water and 2 cups of monk fruit sweetener or maple syrup in two separate saucepans.

Bring both saucepans to a boil on medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let your simple syrups simmer until the monk fruit sweetener or maple syrup is completely dissolved.

3. Make Your Vanilla Syrup

In your second saucepan, add 4 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 vanilla scraped vanilla beans, ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream or condensed milk to taste, and one pinch of salt. Stir to combine.

Bring your saucepan to a simmer on medium-low heat. Turn off the heat once it simmers, and let it steep for 20 minutes.

4. Make Your Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Once both simple syrups are ready, add in 400 g of pumpkin puree, 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, freshly-grated ginger, and 1 teaspoon of table salt to one saucepan for the pumpkin spice syrup. With a wooden spoon, stir gently to combine. Let the mixture simmer on medium heat for two minutes.

At this point, you have some options. You can either:

• Add in ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream and stir just till heated through
• Add in 400 g of sweetened condensed milk and stir till heated through

Both options will yield a creamy pumpkin spice syrup, but the second will be sweeter and thicker in consistency.

5. Make Your Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam

In a French press, combine 1 cup of heavy cream, ½ cup condensed milk, 2 teaspoons each of pumpkin spice and vanilla extract, and three tablespoons of pumpkin puree. Whisk everything together with a balloon whisk until everything is combined.

Start with four large plunges with the plunger to aerate your cold foam. Then, continue with smaller, quicker plunges near the bottom of the French until the foam reaches the desired consistency.

6. Assemble Your Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew

For optimal results, start by decanting all your syrups into Mason jars and letting them chill in your fridge.

Once everything is cold, pour in 60 ml—or two tablespoons—of your pumpkin spice and vanilla syrups into each 475-ml glass. Stir to combine.

Then, add in 200 ml of cold brew concentrate and dilute it with 200 ml of cold water.

Lastly, follow the instructions and prep your pumpkin cream cold foam just before serving.

Top each pumpkin cream cold brew with 60 ml of pumpkin cream cold foam, a dusting of the pumpkin spice topping, and some optional finely grated ginger.

A Few Tips

This recipe is all about timing. To make your life easy, start by making the cold brew first because it’ll take the longest to prep.

Next, make your simple syrups at the same time and set two different timers on your smartphone. Since the vanilla syrup is much more hands-off, the Home Grounds team suggests starting with that one first. As it steeps, follow the directions to make your pumpkin spice syrup.

Pumpkin Puree from scratch

Next, if you’re using fresh pumpkin puree, start by placing your whole pumpkin into an eight-litre pressure cooker on a steam rack, along with two cups of warm water. Pressure cook for 13 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.

Once it’s cool enough to handle, slice your pumpkin in half, remove the seeds and starch, and scrape out the flesh. Puree the pumpkin in a blender till smooth.

On another note, here are other Starbucks drinks you can try making at home:

• How to make Irish cream cold brew (Easy Starbucks copycat recipe)
• Chestnut Praline Latte Recipe
• Strawberry Acai drink
• How to Make the Starbucks Pink Drink at Home (Copycat Recipe)
• Coffee with Peanut Butter

Final Thoughts

This pumpkin cream cold brew recipe is as decadent as it is challenging. But don’t worry, we promise it’s worth the effort. You might want to double the recipe and share…or not. We don’t judge.

So, have you made this recipe? Which desserts do you think would complement this drink?

Drop us a comment below.