Coffee Drink

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew: Real Pumpkin Cold Foam Recipe

Name: Real Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: 200 ml chilled ready-to-drink cold brew; 120 g ice; 30 g cold heavy whipping cream; 30 g cold whole milk; 15 g plain pumpkin puree; 10 ml Monin US regular Vanilla Syrup; 0.3 g pumpkin pie spice

By Jason HarrisPublished September 26, 20268 min read

Pumpkin cream cold brew combines chilled cold-brew coffee with a sweet, spiced pumpkin cream topping. This home version uses real plain pumpkin purée in the foam and leaves the coffee unsweetened. It differs from a pumpkin spice latte, which uses espresso and milk mixed through the drink.

Iced cold brew topped with pale pumpkin cream foam beside plain pumpkin puree and autumn styling props — Generated editorial illustration, not a photograph of a tested recipe. Pumpkin and spice props are illustrative; measure the amounts in the recipe.

Drink Snapshot

Caffeine: About 70 mg (named coffee)200 ml × STōK label 125 mg per 360 mlReference for STōK UN-SWEET Black 48 oz. Another bottled coffee or a homemade batch does not inherit this estimate.
Calories: About 170 kcalOne defined recipe; all pumpkin foam servedAbout 168.5 kcal before rounding, with the named plain puree and regular vanilla syrup.

Serving, sugar and sources

Serving: 200 ml cold brew + 120 g ice + foam with 30 g cream, 30 g milk, 15 g puree, 10 ml syrup and 0.3 g spice
Made with: Ready-to-drink cold brew + pumpkin cream foam
Sugar: About 10.7 g total. Includes dairy and pumpkin sugars as well as the vanilla syrup. No extra base sweetener or topping is counted.
Preparation: About 5 minutes; coffee already brewed and chilled

Public ingredient labels and USDA references checked 26 September 2026. Home-serving estimates differ from café recipes and menu sizes. See the full calculation or label comparison.

Key Takeaways

1Use 200 ml ready-to-drink cold brew and 120 g ice; brewing and chilling the coffee happen before this five-minute recipe.
2The foam combines 30 g cream, 30 g milk, 15 g plain pumpkin, 10 ml vanilla syrup and 0.3 g spice. Froth only until pourable.
3The defined serving is about 170 kcal, 10.7 g total sugar and 70 mg caffeine using the named bottled coffee reference.

On This Page9 Sections

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Recipe

Makes one iced drink in about 5 minutes once the coffee is ready and cold. A 500 ml glass provides space for ice and foam; that capacity is not an exact finished drink volume.

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Ingredients

200 ml chilled ready-to-drink cold brew
120 g ice
30 g cold heavy whipping cream
30 g cold whole milk
15 g plain pumpkin puree
10 ml Monin US regular Vanilla Syrup
0.3 g pumpkin pie spice

The nutrition example uses Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin, whose ingredient is pumpkin. Choose plain purée rather than sweetened pie filling. Pumpkin pie spice is a separate ground-spice blend; it is not a replacement for purée. A scale reading 0.1 g makes the small spice portion reproducible.

Coffee and Equipment First

You need a marked ml measure, scale, small whisk, narrow frothing jug, handheld frother and glass. Keep the dairy cold. The jug should be narrow enough for the whisk head to reach this small foam portion.

Use ready-to-drink cold brew, not an undiluted concentrate. If the bottle requires dilution, make that dilution before measuring 200 ml. To prepare the coffee from grounds, follow the cold-brew brewing guide; its brewing, filtering and chilling time is additional to this recipe.

Method

Put 120 g ice in a 500 ml glass and add 200 ml chilled ready-to-drink cold brew.
In a narrow frothing jug, whisk 30 g cold whole milk, 15 g plain pumpkin puree, 10 ml vanilla syrup and 0.3 g pumpkin pie spice until evenly dispersed.
Add 30 g cold heavy cream. Froth briefly with a handheld frother until lightly aerated and still pourable, stopping before stiff peaks form.
Pour all the pumpkin cream foam over the iced coffee and serve promptly.

