Holiday Grind

with espresso and steamed milk, and voila! The first flavored caffe latte was born! By the 1990s, adding syrups to espressos, lattes, and cappuccinos was an idea that had spread across the United States.

These days, there are a dizzying array of syrup flavors to choose from—not just vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and hazelnut, but also butter rum, carrot cake, chocolate chip, maple spice, eggnog, English toffee, pistachio, piña co lada, roasted chestnut, tiramisu, toasted marshmallow, and many, many more! The possibilities for flavor combinations alone can make your head spin—and your mouth water.

As far as what brand of syrup to buy, coffeehouse pros will usually advise you to look for quality syrups that use pure cane sugar as the sweetening agent. Here are three great brand names to get you started. Go to their Web sites to learn more about the flavors they offer and where to purchase them. These sites are great. They even offer recipes! (Note: If any company does not sell its syrups directly to you from its Web site, just look for the link on the site where it suggests online retailers that do sell to the public.)

Torani—This is the oldest American brand of gourmet syrup, started in 1925 by Italian immigrants in San Francisco. www.torani.com

Monin—Monin was founded in France in 1912. Enjoyed for nearly a century by Europeans, it came to the American market in the early 1990s. www.monin.com

DaVinci Gourmet—This respected brand was launched in Seattle in 1989. www.davincigourmet.com

Tips for Using Gourmet Coffee Syrups

No need to add sugar—I love this. When you add a syrup to a drink (whether it’s a latte, a steamer, or a cold sparkling water), you’re automatically sweetening it, so there’s no need to add more sugar. One tablespoon of syrup equals about 1½ teaspoons of sugar and it brings plenty of flavor to the party, too, not just sweetness. (Sugar-free syrups are also available.)

Italian sodas—Just as the Europeans do, you can mix syrup flavors with sparkling water to create your own Italian sodas at home.

Cremosa—A cremosa is an Italian soda with a little cream, milk, or half-and-half added.

Steamer—A steamer is a latte without the espresso, and it’s great for kids or for someone who likes the idea of a delicious, warm latte but doesn’t want any caffeine. Simply warm some milk in a saucepan and add the syrup as a jazzy alternative to hot cocoa. A gingerbread-caramel steamer, chocolate-chestnut steamer, or eggnog-butter rum steamer, for example, would be delicious to serve around the holidays. Just look for those syrup flavors among the brands on the market.

Desserts and baking—You can drizzle gourmet coffee syrup over ice cream or fruit (poached pears, caramelized bananas, glazed peaches, fresh strawberries). You can even add them to a favorite recipe for a slightly different flavor profile. For instance, you might add 1 tablespoon of hazelnut syrup to your chocolate chip cookie recipe; 2 tablespoons of rum syrup to a yellow cake mix; or 1-2 tablespoons English toffee syrup to your favorite brownie recipe.

Syrups with “spirit”—Gourmet syrups are nonalcoholic, even the rum and crème de menthe flavors are alcohol free! But if you’d like to be your own bartender and make your own version of a liqueur, just combine any flavored coffee syrup with vodka in a 1:1 ratio. One ounce of cherry syrup and 1 ounce of vodka, for example, will give you 2 ounces of cherry liqueur. You can serve these in a decorative shot glass with after- dinner coffee, or add espresso and steamed milk for a “spirited” caffe latte.

Using a Syrup Pump—A syrup bar can be a lot of fun, especially for parties where guests can experiment with mixing flavors. If you like the idea of setting up your own coffeehouse-style syrup bar—for coffee drinks, cold drinks, or Italian ices—then consider purchasing pumps to dispense the syrup. These plastic pumps are inexpensive and reusable. (Just remember that every syrup company offers its own pump to fit its own bottles—some Web sites sell them with the syrups and some under the heading Accessories.) As far as measure, a syrup pump will give you ¼ ounce per pump (¼ ounce = ½ tablespoon or 1½ teaspoons). Coffeehouse baristas use pumps regularly, which is why they memorize drink recipes by number of “pumps” per cup. Tastes vary and some syrups carry much stronger flavor profiles than others, but a good rule of thumb is to use about 1 pump of syrup for every 4 ounces of other liquid (coffee, carbonated water, milk, etc). So for an 8 ounce drink, you’d add 2 pumps of syrup (1 tablespoon). For a 12 ounce drink, you’d add 3 pumps of syrup (1½ tablespoons); and so on.

Caffe Latte Recipes

Basic Caffe Latte

Step 1—For one serving, start with 2/3 cup of cold, fresh milk, right from the fridge. Heat the milk using an espresso machine steam wand or my rustic stovetop method for creating cappuccino and latte froth (page 300).

Step 2—Into an 8-ounce mug, pour 1-2 shots of hot espresso, depending on how strong a coffee flavor you’d like in your latte. Remember that 1 shot = 2 tablespoons.

Step 3—Stir in your favorite flavored syrup—1-2 tablespoons (or 2-4 pumps from a syrup bottle), adding more or less, depending on the strength of the particular syrup and your own taste. Stirring the syrup into the hot espresso helps infuse it into the drink. Or skip the syrup if you want a plain traditional latte.

Step 4—Carefully tilting your milk pitcher or bowl, pour the steamed milk into your 8- ounce mug, filling it nearly to the top. (Use a spoon to prevent any foamed milk from pouring out, too.) Stir the mug again to distribute the flavor.

Step 5—Spoon the remaining foamed milk onto your drink. Serve plain or, depending on the syrup flavors you may have added, garnish with any number of finishers: whipped cream, a dusting of sweetened cocoa powder, a sprinkling of ground cinnamon or nutmeg, white or dark chocolate shavings, or even rainbow or chocolate jimmies (aka sprinkles).

NOTE: If you don’t have an espresso machine or a stovetop Moka pot, simply brew up some dark-roasted coffee at double strength to use in my latte recipes.

Latte Variations

CAFFE MOCHA

Use my Basic Caffe Latte recipe, adding 1-2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup in Step 2. If you don’t have bottled chocolate syrup, try one of my Homemade Chocolate Syrups (page 313).

CAFFE CARAMELLA

Use my Basic Caffe Latte recipe, adding 1-2 tablespoons of caramel syrup in Step 2. Try my Homemade Caramel Syrup (page 315).

CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL LATTE

Use my Basic Caffe Latte recipe, adding 1-2 tablespoons of my Homemade Chocolate-Caramel Sauce in Step 2 (page 316).

TURTLE LATTE

Use my Basic Caffee Latte recipe. In Step 2, add ½ tablespoon (1½ teaspoons) of my Homemade Chocolate-Caramel Sauce and ½ tablespoon of hazelnut syrup or a nut-flavored liqueur (such as Frangelico or amaretto). Top this latte with whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate-caramel sauce, and chocolate jimmies or shavings.

APPLE PIE LATTE

Pour 1 shot of hot espresso into an 8-ounce mug. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of my Homemade Apple Cider Syrup (page 317). Fill the rest of the mug with steamed milk, created with an espresso machine steam wand or my rustic stovetop method (page 300). Stir again to distribute the flavors. Top with a cloud of foamed milk and a drizzle of my Homemade Apple Cider Syrup.

RASPBERRY TRUFFLE LATTE

Pour 1 shot of hot espresso into an 8-ounce mug. Stir in ½ tablespoon (1½ teaspoons) of my Homemade Dark Chocolate Syrup (recipe follows) and ½ tablespoon of raspberry syrup. (You can make your own raspberry syrup by using my Easy Homemade Fruit Syrup recipe, which also follows.) Fill the rest of the mug