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Drinks · 🍂 Autumn · Coming into season

The spiced drinks nearly upon us

One syrup, made now, that turns into every autumn drink you'll want in September.

Autumn · makes 10 drinks · 3 min read

A spiced latte in a heavy mug beside cinnamon sticks and star anise

Every autumn drink worth having comes off the same base. Make one jar of spiced syrup at the end of August and you've made ten drinks for September.

The syrup

  • 200g dark brown sugar
  • 200ml water
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cloves, 2 star anise, 6 cardamom pods, cracked
  • A strip of orange peel
  • A teaspoon of vanilla paste, off the heat

Method

  1. Everything but the vanilla into a small pan. Bring to a bare simmer.
  2. Ten minutes, no more — longer turns the cloves bitter.
  3. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla, cover, and leave to cool completely before straining.
  4. Into a clean jar. Three weeks in the fridge.

What it becomes

  • Spiced latte: 20ml syrup, espresso, hot milk.
  • Warm cider: 15ml per mug of cloudy apple juice, warmed with a slice of orange.
  • Chai-ish: syrup plus strong black tea and hot milk, no extra sugar.
  • Toddy: 20ml syrup, 40ml whisky, hot water, lemon. Leave the whisky out and it's still good.

Coming into season

An Autumn preview while it's still Summer. The syrup keeps three weeks — make it the last weekend of August and it's ready exactly when you want it.

My SZN editorial inspiration — our own seasonal idea, not a listing for a verified external event.

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