Breaking up the purée before aerating the cream helps distribute it without prolonged whipping. A few fine spice flecks are normal: ground spices disperse rather than fully dissolve. The topping should flow gently from the jug, not sit in a rigid mound.

Pumpkin cream cold brew recipe with 200 ml cold brew, 120 g ice and foam made from 30 g cream, 30 g milk, 15 g plain pumpkin puree, 10 ml vanilla syrup and 0.3 g spice — Generated guide to one home serving. Mix the purée and spice into the milk before adding cream and frothing. Photographic ingredient props are illustrative, not extra quantities.

Pumpkin, Spice and Syrup: Three Separate Adjustments

Purée adds body, spice adds aroma and syrup adds sweetness. Keeping those ingredients separate gives you more control than adding extra spoonfuls of a sweetened pumpkin sauce when only one part of the drink needs changing.

What each pumpkin foam ingredient changes

What each pumpkin foam ingredient changes
Ingredient	Its role here	Adjust when
15 g plain pumpkin purée	Pumpkin flavor, color and body	The topping is too thick or you want less pumpkin character
0.3 g pumpkin pie spice	Baking-spice aroma	The aroma is too strong or the drink tastes dusty
10 ml vanilla syrup	Sweetness and vanilla	The drink is too sweet; reducing purée alone has a much smaller sugar effect
30 g cream + 30 g milk	Richness and a pourable foam base	The topping becomes stiff or does not flow

From the named ingredient labels, 15 g purée contributes about 0.6 g sugar; 10 ml syrup contributes about 7.7 g. Halving the syrup removes roughly 3.8 g sugar, while halving the purée removes only about 0.3 g. This is a calculation, not a sensory test: it explains why syrup is the more direct sweetness adjustment in this recipe.

If the coffee underneath tastes too plain, you can put 5 ml of the same 10 ml syrup into the coffee and the remaining 5 ml into the foam. That redistributes the sweetness without increasing the total syrup. Adding an extra 5 ml instead would change the nutrition.

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew vs. Pumpkin Spice Latte

The coffee base and placement of the milk are the main differences. Cold brew is already brewed coffee served cold. A PSL uses espresso, with substantially more milk mixed through the drink. Either preparation can include pumpkin and spice; their names do not establish one shared recipe or caffeine level.

Pumpkin cold brew and pumpkin latte compared

Pumpkin cold brew and pumpkin latte compared
Drink	Coffee base	Where the dairy goes	Typical serving approach
This pumpkin cream cold brew	200 ml ready-to-drink cold brew	Cream-and-milk foam on top	Iced, with the coffee and foam initially distinct
Pumpkin spice latte	Espresso	Milk throughout, with optional topping depending on recipe	Hot or iced
Cold brew latte	Cold brew	Milk mixed into the coffee	Usually cold; pumpkin is not required

How This Home Recipe Differs from Starbucks

Starbucks' August 2026 US fall announcement describes its Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew with vanilla-sweetened cold brew and pumpkin cream cold foam. Our version puts the vanilla syrup in a plain-purée home foam unless you choose the split-syrup adjustment above. It is not the company's proprietary sauce or an exact copy of its menu drink.

The Starbucks at Home pumpkin whipped cream cold brew recipe is another distinct preparation, using a whipped topping and pumpkin spice syrup. A manufacturer home recipe and a café menu formula should not be treated as interchangeable. For an order from a café, check the current local size, ingredients and nutrition; seasonal listings do not guarantee availability everywhere.

Why Is My Pumpkin Cold Foam Gritty or Too Thick?

Pumpkin cream cold foam troubleshooting

Pumpkin cream cold foam troubleshooting
Problem	What to change
Visible lumps of purée	Whisk the purée into the milk and syrup until even before adding cream
Dusty or gritty mouthfeel	Return to the measured 0.3 g spice; some fine spice sediment is normal
Stiff, spoonable topping	Stop frothing sooner; gently loosen this batch with a little cold milk, counting the addition
Thin foam that disappears quickly	Use cold dairy and a jug the whisk can reach; introduce a little air without making coarse bubbles
Too sweet	Reduce the vanilla syrup to 5 ml; keep pumpkin and spice unchanged first
Weak coffee as the ice melts	Start with cold coffee and the stated ice; do not add hot coffee to compensate

More pumpkin does not necessarily make a better foam: it also thickens the mixture. Increase one ingredient at a time so you can identify the effect. A hand whisk can combine and lightly aerate the topping if it reaches the mixture well, but it may produce a less pronounced foam cap.

