Just Like Starbucks? Caramel Apple Spice Love

This time of year is a Starbuck lover's dream.  The big mama coffee house brings back it's pumpkin spice, and coffee drinkers everywhere go crazy.  Hot, cold, iced, whipped, frappe'ed -- you name it, they put that pumpkin in it.

Not me.

I love Starbuck's right now because they bring back their Caramel Apple Spice drink.  Truth me told, they never take it away.  They simply do not advertise it, because not many people wants to be reminded of fall in July.

I LOOOOVE this drink.  If it's made correctly (sorry Barista's...sometimes you guys miss the mark), it's like drinking a caramel apple.  Delish.  But it's a bit expensive.  It seems crazy to pay $3.50 for a warm cup of juice, especially when you can buy a bottle of juice for less than $2 at your grocery store.  Just pour it in a mug, add some mulling spices, and microwave for 45 seconds, right?  Well, you can do that, but it's just not the same.  I took my search to Pinterest (HELLO!!! I obsessed with it right now) to find the Starbucks knock-off, and my search took me to this recipe from Crockpot 365. 

We gathered the ingredients, and took this pretty picture (please ignore the empty iced tea gallon and gourds in the background.  Her recipe called for caramel syrup, but didn't specify which specific brand.  Even though her picture shows Smucker's, we used Hershey's (it was on sale).

Following the directions, we put everything in our handy dandy crock pot (another obsession), and we got this mess.  I do believe that food doesn't have to look good -- it just has to taste good.

The waiting was torture, as the house smelled like fall.  It was finally time, and we took the taste test, and......it was good, but not exactly like Starbucks.  My husband thinks it might have something do with with the syrup we used, as he thought it might too thin.  I was sort of turned off by the little chunks of spices that didn't dissolve.  The next time I make this, I think I will put the spices in cheesecloth or a tea strainer.

So, Starbucks, thanks for the idea to search for a knock off.  I'm sure I'll be in your stores soon to give you some of my money, but for the most part, I will stick with this!