Table of Contents
Introduction
If you want to start your day with a delightful cup of coffee with some extra flavor or love to spend time with friends or family gathering by enjoying a delicious cup of flavored coffee, then choosing vanilla syrup as a flavor is the most common and satisfying decision that coffee lovers usually make. Adding vanilla syrup to your coffee provides you with a smooth, aromatic feeling with a balanced taste of sweetness. And the best part of vanilla syrup is that you can make it at home.
In this article, we are going to find out the steps of how to make vanilla syrup for coffee, also exploring some other important topics that are necessary to know for a coffee lover and related to our query, how to make vanilla syrup for coffee.
What is vanilla syrup
In order to understand how to make vanilla syrup for coffee, let’s explore what vanilla syrup actually is. It is defined as a liquid flavor that is made up of water, sugar and vanilla, used as a catalyst to enhance flavor. When we talk about adding vanilla syrup in coffee, it creates magic. It perfectly dissolves and enhances the taste of coffee. Whether it is a hot or cold beverage, it provides a perfectly smooth aromatic flavor.
Homemade vs store bought, which one is better
Before going towards how to make vanilla syrup for coffee, it is necessary to understand the difference between the store bought syrup and the syrup that is made at home. So, here we mentioned some parameters through which you can understand that query.
Freshness with no artificial additives
When you make vanilla syrup on your own, you will use vanilla beans for extraction, it will be fresh and you don’t need to add any preservatives or artificial coloring to extend its shelf life. Commercial syrups have both issues, usually they are not fresh and some are made up of synthetic flavors and contain artificial stabilizers to maintain their aroma and freshness.
Taste customization
Store bought vanilla syrup has a fixed taste and doesn’t allow the user to customize its taste, so if any person wants some lighter or some bold taste, they will add a little or some extra amount of syrup. But as compared to homemade syrup, it will allow you to customize its taste. If you want a bold flavor, then add an extra amount of vanilla extract in it or if you want a light taste, then reduce the level of sugar in it.
Cost
One of the most important factors between manmade vanilla syrup and store bought vanilla syrup is cost effectiveness. When you are going to purchase a single bottle of vanilla syrup, it costs around several dollars, but when you decide to make it at home, no large amount of money is required. All you need are some home ingredients to make this delicious syrup.
How to make vanilla syrup for coffee
Now, after finding the basics, let’s explore how to make vanilla syrup for coffee.
Required ingredients
For making vanilla syrup, first you have to collect the following ingredients.
- 1 cup granulated sugar (You can select white sugar for classic syrup or brown sugar for a caramel like flavor).
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (for quick and bold flavor) OR 1 vanilla bean (for luxurious and aromatic flavor)
Steps guide of how to make vanilla syrup for coffee
Now, the steps of making vanilla syrup are as follows
- Add 1 cup of granulated sugar in 1 cup of water. Remember, the ratio should be 1:1 for perfect balance. Put that solution in a saucepan and provide medium heat until the sugar becomes completely dissolved in it. Don’t try to provide too much heat because excessive heat can burn sugar.
- Once you find out that the sugar is completely dissolved, then remove the pan from heat.
- After that, add vanilla to that solution. If you have 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, then pour it directly into the solution and stir until it is perfectly dissolved in it.
- If you are having 1 vanilla bean, then simmer it gently in the water sugar solution for 5 to 10 minutes to fully infuse its flavor. Remember, don’t put in that vanilla extract while boiling because it can burn the flavor and dull the aroma.
- After simmering the vanilla syrup for 2 to 3 minutes, let it cool at room temperature. This will allow syrup to thicken slightly and develop a warm, rich aroma in it. If you used a vanilla bean, then remove it.
- Pour that cooled vanilla syrup into a bottle or airtight jar, you can store it in a refrigerator to maintain its freshness. It will last from 2 weeks to almost 1 month.
Variations and flavor twists in vanilla syrup
After finding the steps guide on how to make vanilla syrup for coffee in this last section of our article, let’s explore how we can create variation and flavor twists in our homemade vanilla syrup.
Vanilla honey syrup
The procedure is the same as above, but here you have to just replace sugar with honey, add 3 out of 4 cups of honey in water and simmer it. Once it is completely blended, remove it from heat and then add 1 tablespoon of vanilla in it. Now, your vanilla honey syrup is extracted.
Vanilla cinnamon syrup
For making vanilla cinnamon syrup, you have to add 1 out of 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon or add 1 cinnamon stick in the syrup while simmering. Once it simmers perfectly then remove that cinnamon stick and let it be cool and store it as mentioned above.
Sugar free vanilla syrup
For those who have some health issues and are looking for how to make vanilla syrup for coffee with some sugar free options or some keto friendly options, replace sugar with some monk fruit sweetener, erythritol or stevia blend. These ingredients have zero sugar and zero calories and help the body to tolerate glucose.
All you have to do is to add those mentioned alternatives into water with that 1:1 ratio instead of adding sugar and follow the same further boiling, cooling and storing procedure.