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Calories, Sugar and Caffeine

One defined home serving is about 170 kcal, 10.7 g total sugar and 70 mg caffeine with the named bottled coffee. The recipe contains milk. All the foam is included, with no separate drizzle or extra whipped topping.

Cold brew caffeine varies with the coffee and dilution. The reference here is 200 ml STōK UN-SWEET Black from its 48 oz bottle, not a universal value for 200 ml homemade cold brew. Pumpkin, spice and dairy do not cancel the coffee's caffeine, and an espresso-based PSL needs its own calculation.

Serving calculation and source assumptions

STōK supplies 15 kcal, 0 g sugar and approximately 125 mg caffeine per 360 ml: the 200 ml portion contributes 8.33 kcal and 69.44 mg caffeine. From USDA composition records, 30 g heavy whipping cream contributes 102 kcal and 0.876 g sugar, and 30 g whole milk contributes 18.3 kcal and 1.515 g sugar.

Libby’s plain purée label lists 45 kcal and 5 g sugar per 122 g, so 15 g adds 5.53 kcal and 0.615 g sugar. Monin US regular Vanilla Syrup lists 100 kcal and 23 g total and added sugar per 30 ml; 10 ml adds 33.33 kcal and 7.667 g sugar. The historical USDA pumpkin pie spice reference gives 342 kcal and 7.76 g sugar per 100 g; 0.3 g adds 1.026 kcal and 0.023 g sugar. The sum is 168.53 kcal and 10.696 g total sugar, rounded to about 170 kcal and 10.7 g. Ice adds neither.

With 5 ml syrup and everything else unchanged, the sum is about 150 kcal and 6.9 g total sugar. Actual cream, milk, spice blends and product formulations can differ; physical labels take precedence. These are ingredient calculations, not measurements of brewed coffee or a café serving.

Variations and Advance Preparation

Less sweet: use 5 ml vanilla syrup with the same purée and spice. The calculated lower-syrup serving is given above.
Dairy-free: choose a plant cream and plant drink suitable for cold frothing. Recalculate from those labels and expect a different texture; the dairy estimate no longer applies.
Decaf: replace the coffee with ready-to-drink decaf cold brew, using its own caffeine information. Decaf is not necessarily caffeine-free.
No cold brew available: use fully chilled brewed coffee as an alternative. This makes pumpkin cream iced coffee; the coffee's flavor and caffeine will differ.

Prepare and chill the coffee ahead, then froth the topping close to serving. Keep purée and dairy refrigerated at 4°C/40°F or below after opening as their labels direct. FDA guidance limits perishables at room temperature to two hours, or one hour above 32°C/90°F. A prepared foam's texture changes during storage; this guide does not establish a multi-day shelf life for it.

Common Questions

Does pumpkin cream cold brew contain real pumpkin?

This recipe does: it uses 15 g plain pumpkin puree. Other recipes may use a sauce or flavored syrup, so check their ingredients rather than relying on the name.

Is pumpkin cream cold brew dairy-free?

This version contains heavy cream and whole milk. Plant-based substitutions need separate ingredient, allergen and nutrition checks.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling?

Use plain puree for these quantities. Pie filling may already contain sweetener and spices, which changes both the balance and nutrition.

Can I make pumpkin cold foam without a frother?

Whisk in a narrow vessel with cold ingredients. First disperse the puree, milk, syrup and spice, then add cream and aerate lightly; the result may have less foam.

Can pumpkin cold foam go on hot coffee?

You can add it, but it will warm and mix in more quickly. This recipe is designed for a cold coffee base; use the pumpkin spice latte guide for a drink with hot milk throughout.

Editor's Take

Sources and Further Reading

9 references

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Serving estimates

Ingredient labels