The evolution of coffee drinks eventually led to the emergence of many variations. Now gourmets are interested in trying something new and unusual. Previously, to diversify the taste of your favorite drink, herbs, spices and lemon were added to coffee. Today, baristas have developed a huge number of recipes, the main ingredients of which, in addition to coffee and milk, are various additives in the form of syrups.
The popularity of coffee syrups is growing every day. signature drinks with unusual flavors appear, each coffee shop offers visitors to try something new and interesting. The range of supplements is huge, but how can you choose the best combination for yourself?
For true connoisseurs, we have prepared a rating of coffee syrups and the best manufacturers of these products.
What drinks can you make?
Since we have figured out what flavor syrups are, we need to understand what drinks can be prepared using them.
Coffee lovers will be happy to know that there are many coffee drinks that can be made with these products.
We suggest trying out a few of our favorite recipes to get you started.
Latte "Landslide"
This recipe is essentially the method for making any latte with syrup. Simply use one or more flavor syrups that you like and replace the whipped cream with steamed milk.
Ingredients:
- 7 ml espresso flavored syrup;
- 22 ml dark chocolate flavored syrup;
- 15 ml Irish cream liqueur flavored syrup;
- 2 shots of espresso;
- whipped cream (optional);
- 300 ml milk;
- 400 ml glass.
Cooking method:
Grog
Grog is a hot alcoholic cocktail with rum, which was invented by English sailors back in the 18th century. He warmed them in the cold and helped fight the dangerous and very common scurvy at that time.
Initially, grog was prepared with water, but now it is often replaced with tea. In any case, there are dozens of different variations of grog that can be made with sweet syrups instead of regular sugar. This will give your hot drink a delicious aroma that will make any atmosphere cozy.
To prepare 1 serving of traditional grog, you need a glass of hot water or tea. Pour 40 ml of dark rum into it in a thin stream and add sugar syrup, slices of lemon or orange, as well as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. But you can enhance the taste and aroma properties of this hot drink if you replace the sugar syrup with almond, pistachio, mint, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, Grenadine or other fruit syrup.
Irish syrup
A thick and viscous syrup that perfectly softens the sourness of rich coffee, with a rich bouquet of flavors consisting of dark chocolate, buttery caramel and aromatic vanilla.
This topping is found under the names “Irish Cream” or “Irish Cream”. Its peculiarity is a combination of notes of cream, vanilla and light bitterness inherent in natural chocolate without additives.
Manufacturers of syrups
Supermarket shelves with various syrups. For every taste and any manufacturer. The leaders are the French.
- The French company Monin is already celebrating its centenary. The range of products is great. There are many varieties of syrups here. In addition to those we described above, the manufacturer offers syrups with taste sensations that are provided by famous liqueurs, tropical fruits, and coconut milk. All this variety is provided to customers in liter bottles, with a cost of 390 - 750 rubles.
- The French company Teisseire began its activities back in the 18th century. The assortment is wide. You can buy regular berry ones or try complex bouquets of banana muffins or vanilla chestnuts. Packaging varies, ranging from 250 ml (from 180 to 200 rubles) and up to 1 liter (from 540 rubles).
- Original packaging with sizes of 470 ml and ending with one cup serving with toppings is presented by the USA, Delight company. They are low in calories - 27 kcal/100 ml.
- The French manufacturer Giffard produces thick, viscous, fruit-type toppings with a high concentration of sugar. And also vanilla, nut, chocolate, but there are fewer of them. In total, about 60 items in liter glass packages, with prices starting from 600 rubles.
Important! Blackcurrant and strong espresso will delight you with an unusually bright and fresh taste.
Review of popular brands
The best coffee syrups are made in France. The companies offer more than a dozen different scents. The most popular types can be bought in a regular supermarket. If you want to try something unusual, then you should look in online coffee and sweets stores.
Monin
The products of this brand with a hundred-year history are most often found in Russian stores. You can choose a topping without sugar and zero calories. There are types produced exclusively from organic raw materials without the addition of preservatives. The price ranges from 400 to 800 rubles depending on the taste.
