Earlier this month we saw a new addition to the Starbucks holiday drinks lineup: Spiced Sweet Cream Cold Brew. This seemed bold, to be honest—a new iced drink on the cusp of winter? But the drink, which combines cold-brew coffee with vanilla syrup, syrup flavored with mulling spices, and sweetened whipped cream, attracted fans, including on the staff of the Epi Test Kitchen. Only our folks stopped buying it, after a while, and started making it.
Epi isn't new to Starbucks drink hacks—just last summer, we figured out ahomemade version of a kind of coffee-jelly parfaitthat was big at Starbucks locations in Japan. (Someone here saw it on Instagram, I guess.)
So we thought we'd try our hand at a homemade version of this one, too. The obvious first step, though, was to get it in line with the times: we made our drink hot.
What else? Basically this drink has three components. First, maple-spiced simple syrup: Combine1/4 cup maple syrup,1 cinnamon stick,3 whole cloves, and1/4 cup waterin a small pot. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and let steep at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. Strain into a clean container.
Meanwhile, make the vanilla sweet cream by stirring1/4 cup cream,1/2 tsp. sugar, and1/4 tsp. vanilla extractin a small bowl to combine.
Now all that's left to do is brew up a pot of coffee—to heck with cold-brew. Instead, combine12 ounces hot coffeewith2–4 Tbsp. vanilla sweet creamand1–2 tsp. maple-spiced simple syrup, adjusting the amounts of the latter two components depending on how sweet you like your drink. And there you have it: a drink that tastes like the season—and is at a seasonally appropriate temp.
