Welcome to day 3 of Tag Sale Tastes’ Pumpkinpalooza 2020!

Today we’re going to curl up with a cup of Nespresso Pumpkin Spice Cake:

This blend is described as having a “wide range of spice notes, mainly defined by cloves, cinnamon and cardamom” with “sweet pumpkin flavor.”  Cardamom isn’t generally considered one of the pumpkin spices (which are a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and sometimes allspice), but I’m game. The capsule is orange and shiny, like a magical pumpkin spice talisman:   

I was looking forward to my Pumpkin Spice Cake coffee.  After all, I like Nespresso’s other “baked goods” coffees — hazeltino muffin, caramel cookie, and vanilla custard pie — and I had great hopes for this one.  But pay attention to the “insider tip” — “With milk, the spice notes are softened for a sweeter and smoother coffee.”  What they really mean is that without milk, it is a nasty, in-your-face-brew. Maybe they should have left out the cardamom:But a generous splash of half and half, and for me a little sweetener, transformed it into a pleasant enough autumnal cup of Joe (although it ain’t no hazeltino muffin):Although Nespresso Pumpkin Spice Cake was interesting to try, and not half bad, I wouldn’t buy it again — not when I could have a cup of Caramel Cookie instead.

Rating:  3 pumpkins (out of 5)