Coffee Syrups

In my not-so-humble opinion, using coffee syrups is a far better way to produce flavored coffee than by infusing beans with flavoring agents. Brands of syrups such as Torani and Da Vinci make coffee syrups in an amazing array of flavors, many of which can be had sugar-free. The flavorings used to make these syrups are more likely to be natural flavors than the flavorings sprayed on beans or added to already artificial "creamers."

Coffee Syrups Allow for Flexibility

One of the things I like most about using syrups is that you can flavor each cup separately. If you brew a pot of flavored coffee, everybody's stuck with it, but by using syrups, each person can have their own favorite flavor or none at all. Also, if you grind your beans yourself, flavored coffee beans can ruin a burr grinder, and even a blade grinder will be difficult to restore to its original unflavored state.

Perhaps the most important thing about coffee syrups, though, is that they simply taste better. Flavored coffee smells wonderful, but the brewed cup seldom lives up to its promise. Even if the first few sips taste good, almost all flavored coffees degenerate quickly in the cup and leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

Flavored syrups aren't just useful for coffee, either. You can pour them over ice cream, cook with them, and make Italian sodas by combining them with sparkling water. Finally, unlike flavored beans, coffee syrups never go stale.