Tips for Bringing Your Favorite Seasonal Flavors Home

Tips for Bringing Your Favorite Seasonal Flavors Home

Every season has its flavors. From the classic fall flavor of pumpkin spice to the holidays and peppermint, there are classic drinks that are part of every month of the year. Specialty drink retailers know that people love these flavors and charge accordingly, depending on their seasonal availability to bring customers to their door. However, there’s no need for you to pay retail prices for that next peppermint mocha or pumpkin cheesecake ice cream treat.

If you love the seasonal flavors, it’s easy to make them at home so you can enjoy them all year. When you look to recreate them, you can go one of two routes. For a quick fix, you can get concentrated syrups from manufacturers like Monin that will help duplicate many of the flavors you love. You can also use fruits, vegetables or plants to create these flavors, although that route is a little more time-consuming.

For example, if you want to make a pumpkin spice base at home to make that quintessential fall latte, there are two ways you can do it. The first way uses 2 tablespoons of canned (or fresh!) pumpkin with 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract and sugar with black pepper and pumpkin pie spice cooked for two minutes over low heat. The second method is to use 4 teaspoons of syrup with a dash of pumpkin pie spice. As you can see, using syrups is a quick method that is suited for your busy mornings when you’re headed out the door.

Another fall flavor that’s easy to make at home is salted caramel. You can make your own caramel sauce by slowly cooking sugar over low heat. If you aren’t so inclined, you can also take a quick shortcut by using a premade jarred caramel sauce. You can find any number of them in the ice cream topping section of your favorite grocery store.  This is also a great place to find indulgent bases for other favorite flavors.

It’s not just lattes and coffee that are suited for spicing up with your favorite seasonal flavor. Other hot drinks can be improved as well. Imagine how a hint of pumpkin would enhance your cup of chai tea, or a shot of peppermint would liven up your ice water. There are all sorts of ways you can incorporate your favorite flavor into your food and drink. And when you know how to make them at home, you aren’t limited to having them during a specific season. Red Velvet ice cream in the spring, gingerbread lattes in summer, mint watermelon mojitos in the dead of winter; the possibilities are endless.

Don’t forget that if you’re of age to partake in adult beverages, your favorite cocktails can be livened up with different seasonal flavors. Caramel Appletinis, blueberry lemonade spritzers, or a tropical mai tai are all flavorful twists on classic cocktails. And whether you use syrups to capture the essence of a season or take advantage of seasonal produce, you’re sure to not only save money but also make your taste buds dance.