Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

I saw this recipe yesterday on the Solution FM website. I thought I would try it because I happened to have some left-over pumpkin puree from another recipe, so I had all the ingredients on hand. I thought if it turned out yummy, I could bring it to home fellowship tonight. It has how to make it sugar-free, which obviously I'm not down with. Ha ha. But here is their recipe, and then I'll tell you my substitutions.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
3/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1 cup milk
3 tbsp sugar free pumpkin spice syrup (store bought or recipe below)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients. Makes 2.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup
1 can pumpkin puree (I happen to know this is about 2 cups)
2 cups Splenda (I used plain old good old granulated sugar)
2 cups water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have that, you can google it and get a good way to make it, out of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, etc)

Bring water to a boil on stove in medium saucepan. Turn down to medium and add Splenda or sugar until dissolved. Add pumpkin and simmer 5 minutes. Add pie spice and simmer 5 more minutes. Stir out all the lumps (I used a whisk). Remove from heat and cool. Makes 3.5 cups.

Nope. Not good. My syrup didn't really get syrup-y, it was pretty thick. When I added it to the coffee and milk, it all settled to the bottom. I stirred it, and tasted it, but I could feel the grit, so to speak. Maybe I did it wrong. You can still try it if you want. It did smell good, anyway.