This has been a LONG week. I got a new dog who is super adorable, and he hurt his eye so we had to take him to the vet on Monday. Once there, we found out that he has EXTREME vet-anxiety and needs to be sedated for future visits. For the time being, he needs 4 eye drops daily and he has to wear a cone around his little head. (;_; Poor fluffy baby.)

That, on top of my college classes, exams, teaching, AND observing at another school for my NJ certification…I am dead. So, I decided to review this coffee energy drink today for a little pick me up.

I really like the design, it’s so interesting! The faux-texture gives off a wooden “tiki” feel and there are tribal-like carvings around the top. All the colors are earthy browns and golds which makes me think of surf shops. (I could definitely see this being sold there.)

When I popped the top everything seemed fine…and then the foam happened! It was everywhere! I didn’t shake it and the can had been sitting in the fridge this whole time. I have no idea why it shot out like it did. That sucked. Since it got everywhere I could smell it right away. It smells just like those tall Starbucks coffee cans. It has that creamy bottled latte smell I associate with prepackaged coffee drinks.

When I took a sip, I was surprised by how creamy and smooth the drink was. At first it tastes like any other bottled/canned coffee but the after taste is like whipped cream. It’s kind of hard to describe, but after you swallow your first sip you are left with a really creamy, airy, flavor in your mouth that is really refreshing for the palette. It makes the overall flavor more like a coffee mousse, or creamy dessert topping. It was really interesting. After a few minutes you get the energy-drink after taste that I hate, but the coffee flavor makes it a bit more tolerable.

Overall I was really impressed with this drink, I felt a little perked up and it actually tasted good. If you need a REAL boost of energy, look elsewhere. Normally energy drinks are REALLY effective on me (I become hyper and obnoxious) but this just gave me the little boost I needed to make it through the day. However, if you just like coffee drinks, this is worth a try.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Pumpkin Spice Syrup - Pinterest Recipe

Time for another pinterest recipe! Recipes for your own pumpkin spice latte syrup have been all OVER lately. As I have said before, the only pumpkin-coffee beverage I really enjoy is Panera Bread’s Pumpkin Spice Latte. (Because I worked there and drank it religiously every fall.) I wanted to try this recipe out to see if it was Panera-worthy.

This recipe is very simple and used very little ingredients: Sugar, water, pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spices. Almost everyone should have these ingredients in their cabinets already, so I like that it is very accessible. I don’t have to run out to the store to buy anything crazy that I will never cook with again.

I followed the recipe to the letter, and made some very delicious ‘syrup.’ Why is it in quotes? Well it is VERY thin and watery, which is what the recipe is meant to make. I understand that a simple syrup is usually 1-to-1 ratio (meaning even amounts water and sugar) but I like a bit more substance to my syrups.

What does the completed syrup taste like? It tastes a lot like the filling of a pumpkin pie, only MUCH sweeter. The recipe includes pumpkin puree, so you can definitely taste the pumpkin, and it includes a nice balance of the pumpkin pie spices, I don’t find that one really overpowers another. Instead, all the flavors blend together and create a genuine pumpkin pie taste.

This syrup tastes VERY sweet, so if you plan on using it, don’t use any other sweeteners or sweetened creamer. (Unless you want to go into a sugar-coma!)

As for storage, I used iced coffee bottles that I washed out and removed the labels from. I think they look pretty cute!

On a pumpkin-y scale of 1-5 (5 being extremely pumpkin-y) I would rate this a 5! 

I think this recipe is delicious, easy, and can help you pumpkin coffee and latte addicts save a few bucks! If you want it thicker, just half the amount of sugar used in the recipe and use less of i in your drink.

(I plan on making a thicker batch to use for pancake syrup!)

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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