Teisseire
The French company has been producing its products since the 18th century. The variety of flavors and volumes makes these syrups in demand. You can buy not only large bottles of 0.7 liters (about 700 rubles), but also small ones of 250 g (about 200 rubles).
Giffard
A thick product with a high sugar content is made from sugar beets. Of the brand’s 70 types of products, 16 options are created specifically for hot drinks, so they dissolve well in coffee. The assortment includes classic (chocolate, vanilla, berries, nuts) and exotic flavors (melon, green tea, ginger). Available in large 1 liter bottles with a convenient neck that allows you to accurately dose portions.
Method of use
Syrups go well with both hot espresso and cold coffee cocktails. There will be different ways of adding: maintaining layers, mixing and whipping.
How much syrup to add to coffee is up to everyone to decide for themselves, depending on their preferences. On average, per 50 ml of drink (the total volume includes espresso, milk and ice) add 1 teaspoon of liquid topping (5 ml). In this case, sugar is no longer needed. Those with a sweet tooth may want to add a little more.
With hot coffee
The espresso is stirred or even shaken with syrup and then milk is added.
If you are preparing a multi-layer cocktail, such as a latte macchiato, then the topping is poured into the glass first, and then milk and coffee are added. In this case, the glass needs to be tall and transparent so that the serving is beautiful.
Cold cocktails
If you shake ready-made espresso, milk, syrup and ice in a shaker, you get an excellent refreshing drink. This coffee cocktail is usually drunk through a straw.
Popular recipes
Based on a basic recipe, you can create completely different drinks using different liquid toppings.
The best recipes for coffee with syrup can be found on the menu of coffee shops or used at home yourself.
Vanilla
Vanilla coffee syrup softens bitterness and acidity and gives a delicate sweetish aroma. Pairs best with coffee and milkshakes.
Pour cold espresso over the cold milk (80 ml) and topping (2 tbsp), being careful to preserve the layers.
Chocolate
Mix hot coffee (100 ml), warm milk (50 ml) and topping (2 tbsp.). Top with ice cream and cocoa powder. This option is also suitable for a coffee cocktail with cognac or liqueur.
Walnut
The nutty flavored syrup is added to both hot espresso and cold coffee cocktails. For example, you can shake up a shot of strong espresso, a couple of teaspoons of topping and some ice in a shaker.
Vanilla syrup
This type of syrup is very popular among those with a sweet tooth.
This topping is suitable for the acidity of Arabica, which masks the acidity, as well as the bitterness of Robusta, which neutralizes excess bitterness and makes the finished drink softer.
Vanilla syrup can be mixed with milk or ice cream, so it can be added to milk or smoothies.
It is advisable to add syrup to hot coffee and only after topping up add the milk component, if necessary.
The taste pleases not only women, but also many men who cannot imagine life without sweet treats
Contraindications for this additive are the same as for other types of sweet syrup.
This coffee has vanilla notes
The sweetness of the vanilla in this recipe will help balance out the milk.
How much to prepare:
- Turkish coffee - 80-100 ml;
- vanilla syrup - 2 tablespoons;
- cold milk - 4 tbsp.
Prepare the coffee and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Pour the indicated amount of vanilla syrup into the cup, then coffee. Next, slowly add milk and gently mix the ingredients.
Product Features
Syrups are used to sweeten the drink, give it additional flavor, and eliminate excess bitterness. 60-80% of the product mass is sugar, the rest is water, fruit juice, flavorings and dyes.
You should not overuse the sweet additive, because its calorie content is quite high: 100 grams contains 250-300 kcal, that is, about 50-60 kcal in a tablespoon.
Is flavored coffee healthy?
If you're serious about your health or want to enjoy the sweet taste of coffee syrups without worrying about excess calories, you'll be glad to hear that coffee is healthy!
All your favorite coffee drinks can be created using sugar-free syrups. Most major manufacturers produce products that do not contain this component. Just look for the words “Sugar Free” on the label. These bottles often have a blue label or cap.
