Make your own coffee syrup

Coffee shop syrups are sugar, water and flavour, and you can make the same thing at home in about ten minutes. It costs very little, it keeps for a couple of weeks, and you get to decide what goes in. It’s the easiest way to make an ordinary morning coffee feel like a fall one.

What you need beyond the list

• A small saucepan.
• A wooden spoon or a spatula.
• A fine sieve, if you’re using ground spice or want a very clear syrup.
• A clean jar or bottle with a lid. Wash it in hot soapy water and let it dry first. A clean container is what makes the syrup last.

The basic recipe

1. Put one cup of sugar and one cup of water in the saucepan.
2. Add your flavour (see below).
3. Heat gently, stirring now and then, until the sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Let it simmer on low for about ten minutes. The syrup will thicken a little, but it will still be quite runny. It thickens more as it cools.
5. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
6. Remove any whole spices, strain if you need to, and pour it into your jar.

You don’t need to boil it hard. A gentle simmer is enough, and a fast boil will start to turn the sugar into caramel.

Three fall flavours

Cinnamon. Add two or three cinnamon sticks to the pan from the start, and leave them in while it cools. For a stronger flavour, leave the sticks in the jar for a day in the fridge, then take them out.

Vanilla. Take the pan off the heat and stir in a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract once it has cooled a little. Or split a vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and add both to the pan. Vanilla beans cost more, so extract is fine.

Pumpkin spice. Use a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, or a ready-made pumpkin spice blend. Stir in half a teaspoon or so, then taste. Ground spice leaves bits in the syrup, so strain it through a fine sieve or a coffee filter. You can also add a spoonful of canned pumpkin puree for a thicker, more pumpkin-like syrup, but it won’t keep as long, so use it within a few days.

Try brown sugar

Swap the white sugar for brown for a deeper flavour, closer to caramel. It’s good with cinnamon, and good with a pinch of salt. The syrup will be darker and a little richer, so use a bit less in your cup.

How to use it

• In hot coffee. Start with a tablespoon, stir, taste and add more.
• In iced coffee or cold brew. Syrup mixes into cold drinks much more easily than sugar does, which is its main advantage.
• In a latte. Put the syrup in the mug first, add the coffee, then add warm milk.
• In tea, hot chocolate or sparkling water. Cinnamon syrup is good in all of them.
• On pancakes, waffles or porridge. It works like maple syrup, only thinner.

If something goes wrong

• It’s grainy. The sugar didn’t dissolve completely, or you boiled it too hard. Warm it gently with a spoonful of water and stir.
• It’s too thin. It will thicken in the fridge. If it’s still thin, simmer it a few minutes longer next time.
• It’s too thick or hard. You’ve cooked it too long. Warm it with a splash of water.
• It tastes burnt. The heat was too high. Start again on a lower heat.
• The flavour is weak. Use more spice, or leave the spices in the jar for longer.

Storing it

Pour the syrup into a clean jar or bottle, let it cool to room temperature, put the lid on and keep it in the fridge. It will stay good for about two weeks. If it’s made with pumpkin puree or other fresh ingredients, use it sooner. Before you use it, check it: if it looks cloudy, smells sour or has anything growing on top, throw it away.

Label the jar with the date so you don’t have to guess. A small bottle makes a nice gift for a friend who drinks a lot of coffee.

Make it a fall evening

Make a batch on a Sunday evening so you have it for the week. Try a pumpkin latte at home with your own pumpkin spice syrup, or pour it over a warm stack of pancakes the next morning. The first cold morning is a good time to start.