Since Starbucks released its Iced Brown Sugar Oat Beverage Shaken Espresso drink to its menu in March 2021, it has become an instant success. It’s made with espresso shaken with ice, cinnamon, and brown sugar syrup, then topped with oat milk.
Of course, the main feature of the drink is the brown sugar syrup, which is perfectly sweet without being overpowering. Simple syrup is lighter and has a softer sweetness; brown sugar syrup is darker and nearly tastes caramelized.
With brown sugar syrup possibly being difficult to find or expensive to buy, we’ll show you a way that you can make it yourself! It can then be added to any drink you like, including tea!
Why should you make your own syrup?
- Both brown sugar and simple syrup are easy to make. The bare minimum ingredients are just sugar and water!
- You can customize your syrup to make it thicker or runnier and even add things like cinnamon to it.
- It’s much more affordable to make your own syrup because it uses ingredients that are easily found at the store.
What you need
This is a very simple recipe, and there’s a good chance you already have all of these at home!
- Brown sugar: You can use either light or dark brown sugar, depending on your taste. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses that helps to give it that caramelized flavor.
- Water: It’s best to use filtered water if possible, as it gives a more pure taste to the syrup. Alternatively, tap water can be used.
- Saucepan: You will need a saucepan, as the ingredients will be combined and dissolved over the stove.
- Container: Of course, you will need something to store the syrup in! This is mostly up to personal preference, but it’s best to use something that has a well-sealed lid to help keep the syrup fresh.
Recipe
- Put equal parts brown sugar and filtered water into the saucepan.
- Bring the water to a low boil, constantly stirring to dissolve the brown sugar completely.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and allow the brown sugar syrup to cool. As it cools, it will thicken.
- Transfer the syrup to your desired container.
The brown sugar syrup can be kept for up to 6 weeks in the fridge, but you may use it all up by then!
Extra tips
- Try adding a cinnamon stick to the saucepan as you boil the brown sugar syrup. It’s an easy way to cut out an extra step later on if you want to make a Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espresso at home!
- The ratio of the brown sugar to the water can be adjusted. You can typically expect a thicker syrup if you use less water. However, if you put too little water, you risk it burning easily, so be careful.
What can you add brown sugar syrup to?
Brown sugar syrup has become even more popular since Starbucks added it to their list of flavors, where they advertise it being used in the Oat Shaken Espresso and the Hot Americano version. However, you can use syrup in almost anything!
- Coffee: We already mentioned the Oat Shaken Espresso, but you can use brown sugar syrup in any other coffee beverage, including just simple drip coffee.
- Tea: You can use any tea you like, but our recommendation is to try either black or green tea. An Earl Grey or matcha latte with brown sugar syrup sounds delightful.
- Bubble tea: There’s a bit more of a process involved with making your own bubble tea at home, but brown sugar is also a popular flavor for bubble tea, so why not try to make your own?
How to make an Iced Brown Sugar Oat Beverage Shaken Espresso
If you would like to try making your own Iced Brown Sugar Oat Beverage Shaken Espresso, here is a quick guide on how to make one with the brown sugar syrup that you just made!
- Put ice into a cocktail shaker or mason jar. It’s recommended to use a lot of ice, as about half of it will melt when using fresh coffee.
- Add espresso into the shaker. It’s ideal to use an espresso machine, but you can also use any coffee you have on hand.
- Add your brown sugar syrup. If you want, you can also add some cinnamon if you didn’t include it in the syrup recipe.
- Shake up the espresso, then pour it into a glass.
- Top it up with oat milk or any other preferred milk alternative and enjoy!