Coffee Syrup

Our easy homemade coffee syrup recipe uses ingredients as simple as freshly brewed coffee and sugar to create a delicious, wonderfully versatile syrup. Its balanced sweetness and rich flavor are as bold as your morning cup of joe.

Stirring coffee syrup into milk à la chocolate milk gives you coffee milk, Rhode Island’s official (and absurdly moreish) state drink. When it’s time to grab the cocktail shaker, this syrup is also brilliant in plenty of easy mixed drinks recipes like white Russians or espresso martinis. But coffee syrup isn’t just for drinking. We highly recommend it as a drizzle over ice cream or as a finishing touch on pumpkin spice cake.

Ingredients for Coffee Syrup

• Coffee: Strong-brewed coffee is the key to a rich coffee-flavored syrup recipe. Use one of the best coffee brands for a high-quality syrup.
• Water: I like cold, filtered water for making espresso and coffee. Filtering isn’t essential, but it removes impurities that can affect the brew’s taste and aroma.
• Sugar: Use white or brown sugar for simple coffee syrup recipes. I’m a fan of brown sugar’s deep toffee caramel notes, especially with the warm, earthy flavors found in coffee.

Directions

Step 1: Brew the coffee

Place the ground coffee in a filter basket of a drip coffeemaker. Pour 2 cups cold water into the reservoir and brew the coffee according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Step 2: Make the syrup

In a small saucepan, combine the prepared coffee and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the syrup into a small bowl or container. Cover, then refrigerate until cold.

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How to Use Coffee Syrup

• Make coffee milk: To make coffee milk, mix 1 cup cold milk and 2 to 4 tablespoons coffee syrup in a tall glass. You can also stir coffee syrup recipes into hot beverages like hot cocoa.
• Serve it with desserts: Pour it over a scoop of a homemade ice cream recipe and taste how coffee’s earthy, bittersweet flavor plays well with vanilla’s floral sweetness. The coffee-flavored syrup recipe also pairs well with ginger, cinnamon, nuts, coconut, maple and the much-beloved chocolate, so try drizzling it over possum pie, pumpkin bars, or chocolate and coconut cream torte.
• Add it to cocktails: Coffee syrup recipes seriously impress in cocktails, bringing layers of complexity and rich flavor. Tipples based on rum, bourbon and whisky are always safe bets for coffee, but coffee syrup’s versatility means there are no hard and fast rules. A classic espresso martini or white Russian would be our first port of call, but coffee syrup is also brilliant in a Negroni or old-fashioned.

How to Store Coffee Syrup

Let the syrup cool completely, then store it in the refrigerator in a covered container. I like using repurposed glass bottles (thoroughly cleaned, of course) for my homemade coffee syrup. They’re airtight and incredibly convenient. Jars are great, too, for the same reason, and glass is definitely the superior choice.

How long does coffee syrup last?

When refrigerated in an airtight container, coffee syrup will last up to two weeks.

Coffee Syrup Tips

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How can you make coffee syrup thicker?

If you’re struggling with runny syrup, adding more sugar will thicken the syrup. Most simple syrup uses a ratio of 1:1 sugar to water. For rich simple syrup, which has a thicker texture, you’d bump it up to a ratio of 2:1 sugar to water. The same concept applies here. The more sugar it contains, the more unctuous the syrup will be. Remember to stir continuously as you add the sugar to help it dissolve.

Can you make coffee syrup with flavored coffee?

Using flavored coffee is a no-brainer variation for a coffee-flavored syrup recipe. Top picks? Caramel, hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate-flavored coffees make for marvelous syrups. Experiment with different types of coffee and choose your favorite.