By the Yerba Buena Tea Co. team. August 2026.
The quick version: simmer 2 tsp Chai and 2 tsp Pumpkin Spice in 10 oz of water for 4 minutes. Whisk 2 tbsp pumpkin purée into 10 oz of cold milk, add it to the pot, and hold it at a bare simmer 4 minutes more. Strain, sweeten with a spoonful of maple, and add a pinch of salt. Makes two mugs. The full recipe card is just below.
The one worth a saucepan
Our pumpkin spice tea latte takes five minutes and one tin, and it's the one you'll reach for on a Tuesday. This one takes thirteen minutes, two tins, and a saucepan.
Make it on a Sunday, when you have time to stand at the stove. It rewards the extra eight minutes.
Two teas, in equal parts
Pumpkin Spice and Chai overlap. Both are organic black teas, both carry cinnamon and cardamom and ginger. So we started where you'd expect: heavy on the pumpkin, chai playing backup.
Even parts turned out to be the answer. Push the ratio past one to one and the Chai slips quietly beneath the pumpkin, and what you get is a richer version of the five-minute latte.
At one to one, you hear both. Pumpkin Spice sits on top with cinnamon bark and the candied heat of crystallized ginger. Chai sits underneath with its Assam base and a low clove-and-pepper depth all its own. That second tin earns its place in the pot.
The purée goes in the milk. This is the whole recipe.
The texture of this drink comes down to one step, and it happens before anything gets hot.
Pumpkin purée is fibrous, and its starch needs heat to hydrate. So whisk the purée into the cold milk first. Cold milk and a whisk break it up completely, and it stays smooth from there.
Then let that pumpkin milk simmer in the pot for four full minutes. The heat hydrates the starch, and the milk's proteins and fat hold the fiber in suspension. That's what makes it velvety, and it's the reason this drink earns a stovetop instead of a kettle.
Keep it at a gentle simmer
Once the milk is in, hold the pot where the surface is barely trembling. A gentle simmer keeps the milk tasting clean and sweet, and it lets the spice come forward. Stay close by, because milk climbs the side of a pan quickly once it decides to go.
This is the same decoction method behind authentic masala chai. Simmering the leaf and spice together with the milk pulls out compounds that hot water alone leaves behind, which is why a stovetop chai tastes rounder than a steeped one.
One tablespoon of maple, and a quarter teaspoon of salt
Across two full mugs. That's roughly a fifth of what a coffee shop pours into a single cup, and the drink still tastes full, because the salt is doing real work. Salt softens your perception of bitterness and lifts your perception of sweetness. Add it, and one spoonful of maple will taste like plenty.
The crystallized ginger in Pumpkin Spice brings a little sweetness of its own, too. The tea is helping you.
The iced version
Late August in Oregon stays warm well past the start of pumpkin season, and this is genuinely excellent cold.
Make the recipe exactly as written, then chill it completely, at least two hours in the refrigerator. Pour it over a full glass of ice.
The chill is what protects the texture. Cold liquid meets cold ice, the purée stays suspended, and the drink pours silky right to the bottom of the glass. It keeps two days covered, and it thickens slightly overnight in a way we like.
Without the caffeine
Swap the Chai for South African Chai, one for one. It's a red rooibos built with the same ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and clove, and it simmers with milk just as happily with no caffeine at all. Pumpkin Spice is a high-caffeine black tea, so for a fully caffeine-free pot, use South African Chai for both measures and lean on a pinch of extra cinnamon.
Both live together in the Chai Box, along with a third spiced blend, if you'd rather buy the set than the tins.
The full recipe, with the iced timing in the notes, is in the card below.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from a pumpkin spice latte?
Three things: a second tea, real pumpkin purée, and a stovetop instead of a kettle. The five-minute version is spiced and bright. This one runs deeper and rounder, with real body from the squash. Both are good. One of them is a weeknight drink, and one of them is a Sunday.
Can I use canned pumpkin pie filling instead of purée?
Reach for plain pumpkin purée, the kind with a single ingredient on the label. Pie filling arrives pre-sweetened and pre-spiced, and sweetness and spice are the two things you most want to set yourself here.
Why does my chai latte taste bitter?
Two easy fixes. Keep the water simmer to 4 minutes, and hold the milk at a gentle simmer once it goes in. If it still reads sharp, add the salt before you add more sweetener, and it will round out.
Do I really need both teas?
For this recipe, yes, and that's the whole idea of it. With a single tin on hand, the pumpkin spice tea latte and the simple chai latte are each built for one blend.
Can I make a bigger batch?
It doubles cleanly. Hold the ratios, add a minute to each simmer for the larger volume, and use a wider pan so the milk has room. Strain into a jug and refrigerate up to two days, then reheat gently or pour over ice.
Blended in our Salem, Oregon kitchen.
