Mixing up a fun coffee drink is a great way to indulge yourself when life slows down and offers an opportunity for a brief distraction, a touch of decadence or just a little treat.
We often leave more complicated coffee drinks to the professionals, but making them at home can be relaxing and rewarding. It can also save money, as individual craft coffee drinks edge north of $5 apiece, especially after tax and tip are incorporated.
Creating your own flavored syrups is a relatively simple project that can yield many servings of your favorite beverage. For the cooking-averse, we also found an interesting coffee drink made with just a few products straight from grocery store shelves.
There’s no need for an expensive espresso maker. Intense brews are easy to make with inexpensive products like a French press, AeroPress or moka pot. Alternatively, a double-strength pot of your usual coffee or store-bought cold brew concentrate is perfectly suitable.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
For a drink as beautiful as it is tasty, Postern Coffee’s co-founder Joshua Owh shared instructions on how to make the shop’s coconut ube latte. The periwinkle-colored drink references Owh’s and co-founder Andrew Lee’s Asian heritage with the earthy sweetness of ube, a purple yam. Owh, a Korean American, said ube extract is easy to find at many Asian grocery stores and farmers markets.
The key ingredient is Postern’s espresso from coffee beans they source, roast and sell in their Doraville shop. Their vegan coconut ube latte is a simple mixture of espresso, house-made coconut ube syrup and oat milk. Depending on your preference, half-and-half, milk or another dairy alternative works just as well.
One of the most popular drinks at Valor Coffee Roasters, which has coffee shops in Dunwoody and downtown Alpharetta, is a lavender vanilla latte. The company’s coffee shops also offer a vegan nitro version of the drink made with oat milk. The latte is infused with nitrogen and poured from a tap like Guinness beer, giving the cold version of the drink an extra-creamy profile without using dairy.
Those looking for an even more indulgent drink might want to try the Spiller Park’s Cola Cocktail, a nonalcoholic, sweet and highly caffeinated treat. The drink uses a few specific off-the-shelf products, including Mexican Coca-Cola and smoked sea salt, to build on the local coffee chain’s espresso. The combination is sweet, savory and creamy all at once, a perfectly indulgent afternoon pick-me-up.
RECIPES
Three independent metro Atlanta coffee shops share recipes for their own coffee-based indulgences for those days when you can’t stop by in person.
To approximate espresso without a machine, simply double the intensity of your coffee by brewing a pot with half the normal amount of water. You can also purchase cold brew concentrates in the refrigerator section of your grocery store; just pop a serving in the microwave to bring it to your desired temperature for a hot drink.
Credit: Spiller Park
Credit: Spiller Park
Spiller Park’s Cola Cocktail
Mexican Coca-Cola, which is made with sugar, not corn syrup, and tastes sweeter than Coca-Cola Classic, can be found at a wide variety of shops, including Latin markets, package stores and Whole Foods. If you can’t find Mexican Coke, substitute Coca-Cola Classic.
- 2 ounces chilled espresso
- 8 ounces Mexican Coca-Cola
- 1 ¼ ounces vanilla syrup
- 1 ounce half-and-half
- Pinch smoked sea salt
- In a large glass filled with ice, layer espresso, Mexican Coca-Cola, vanilla syrup and half-and-half.
- Sprinkle smoked sea salt over the top.
Serves 1.
Per serving: 233 calories (percent of calories from fat, 14), 1 gram protein, 52 grams carbohydrates, 50 grams total sugars, no fiber, 4 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), 10 milligrams cholesterol, 197 milligrams sodium.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
Postern Coffee’s Coconut Ube Latte
To make a latte at home, heat milk (or your favorite nondairy alternative) in a small saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes until barely steaming. The milk can also be heated in a microwave on high power in 20-second intervals, checking the temperature after each one. Then whisk the hot milk or use a frother for a few seconds to approximate the texture of the steamed milk you’d get from an espresso machine.
For a drink that’s closest to Postern’s coffee flavor, use coffee beans roasted and sold at the shop’s Doraville location.
- 2 ounces espresso
- 3/4 ounce Postern Coffee’s Coconut Ube Syrup (see recipe)
- 8 ounces frothed oat milk, or to taste
- Stir together espresso and ube syrup in a large coffee mug. Top with frothed oat milk.
- Serve hot or poured over ice.
Serves 1.
Per serving: 194 calories (percent of calories from fat, 24), 2 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrates, 19 grams total sugars, 2 grams fiber, 6 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 107 milligrams sodium.
Postern Coffee’s Coconut Ube Syrup
Postern’s co-owner Joshua Owh says ube extract is easy to find at many Asian grocery stores and farmers markets.
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ube extract
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add coconut milk and sugar to a small saucepan and whisk until dissolved.
- Place saucepan over medium-low heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the syrup coats the back of a spoon, approximately 30 minutes. Be careful not to let the syrup boil over.
- Remove from heat and whisk in ube extract and vanilla. Allow syrup to cool on the countertop to room temperature before use.
- Transfer syrup to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Makes about 17 ounces of syrup.
Per 3/4 ounce serving: 105 calories (percent of calories from fat, 35), trace protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 17 grams total sugars, trace fiber, 4 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium.
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
Valor’s Lavender Vanilla Latte
To make Valor’s popular latte at home, heat milk (or your favorite nondairy alternative) in a small saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes until barely steaming. The milk can also be heated in a microwave on high power in 20-second intervals, checking the temperature after each one. Then whisk the hot milk or use a frother for a few seconds to approximate the texture of steamed milk.
- 2 ounces espresso
- 1 ounce Valor’s Lavender Vanilla Syrup (see recipe)
- 10 ounces frothed whole milk, or nondairy milk of choice
- Stir together espresso and lavender syrup in a large coffee mug. Top with frothed milk.
- Serve hot or poured over ice.
Serves 1.
Per serving: 236 calories (percent of calories from fat, 36), 9 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrates, 29 grams total sugars, no fiber, 9 grams total fat (5 grams saturated), 28 milligrams cholesterol, 131 milligrams sodium.
Valor’s Lavender Vanilla Syrup
Both dried French lavender petals and vanilla bean powder can be found in the spice section of many grocery stores, specialty spice stores and online retailers. Valor uses organic sugar and vanilla bean powder, but nonorganic products can be substituted.
Do not use vanilla extract in place of vanilla bean powder since the alcohol in the extract could affect the flavor of the latte.
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried French lavender petals
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, then remove the saucepan from the heat and let it rest for 10 seconds or until the bubbles no longer break the water’s surface.
- Immediately add sugar, lavender petals and vanilla bean powder to the water and stir until sugar dissolves.
- Allow the syrup to steep for 5 minutes, then pour syrup through a strainer into a second bowl to remove petals. Allow syrup to cool on the countertop to room temperature before use.
- Transfer syrup to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
Makes about 17 ounces of syrup.
Per 1-ounce serving: 62 calories (percent of calories from fat, 0), trace protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 15 grams total sugars, no fiber, trace total fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
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