Sycamore Pumpkin Latte Blonde

Review Date 10/26/2023 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Coffee Beer   Brewery: Sycamore   Country: USA   State: North Carolina   $ Per OZ: $.23 (B)   ABV: 5.8%

Sycamore Pumpkin Latte Blonde! Is it a pumpkin beer, or a coffee beer? You decide, because for my part, I’m sure I don’t know. I will, however, come to a conclusion by the end of this review, so stay tuned dear reader. All will be revealed in due time.

Of course, what better place to get a definitive answer to that question than the brewery website? So off I went there, then to the beers section, then to seasonal brews. I clicked on the link below the image and got….

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Not fair! So, I had to rely on what was on the can, instead. On the can, Sycamore describes their Pumpkin Latte Blonde as Blonde Ale with Coffee and Spices. No mention of pumpkin, though there are pumpkins on the label. More likely the beer is only brewed with pumpkin spice-just like your favorite pumpkin spice latte!

The can label does say:

Did you know if you say “Pumpkin Latte Blonde” 3X in a row, a girl in yoga pants will appear and tell you what she loves most about fall?

All well and good, but can she tell me whether there’s any pumpkin in that Pumpkin Latte Blonde?

My can also tells me that the beer has an alcohol content of 5.8% by volume, and on the bottom, that it was Canned 09/15/23. It also says GISH is their best album. GISH, of course, being the first album by Smashing Pumpkins. All well and good, but it doesn’t tell me if Sycamore smashed any pumpkins to go into this beer. I should tell you that I bought a single pint can of it at Total Wine and paid $4.99 for it. It was running $14.49 for a 4-pack at the time.

Sycamore Pumpkin Latte Blonde pours to a hazy yellow orange color with a moderate head of fluffy foam and a nose of burnt caramel and coffee grinds. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body and toasty with a hint of burnt caramel/brown sugar and roasty coffee grinds. Some gentle pumpkin spice pokes through, perhaps cinnamon and nutmeg, and while it is subtle it does dry the beer in the finish.
A tasty enough brew, and I do love the way that the coffee grinds are omnipresent and pop so well against the blonde ale base. The hint of pumpkin spice works well with that. Ultimately, I get no pumpkin, and so will call this a coffee beer rather than a pumpkin brew. Either way, I would certainly drink it again.