Harvest Spice Coffee Recipe

It’s autumn. You can tell it’s autumn because the trees are a blaze of color, the air is crisp with the promise of frost and your favorite coffee shop has broken out the pumpkin spice coffee. It’s a rite of autumn for those who enjoy flavored coffees. Many wait all year for the autumn spice coffees to return to the menu. If you love pumpkin spice coffee at your favorite café, you’ll love this version that you can make at home – and if you’re not a big fan of flavored coffees, this homemade version just might change your mind.

Topped with a dollop of perfectly frothed cream, this harvest spice coffee is the ideal accompaniment to a slice of pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner. Serve it in an unexpected glass to make the occasion even more festive.

Note: The directions are for pourover coffee, but you can, of course, use the same proportions for the brewing method of your choice. Just be aware that the volatile oils from the spices can be notoriously hard to rinse off plastic and cloth filters and cones. If you’re going to use your automatic drip coffee maker to make spiced coffee, remove the filter immediately after brewing and rinse the filter basket and shower head well to avoid flavoring your next few pots of coffee as well.

Ingredients:

For each 5 oz cup of coffee:

• 1 to 1 ½ tbsp. (8-12g) coffee, ground for drip
• 5 oz. (150ml) water, just off boil
• ¼ tsp. (.650g)  ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. (.450g) ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. (.475g) ground allspice
• ¼ tsp. (.550g) ground nutmeg

For a pot of coffee (8 cups/40 oz)

• 6 tbsp. (65g) coffee, ground for drip
• 40 oz. (1.18ml) water, just off boil
• 2 tsp. (5.2g) ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp.  (3.6g) ground ginger
• 2 tsp. (2.38g) ground allspice
• 2 tsp. (2.75g) ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Place a paper filter in the filter cone and rinse it well with hot water.
2. Measure the ground spices into the bottom of the filter cone.
3. Add freshly ground coffee on top of the spices.
4. Wet the coffee grounds thoroughly and allow the coffee to bloom for about 30 seconds.
5. Pour the remaining water over the coffee slowly, using a circular motion. It should take you between 2 and 3 minutes to finish your pour.
6. Decant into individual cups and top with whipped cream or frothed milk.

You can get a closer look at brewing pourover coffee in our Pourover Brewing Guide.

We’re curious. Do you drink flavored coffees at all? Do you flavor your coffee with syrup? Or are you strictly a purist, just the coffee, ma’am, type of coffee drinker?