Fall Spiced Coffee

This is the version for mornings when there is no time to warm milk or make syrup. The spices go directly into the filter with the coffee grounds, so the flavor brews into the coffee rather than sitting on top of it, and it costs nothing beyond a few shakes from jars already in the cabinet.

Brewing the spices rather than stirring them in matters more than it sounds like it should. Ground cinnamon dumped into a finished cup floats, clumps and grits at the bottom. Run through hot water with the grounds, it infuses cleanly and the coffee comes out the other side smelling like the whole kitchen changed seasons.

The maple syrup and vanilla go in after brewing. A teaspoon of real maple syrup is a different thing from a teaspoon of sugar. It carries its own flavor rather than just sweetening, and it dissolves instantly in hot coffee.

Fall Spiced Coffee

Cinnamon and nutmeg brewed with the grounds, maple and vanilla stirred in after — a seasonal cup built entirely from what is already in the cabinet.

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Prep Time 2 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

  

• 4 tablespoons ground coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cloves optional
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or brown sugar or honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk half-and-half, or homemade flavored creamer, optional
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon for dusting

Instructions

 

• Add the ground coffee to your filter or French press as usual, then stir the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves if using, and salt directly into the grounds. Mixing them through the grounds rather than layering them on top keeps the spices from clumping.
• Brew as you normally would. The salt is not a typo – a pinch cuts the bitterness of cheaper coffee noticeably, and you will not taste it.
• Stir the maple syrup and vanilla into the hot brewed coffee while it is still in the pot or carafe, so both dissolve completely.
• Pour into mugs and add milk or creamer if you use it.
• Dust with a little cinnamon and serve hot.

Notes

Use one spice at a time rather than all of them. Cinnamon alone, or maple alone, makes a cleaner cup than four flavors competing, and it stretches the jars further.

Half a teaspoon of cinnamon across two cups is the ceiling. More than that and the coffee turns dusty and slightly bitter.

For a cold version: brew double strength, chill, and pour over ice with the maple and vanilla already stirred in.

A cinnamon stick dropped into the carafe works instead of ground cinnamon and leaves no sediment at all. One stick can be rinsed and reused two or three times.

Vanilla extract is expensive per ounce but lasts years and a half teaspoon is all this needs. Imitation vanilla is a legitimate substitute in coffee, where it sits under the roast flavor.

The pinch of salt is the single cheapest improvement to store-brand coffee. Try one pot with it and one without before deciding.

Keyword Autumn, budget-friendly, fall spices, spiced coffee