Such syrups are made using a non-nutritive sweetener. Each serving is equal to one packet of sweetener.
Syrups do not contain gluten, so they can be consumed by people with allergies to it. Just in case, check the product label: it should have a blue or green symbol (or the letters “GF” in a circle or cereal in a circle with a line through it).
Caramel syrup for your favorite drink
This type of syrup has a delicate taste with a barely noticeable creamy note. It is not surprising that this is what coffee lovers use to “calm down” the strength of the traditional drink. Caramel syrup is also often used as a topping in the process of preparing cocktails based on the most popular drink in the world - coffee.
This is interesting: most often, caramel-flavored syrup is used as an additive for milk coffee, cappuccino, and even traditional espresso. Moreover, the pronounced caramel taste of the syrup goes perfectly with coffee with the addition of fruit juice.
How to make coffee with caramel syrup?
You will need:
- 50 ml espresso or coffee prepared according to one of the oriental recipes;
- 2-3 tsp. caramel flavored syrup;
- juice of one orange.
Prepare coffee according to your favorite recipe. Then pour it into a cup, add syrup and freshly squeezed orange juice. This drink with its intoxicating aroma goes best with muffins or freshly baked French croissants.
Literature
- Buteykis N.G., Kengis R.P. Syrups and burnt butter // Preparation of flour confectionery products. - M.: Economics, 1965. - 252 p.
- Mityukav A.D., Rutsky A.V. Soft drinks and cocktails. – Mn.: Urajai, 1989. – 112 p.
- Ratushny A. S. Sugar syrups // All about food from A to Z: Encyclopedia. - M.: Publishing and trading corporation "Dashkov and Co", 2016. - 440 p.
- Collection of recipes for dishes and culinary products: For public enterprises. power supply / Auto-stat. : A. I. Zdobnov, V. A. Tsyganenke - K. : Ariy, 2015. - 688 p.
- Sweet tooth. – M.: ZAO Firma STD, 1999. – 319 p.
Rating of syrups added to coffee
According to coffee lovers, the best fillers for cocktails and coffee-based drinks are made in Europe. The most popular among baristas are the French ones Monin, Giffard, Teisseire, which are sold in sets and at retail. These 3 brands are included in the ranking of the most popular fillers in terms of sales and cost - they are purchased for coffee shops and bars.
For home use, you can buy universal toppings for coffee and desserts - sweet or salty caramel, thick chocolate, honey citrus. When purchasing, be sure to read the labeling so that the gravies can be used for drinks. At an affordable price, you can also find real flavors to drink dessert coffee at home. You can purchase fillers in coffee shops and hypermarkets, as well as in specialized online stores.
The history of bumble coffee
This iced coffee with orange juice was invented in Russia in 2001. It is believed that the first such cocktail was made by a barista in a Moscow coffee shop. One day the bartender decided to mix orange juice with black coffee.
The color of the resulting drink reminded him of an insect. This is where the name bumble bee comes from, which means bumblebee. It turned out that these ingredients go well together.
Therefore, such coffee lemonade quickly spread not only throughout Russia, but also throughout the world. People like the name of the cocktail and what it is associated with.
However, Brazilians, like true coffee lovers, do not want to give up their championship to others. They do not agree that bumble was invented in Russia.
Residents of Brazil offer their version of the origin of this cocktail. There is an opinion that the first bumble was mixed there. Therefore, the question of origin remains open.
Topping Tiramisu
The Tiramisu topping will appeal to those who like to experiment, as it gives a special unique “sound” to any product.
This syrup has the taste of the famous dessert: it combines notes of cookies, nuts and chocolate.
Its soft sweet taste will complement a classic espresso or Americano.
Tiramisu topping can be added to hot or chilled coffee: the product does not curdle in the drink and does not drown in the milk foam of a cappuccino or latte.
Contraindications are standard.
