After last week’s pumpkin spice latte experience at Starbucks, I was feeling a little deflated. I was wondering if, maybe, the point of the pumpkin spice latte was to be one of those coffee drinks that didn’t taste like coffee— but I was happy to be proven wrong.
I grabbed this week’s PSL from Temperance House, a Demorest-based weekday coffee shop and weekend pub. While the blue Solo cup my coffee came in was off-putting at first (I thought I’d escaped college parties once and for all), my iced Temperance House PSL pleasantly surprised me.
There’s a certain amount of care when it comes to crafting a drink in a local coffee house, and the barista that made my coffee was sweeter than pumpkin pie. The coffee was strong and smooth, with a hint of pumpkin and a lingering aftertaste of spices. And even with the drink being iced, it didn’t taste watered down or lacking in flavor.
The downside of the Temperance PSL? That spice aftertaste started to dull after a few moments, leaving a strange, bitter taste in my mouth. It wasn’t something I noticed at first, it was something that started to hit me the longer I sipped on it. But all was forgiven each time I took another sip.
Overall, I’d give the Temperance House PSL a 4/5. It was a welcome change from the Starbucks latte that tasted like creamer with coffee undertones, and I’ll definitely be back for another.
Onto the next coffee shop!
