OMG. I'm scared about this post. Scared and excited. Okay… I'm jumping up and down from excitement… or from the sugar? who knows.

I did something… dare I say… daring?

Maybe you don't understand. Where I come from, in the smallest state with the longest name, this is a HUGE deal. tbh, I didn't even know it was a “Rhode Island thing” until college. It's such a big deal in my state that we even dedicated our “state drink” to the stuff.

Yeah, that's right. I'm talking about coffee syrup.

For a few years now, I've been thinking about doing it. going for it. because living so far from home has made me miss the stuff. miss lil' rhody. And so on a dreary day I marched my butt down to starbucks, bought a Venti Pike Place Roast, and let magic happen in my kitchen.

We've talked about my hatred for dairy. We've discussed how I loathe copious amounts of cheese. We've had lighthearted debates about how I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than eat a soup with cream in it. Oh, we haven't had that conversation? oh…. nevermind.

What we haven't talked about is how when I was a kid I would only drink milk if it was flavored. I said NAH to the chocolate and I'd maybe occasionally let the pink swirls of strawberry grace my plastic cup. I was holding out. Cause this gurrrl knew where it was at: coffee milk. aw yeah. or as my homies would say: cawfee milk. I'm a rhode islandah, stawp judging and I'll stawp talking in my accent.

The stuff is magical. As in, it will magically change your life. When I was little, like five years old, I used to want to be JUST like my grandpa. Which meant I wanted overalls, homemade peanut butter crackers, and coffee. but I was five. so instead of giving me liquid crack my grandma would mix a couple tablespoons of coffee syrup into my milk and call it coffee. I was none the wiser.

Now that I'm older, I fully understand the miracle benefits of drinking my caffeine. I don't really ever drink coffee milk anymore, I've got lattes. But since moving away, every once in a while I feel nostalgic and just want a glass of coffee milk.

SO. I made some syrup. It may not be autocrat or eclipse. But if you've left Rhode island maybe it'll satisfy your craving and bring you back to your childhood for a minute…. at least until you can make your way back to the glorious 401.

Coffee Syrup

Author: Ashley Renee
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 25

Scale

Ingredients

2 cups strong brewed coffee
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the syrup

Bring the coffee to a boil in a medium sauce pan over medium/high heat.
Reduce heat to low/medium and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until syrup reaches desired consistency. I let mine boil down about a half a cup – leaving me with a cup and a half of syrup.
Allow syrup to cool before using.
Store in refrigerator for up to a week!

To make coffee milk

Really, it's all about preference. My go-to ratio is about 3 & 1/2 tablespoons of syrup to 8 ounces of milk. Taste as you go and add more syrup as necessary! Clearly you can garnish with whipped cream (it's what the cool kids are doing).