It’s not for nothing that tiramisu is translated from Italian as “delight me”, because light shades of Irish cream, cappuccino, cookies, cocoa and mascarpone will delight any sweet tooth
Recipe for a coffee drink with the popular Tiramisu syrup
To prepare take:
- a quarter cup of ready-made hot espresso;
- three quarters of a cup of hot milk;
- 2 tablespoons syrup.
Pour the topping into a cup, then add a little milk. Whip the remaining milk into foam and place in a cup. Pour hot espresso in a thin stream.
On top you can decorate the drink with cinnamon powder or grated chocolate.
The best flavor combinations
Unsaturated Americano, cappuccino, and latte are served with vanilla, caramel, and fruit and berry concentrates. Strong ristretto, double espresso - only with vanilla, caramel, nut sweeteners and chocolate.
The base extracts “Amaretto” and “Irish Cream” will enhance the sourness of Arabica. Almond, lime or orange substitutes, on the contrary, will remove the bitterness if you drink pure Robusta.
Almond, pistachio, and peanut sweeteners are added to Arabica brewed according to an oriental recipe. They make the strong base of the product more enjoyable.
Combination of syrups
Latte contains a large amount of milk and has a weak taste. To enrich the taste and give contrasting notes, various syrups and toppings are added.
There are several groups of syrups:
- dessert;
- fruit;
- berry;
- spicy;
- herbal;
- nut;
- with the taste of alcoholic drinks.
Syrups made from berries, herbs and flavored alcoholic beverages provide a refreshing effect. The combination of several groups helps to diversify the taste.
As you can see, there are no citrus syrups in the table. Because they curdle milk in drinks. Orange, lime, lemon and other syrups are useful for other purposes.
Blackcurrant and mint syrups can be a highlight. Caramel and apple, cherry and chocolate make good combinations.
Alcohol-flavored syrups are also not suitable for lattes. There is a risk of spoiling the latte even when cold.
It is better to buy syrups from trusted and well-known manufacturers. In the Russian segment, many people like Spoom products.
A good line of economy class syrups Keddy (Monin).
Punch
When you mention punch, you immediately feel a sense of warmth and comfort. This hot alcoholic drink, no less than mulled wine, is popular in winter, especially at various Christmas markets. But it can also be prepared using our natural syrups.
For a classic punch you will need 1 part of any citrus juice, 2 parts of sugar syrup, 3 parts of rum and 4 parts of any fruit, berry juice or water. You can add spices to the drink to taste, such as anise or cloves. But you can also experiment with other flavors, because punch opens up great opportunities for innovative ideas. Thus, sugar syrup can be replaced with honey, sea buckthorn, raspberry, strawberry, Grenadine, Amaretto, Mango Tea, Peach Tea, etc. And if you exclude rum from the recipe, you will get an excellent hot non-alcoholic drink.
Proportions
No one regulates the addition of toppings. Rely on your own preferences. In the classic ratio this is 100 ml. coffee: 2 tbsp or 2 tsp. topping.
If you like sweets, increase the amount of supplement.
For cocktail drinks or those with a complex composition that contain dairy products, ice, etc., add 6 tsp to 200 ml of espresso and 100 ml of dairy product. topping.
Rules for preparing and drinking coffee with syrup
To properly brew an aperitif, a special technology is followed.
Proportions
Prescription dosage: for every 50 ml of base, use 1 tsp. (5 ml) additives.
Ingredient proportions by type:
- Romano, ristretto - 2 ml.
- Espresso - 5 ml.
- Mocha, macchiato - 5 ml.
- Americano - 10 ml.
- Cappuccino, raf - 15 ml.
- Latte, ice, torre - 20 ml.
- Frappe - 25 ml.
For coffee cocktails, the proportions are increased according to the recipe: for every 250 ml, use 3-4 tsp. sweetener.
Methods of use
Mixtures are added at different stages of preparation - when whipping the foam, mixing with water, forming layers.
