Why you need to drink coffee milk

In 1993, the state of Rhode Island held a competition to determine the official state drink. It was between two local staples: Del’s Lemonade and coffee milk. Coffee milk won.

I admit: I don’t generally drink that much coffee. I can never get it sweet enough to my liking. Plus it’s usually hot enough to scold my stomach when I first get it. And by the time it’s cool enough to drink, it’s not even worth the trouble.

I once thought that I would circumvent these issues by trying iced coffee. That was a horrible mistake. Cold, bitter things do not sit well with me. And I still found myself desperately trying to sweeten my iced coffee, and getting frustrated at how hard it is to make sugar dissolve in cold liquid.

So when I heard about coffee milk for the first time, my initial reaction was, “That sounds weird and gross.” Mind you, the reaction was also partially fueled by my lactose intolerance. Suffice it to say, drinking milk with coffee in it did not sound appealing in the least.

That is, until coffee milk was explained to me.

As any Rhodie will tell you, coffee milk is a mixture of milk and coffee syrup. You essentially pour coffee syrup into a glass, top it off with milk, stir and enjoy.

Now, if you’re not from Rhode Island, you’re probably wondering about this mysterious coffee syrup. If you’re like me, you’ll go to your local grocery store and try to buy some coffee syrup. Because why not?

Well, as I learned after visiting six different stores in search of this elusive elixir, coffee syrup pretty much doesn’t exist outside of Rhode Island. If you’re anywhere else, “coffee syrup” means flavored syrup that you put in your coffee to add other flavors to it. Like vanilla or caramel or hazelnut. Try putting that in your milk. No, thank you.

So what’s the difference between the coffee syrup we know and the coffee syrup used to make coffee milk? The latter is syrup made from coffee. As in, coffee is in the syrup, so it tastes like coffee. Not only that, but it makes other things taste like coffee. Added bonus: it’s already sweetened, so there’s no need to dump dozens of packets of sugar in your milk.

Now, given my coffee conundrum, I wanted to try this strange coffee milk for myself. And given my personal motto — “I do what I want” — not being able to find coffee syrup in stores in Houston just made me do what I thought was the obvious: I made my own coffee syrup.

I found a recipe online from one of the coffee syrup makers in Rhode Island and tried it out. And even for my first attempt, it turned out splendidly. My boyfriend, who was the one who told me about coffee milk, approved wholeheartedly of my coffee syrup and the subsequent coffee milk. And he’d lived in Rhode Island before we met, and had the real thing practically every day. Talk about high praise.

So how does coffee milk taste? Imagine drinking a glass of melted coffee ice cream. It’s rich and creamy, sweet and cold, with a delightful roasted coffee taste. The coffee syrup even smells amazing. Making just one batch had my whole place smelling like a coffee shop.

After such a successful first run, I started tweaking the recipe that I found, and created my own. I tried using different coffee brands and flavors, tinkered with adding more and less of other ingredients, and got methodical about boiling and simmering times. Over the next year, I had perfected my very own recipe for coffee syrup.

Nowadays, I drink coffee syrup almost every day — despite my being lactose intolerant. And I take every opportunity that I get to share coffee milk with others. I serve it at parties, give coffee syrup to new friends (and old ones), and talk to coffee lovers about it. And now that I’ve started Some Awesome, and began bottling and selling Some Awesome Coffee Syrup, I’m making it my mission to make coffee syrup a favorite nationwide.

Ready to try it?