Cold-Brewed Coffee Syrup

Coffee syrup originated in the late 1800s as a substitute for chocolate syrup in milk, and became so popular the drink “coffee milk” was coined. Today it is the official beverage of Rhode Island, where this coffee syrup is made by a Certified Organic craft coffee roaster.

Dave’s Coffee is the coffee shop in Charlestown, Rhode Island where owner Dave Lanning drew up the perfect ratio for this coffee syrup. After opening the shop in 2003, he gradually began roasting his own beans, and after ten years was looking for a way to branch out with coffee products. He and his wife realized there was no coffee syrup available on the market that didn’t include artificial ingredients, so using their coffee expertise, they set out to be the first to create it. A real series of trial and error ensued. And then their coffee syrup was born.

Lanning is devoted to coffee roasting and the satisfaction of preparing a pure roast. He employs only expert roasters to log every minute of the roasting process in his facility; roasters who use their keen senses to know when the flavors have been brought out and a delicious coffee bean is ready. 

To find the perfect ingredients and ratios to make the best-tasting syrup, Dave teamed up with Carissa Albergaria, a student at Johnson & Wales who is now the manager at Dave's. Together they found that Brazilian coffee beans - selected exclusively for low acidity and a nutty, sweet, buttery profile - the cold-brew process, and cane sugar, were the best combination. 

Founded in the state where coffee syrup was first invented, Dave's coffee syrup has added quality to a state tradition. "We're definitely coffee roasters first," he said. Ones who happen to make a killer syrup.

This syrup is nice and thick so you can pour it over ice cream, add to a coffee-inspired cocktail, or use to make the Rhode Island classic, "coffee milk." Here's a recipe right from Dave: 

For the classic Rhode Island Style Coffee Milk

What You'll Need:

Dave's All Natural Coffee Syrup

Ice Cold Whole Milk

Directions: Fill an eight ounce glass with ice cold whole milk. Add three generous tablespoons of Dave's All Natural Coffee Syrup, stir and enjoy.

Note: Although we recommend whole milk for the best flavor, skim and milk substitutes may be used. Note that using milk substitutes tend to mask the true coffee goodness and will bring out more caramel flavor in the syrup. 

For the Wired Friar (Cocktail)

What You'll Need: 

Dave's All Natural Coffee Syrup

Ice Cold Half & Half 

Frangelico Liqueur 

Absolut Vodka 

Directions: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add one part Dave's Coffee Syrup, one part Frangelico, and one part Vodka. Shake well. 

Fill a high ball glass with ice. Pour mixture over ice. Add a splash of half & half and stir.

Refrigerate after opening and shake well.

Dave's coffee syrup begins with a nutty, sweet, smooth Brazilian coffee bean, chosen for its low acidity and smooth, buttery profile. The beans are then roasted in small batches by hand in a small gas fired roaster - a process that is monitored closely by Dave's roast masters, who follow the progress of every batch, log the time and temperature details every minute, and use their keen senses to know when the flavors have been brought out and the natural sugars have begun to caramelize to make a sweet, smooth, delicious coffee. The finished roast rests for two days before being ground and cold-brewed for 18 hours in a modified stainless steel kettle. 

After the brewing, the coffee is drained and combined with pure cane sugar, then boiled for over an hour. It’s during the boiling that the syrup reduces and the sugar begins to caramelize. At the perfect consistency, the syrup is hot bottled into amber glass bottles with metal screw caps. The result not only tastes delicious in milk, on ice cream, or added to a cocktail, but Dave’s packaging choice - amber glass - protects the product from light and UV rays, which can change the components of products. Protecting ingredients from harmful rays means the shelf life and quality of the ingredients are extended.

Dave's Coffee is a member of the Farm Fresh RI, an organization that unites local Rhode Island food producers with consumers, restaurants and markets. In that vein, it’s not surprising Dave isn’t interested in adding artificial ingredients to his coffee. Every bottle of coffee syrup comes labeled with the words “We Prefer None Of This: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, or Artificial Colors.”

His beans are also roasted the old-fashioned way - by hand. 700 pounds of coffee are roasted each day in 30 pound batches in their facility, using a small gas fired roaster that was custom made for the company by US Roaster Corp of Oklahoma. 

To keep the product 100 percent Rhode Island-made, Dave’s uses a bottler in Warwick to produce the syrup’s vintage packaging.

The company roasts beans that are in season and all natural, allowing the shop to be certified organic under a U.S. Department of Agriculture program.

Please email support@kaufmann-mercantile.com.  We reply to every email promptly. Or call us at 347 529 5122.

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Also available: 

Cold-Brewed Vanilla Rhode Island Coffee Syrup