Any syrup, of course, is used not only as an additive to coffee drinks. They are more widely used in cocktails and are also popular in desserts and ice cream. But the theme of my site dictates the story specifically about coffee syrups. By the way, syrups that are exclusively sweeteners and sugar substitutes are not considered in the article, only flavored ones.
But any syrup is still 99-99.8% sugar and water, no matter how you look at it. The remaining 0.2-1% is a flavoring and coloring agent, sometimes an acidity regulator and a preservative. Good syrups contain natural flavors, in the form of an extract or concentrated juice or puree. Sugar can be either regular sugar, beet sugar or cane sugar. There are syrups on a glucose-fructose basis (without sugar), both as individual items among other flavors, and as entire brands (for example, WTS, more on that below).
That is, in essence, any syrup is a sweetener with some kind of flavor that adds a certain flavor component to a drink or dessert.
There are a great many recipes for coffee drinks using syrups alone. Just listing them will tire the reader - this is not the purpose of this material. As an example, you can immediately look at my latest recipe for Bumble coffee, it uses the most popular caramel syrup, plus a couple of variations are described.
How much syrup to add to coffee
The question can easily be expanded to any drinks: cocktails, tea, as well as desserts and ice cream. There is no clear answer. It all depends on the recipe and, most importantly, your taste. If the original recipe suggests pouring, say, 20 ml, then no one forbids you to pour 10 or 30 ml. In the first case, it will not be so sweet, and the taste that the syrup carries will be less pronounced, playing a secondary role. Secondly, taste can dominate over other components, drowning out or smoothing out (masking) unwanted shades. Don't take any numbers in any recipes as dogma. Personally, I prefer in any recipe, all other things being equal, a smaller amount of syrup, but in principle I don’t like sweets.
If you need some basic general guidelines, then something like this:
- Espresso – 5 ml
- Americano – 10 ml
- Milk (cappuccino/latte/RAF/flat, etc.) – 15 ml
- Complex multi-ingredient drinks, including cold coffee – 20 ml
Obviously, adding syrup eliminates the addition of sugar.
Flavors of coffee syrups
There are more than a hundred different flavors and manufacturers are constantly creating new compositions, for example, I recently saw “Chocolate Chip Cookies.” However, there is a certain gradation of tastes by category:
- Desserts – caramel, chocolate, maple syrup, etc.
- Nuts – hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia.
- Spicy - vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves.
- Fruits and berries – grenadine, orange, strawberry, banana.
The most popular flavors of syrups for coffee drinks
- Caramel is an unconditional topper, goes well with classic “Italian” espresso, that is, when beans are used for preparation without a bias towards sourness. And, accordingly, it is suitable for any drinks where the basis is espresso/ristretto/doppio. Yes, all milk goes with a bang. The duet turns out natural and natural. If you add a little syrup, within 5 ml, then it simply emphasizes the coffee bouquet, because caramel is one of the most common sweet descriptors in coffee.
- Maple is from the same series as caramel, but more original and richer, in my opinion. It also “sounds” natural, classical. Very popular in the USA and Canada, by the way.
- Hazelnut (aka hazelnut, sometimes called simply “nut”) is, on the contrary, an extremely classic additive for a coffee drink, because it is one of the basic coffee descriptors. But often (depending on the manufacturer, of course) the nut is more aggressive than the first two flavors, so add it carefully: a little too much - and it begins to dominate the coffee component.
- Vanilla is a universal tool for “correcting” beans that are not optimally matched to the type of drink or consumer’s taste. If overly sour Arabica beans are used (washed Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya) or vice versa, a robust mixture, then vanilla syrup smooths out the corners, leveling out the sourness or bitterness.
- Amaretto is used to diversify the neutral coffee taste on several levels at once, as it adds shades of vanilla, almond and apricot, that is, a floral-nutty-fruity component.
- Chocolate – popular not only for emphasizing one of the most obvious descriptors of the classic Brazilian Arabica, but also for making Mocha.
- Irish - mainly used for making non-alcoholic Irish coffee and similar variations.
- Salted caramel is a growing trend, an original combination, you just have to try it
