We’re both coffee people so ending dinner with a coffee seemed natural…

But maybe something a little more special than just instant and hot water..? This was a by-product of our research into (yet to be tried) pumpkin spice latte waffles…simply (said if not prepared) coconut pumpkin spice latte…

I opted for this recipe from Half Baked Harvest because it seemed to offer a good blend of healthy themes and flavours…

Ingredients

For the coffee base, you need:

2 cups of coconut water

1/2 cup of freshly gound coffee grounds: yes, I know that sounds like a lot – it  is – but I think that the cold infusion is less effective as traditional coffee making processes plus I suspect that the coconut water is not as effective at absorbing the coffee flavour as water water…

For the pumpkin spice latte:

2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I made up a bigger batch substituting tablespoon for teaspoon in this list):

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of black pepper

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1 1/2 cups canned coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut water

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (yes, also a lot – this is a very sweet brew..!)

Making the components

Make the base by mixing the coconut water and coffee grounds together and letting sit overnight.

Filter the grounds out.

Combine all the latte ingredients in a small pan over the stove.

Simmer and stir until the mixture is steaming hot.

I made both components the night before but I think this mix would go best made fresh with no delays. My inner coffee lover cringes at reheating the coffee base in the microwave and the latte syrup does not like being frothed some much once it has cooled.

I  used the steam frother on my coffee machine and that was OK but not ideal…partly because the reservoir is not that big and, by the time it heated, only pumped out enough steam to froth a coffee at a time…

I got a light froth on an OK coffee…OK in that it was very smooth but not as strong tasting (of coffee) as I like…

…which tasted OK but lacked texture and heat (I like hot coffee)

Insights

Next time I will make the coffee base in a pan over the stove and use it immediately. This is actually the alternate method in the recipe and I don’t know why they don’t simply do this anyway and avoid the whole reheating thing.

Using coconut water for the coffee base does seem to provide a smoother coffee but I will see how this goes. My gut feeling is that if I can master the syrup, this drink will be just as good with conventionally brewed coffee – not to self, overcome anxiety and master the coffee syphon…

I used the recommended quantity of pumpkin puree but apart from possibly adding to the texture of the latte syrup, did not appear to add much unique to the flavour – although it is up against some pretty intense competition. I think I will double this next time.

The coconut milk and maple syrup tend also to override the flavours of the pumpkin pie spice. It may be – quite likely, I think at the moment – this may become a coconut maple syrup if the pumpkin components can’t step up to the plate…

…or maybe dump the maple syrup – I don’t think this needs any MORE sweetening – in favour of the pumpkin flavours…

The blending option – over the whisk/stir strongly or steam approaches – that is mentioned as an alternative in the original recipe is probably the best for frothing a mix like this and that it how we will do it next time…

Like the dairy-free ice cream, this is probably more philosophically healthy than actually healthy…it is very sweet and one probably needs to plan some extra physical owrk to compensate

So…don’t get me wrong…this makes a nice coffee…I described its effect to a friend the next day as being like one of those toy rockets with a recovery parachute: the caffeine kicks you up to about a thousand feet then the sweetness kicks in and lowers you gently back down…time it right and you’ll float to the ground just as your head hits the pillow… as I did…slept like a baby…