This Is What Happens When You Try To Make A Pumpkin Spice Latte
BuzzFeed - Latest 2014-09-22
Summary:
Spoiler alert: It gets VERY messy.
In the spirit of fall, pumpkins, and the sacred elixir of basic white girls everywhere, BuzzFeed decided to challenge some of its writers to the first-ever Pumpkin Spice Latte Challenge. Because everyone knows nothing says "fall" quite like a sugary-sweet, diabetes-inducing limited-edition beverage that masquerades as "coffee."
After all, regardless of whether or not you actually like PSLs, does anyone really know WHAT the hell is even in one of those things? Well, we were about to find out. Here is what happened...
Justin Abarca for BuzzFeed
THE RULES:
Our six contestants were given 15 minutes to concoct their own interpretation of the Pumpkin Spice Latte with a designated set of ingredients (originally 12, but they whined/complained enough that we decided to give them the extra three). They were allowed to venture to our office kitchen to brew coffee and get hot water, but were not allowed to bring in outside ingredients. Their PSLs could be made either hot or iced and were judged on four factors: drinkability, appearance, creativity, and basicness. Some of the ingredients were "decoys" meant to trick the contestants. The ingredients were as follows:
Whipped cream, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, maple agave syrup, ground pumpkin coffee, espresso powder, skim milk, caramel sauce, heavy cream, almond milk, graham crackers, nutmeg, cinnamon, ice, canned pumpkin, marshmallows.
Justin Abarca for BuzzFeed
Fifteen minutes on the clock... AND AWAY WE GO!!!
Sadly, it all went downhill VERY fast from here.
Justin Abarca for BuzzFeed
Some contestants emphasized the importance of the "P" in PSL and went right for the canned pumpkin.
Justin Abarca for BuzzFeed