I know, I know, I KNOW. Pumpkin in the middle of September? Trust me, this was not my intention and it’s totally a last minute recipe. I wasn’t going to make this… But then, something happened Sunday and I asked myself why I wasn’t developing this recipe when so many people have requested it? I just have this thing about no pumpkin before October and I don’t love to break my holiday “rules”. But I’m making an exception…just for today! The weather is still really hot most places, so this is the perfect iced drink to enjoy when you don’t want something hot, but still want to embrace the autumn season. First off, I don’t know how Starbucks makes their pumpkin cream cold brew. Instead of doing a direct copy, I just created my own version of the icy latte. It’s easy, it’s warming…but it’s also icy cold. And so perfectly sweet, creamy, and delicious.
Start with the syrup
I made the same brown sugar syrup that I used in my brown sugar lattee. But I added chai tea bags to infuse the coffee with even more warming fall flavor. You’ll need brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, and chai tea bags. If you don’t have cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon works too! Simmer the syrup on the stove to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add a few chai bags. Steep the tea in the syrup to infuse. This will give you the warming flavors of chai, which is insanely delicious along with the pumpkin and pumpkin spice.
Now the pumpkin cold cream
This is the key to the iced coffee. It’s what everyone gets excited about, and with good reason, it’s spoon worthy delicious. You need cream, milk, pumpkin, and then some of the sweet brown sugar syrup. Add everything to a glass jar with a lid and shake, shake, shake, until the cream thickens and is foamy on top. You don’t want whipped cream, this is why we didn’t just whip with a mixer. If you have a frother, that would work well!
Finally, make the iced cold brew
Add a few shots of chilled espresso to a glass with ice, then add a little of the brown sugar syrup, and a few pinches of pumpkin pie spice. Next, pour over the pumpkin cream, then one more light drizzle of syrup, and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Admire the beauty for just a second and then really give the coffee a good stir to incorporate the sweet pumpkin cream. It’s similar to Starbucks, but made with more flavor, and it’s SO GOOD. Just like my brown sugar latte, I love that we can control just how sweet we want this drink to be. It’s so customizable! Tip – I’d make the chai brown sugar syrup this week to have on hand. Then when the feeling for something sweet and pumpkiny kicks in. Mix this up and enjoy a little bit of the early autumn season.
Looking for other coffee and latte recipes, try these: Spiced Pumpkin Maple Latte Iced Brown Sugar Latte with Shaken Espresso Salted Caramel Brûlée Latte Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte Cupcakes with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Frosting Lastly, if you make this Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
