The great thing about Ultra Coffee concentrate is that it’s so easy and versatile that you can use it to make literally any kind of barista coffee drink at home, in seconds.
Hot or iced, milky or black, foam or no-foam, skinny or vegan. Whatever you normally order at the shop, you can make at home with Jot (without having to make a drive-thru trip and paying the Big ‘Bucks).
Make your own flavored syrup at home
If you’re the type of coffee drinker who likes to sweeten things up with a splash of flavored coffee syrup, you may be tempted to go buy a bottle for your home coffee setup. But the ingredient lists on store-bought syrups usually include fake sugars, preservatives, and artificial colors and flavors.
There’s no need for all that fakery. Ultra Coffee concentrate is brewed to be as pure as possible, with just organic coffee and water and that’s it. Why mess up a good thing by adding a bunch of chemicals when it’s so easy to make your own flavored coffee syrup at home?
We’ve put together a quick tutorial for how to make simple syrup at home and then our top 5 favorite ways to add flavor to upgrade your Ultra Coffee experience.
How to make a basic homemade simple syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
For homemade simple syrup, all you need is one part water to one part sugar. Bring it to a boil, stirring well to dissolve the sugar, and then take it off the heat. That’s it. It’ll store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
Simple syrup is extremely handy. It’s basically pre-dissolved sugar, which means you can use it to sweeten cold drinks such as iced lattes and cold brew, iced tea, or cocktails.
To flavor your homemade simple syrup, the easiest method is just to add 2 tsp of your favorite flavor extract, such as vanilla, peppermint, hazelnut, almond, etc.
There are many, many kinds of flavor extracts and – just as in our recipe for making flavored creamer at home – you can mix and match to get creative, inventing your own flavor combinations.
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The easiest way to make flavored syrups at home
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp natural flavor extract (such as vanilla, peppermint, almond, hazelnut)
To make flavored syrup for coffee, first simply make a basic simple syrup with one part water to one part sugar. Bring it to a boil, stirring well to dissolve the sugar, and then take it off the heat. Stir in the flavored extracts of your choice.
You can even mix and match to make your own unique flavor. Once it cools completely, store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
But, if you want to take your at-home barista drinks even further, you can elevate your homemade flavored simple syrup game with one of these fully from-scratch versions.
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Next-level homemade flavored syrup: our top 5 recipes
These syrups have even more complex flavors to take your Ultra Coffee creations to the next level.
Vanilla Bean Syrup Recipe
This recipe is the classic. Few things are as instantly satisfying as a vanilla cold brew made with Ultra Coffee concentrate and your own homemade vanilla syrup.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 vanilla bean
If using whole vanilla bean, first slice it open lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with your knife. Add the seeds and pod to a medium saucepan with the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain into a clean, airtight container, and store in fridge for up to 10 days.
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Fresh Peppermint Syrup Recipe
Peppermint in coffee is generally thought of as a wintertime thing. (A hot peppermint mocha by a fireplace is one of our all-time favorites.) But you can also use peppermint simple syrup for a refreshing summertime iced coffee.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup fresh peppermint leaves, bruised
First, make a basic simple syrup by bringing sugar and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Then, turn heat to low.
If using fresh peppermint leaves, you’ll want to squeeze them in your fist before adding them to the hot sugar and water mixture. Bruising helps release more of the leaves’ natural essential oils. Simmer for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Let sit until cool, about 30 minutes. Strain mixture into a clean, airtight container. Store in fridge for up to 10 days.
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Fresh Lavender Syrup Recipe
Lavender simple syrup is one of our favorites at Jot. Lavender grows all over Boulder, Colorado, where we’re headquartered, so in the summer months we love using this fresh lavender flavored syrup to make an iced lavender latte with Ultra Coffee concentrate.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup fresh lavender buds
Making it is similar to the fresh peppermint syrup except that the lavender blossoms will need to steep in the syrup longer than the peppermint. First, make a basic simple syrup by bringing sugar and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Then, turn heat to low.
Add the fresh lavender blossoms to the sugar and water mixture and simmer for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Let steep for up to 4 hours to draw out all of the lavender buds’ flavor. Strain mixture into a clean, airtight container. Store in fridge for up to 10 days.
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Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe
This recipe is extremely versatile. You can use it for a whole lot more than just Ultra Coffee mochas. Drizzle it over ice cm, use it for hot chocolate or chocolate milk, as a garnish on whipped cream – anything you’d normally use store-bought chocolate syrup for. Making it is so simple that it really doesn’t make sense to ever use that chemical-filled stuff in the brown bottle.
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Simply put all ingredients (except vanilla extract) into a saucepan on medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring well to make sure salt and sugar dissolve and cocoa powder mixes smoothly.
(NOTE: It’s important to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for this purpose. Dutch-process mixes better in liquid than natural cocoa powder.)
Then, remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and let cool. Pour into a clean, airtight container and store in fridge for up to 10 days.
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Cinnamon Brown Sugar Syrup
This one is just ridiculous. The brown sugar adds just enough complexity to the simple syrup, and the cinnamon takes it over the top. You cannot go wrong with this recipe.
Just wait until you get your first sip of a homemade cinnamon brown sugar iced latte with Ultra Coffee concentrate.
Just don’t be too hard on yourself when you realize how much money you’ve wasted on chain coffee once you taste it. That was then, this is now.
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
To make cinnamon brown sugar syrup, start as per usual: Bring brown sugar and water to a boil, stirring well to make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Then, lower the heat, add the cinnamon sticks, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat completely and leave the mixture to steep for about 3 hours. Remove the cinnamon sticks, pour into an airtight container, and store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
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For more DIY barista inspo check out all of our recipes using Ultra Coffee concentrate.
