Turn Your Coffee Into A Blueberry Waffle Dream With This Syrup Combo

Coffee has a divisive flavor profile. Some insist its nuanced richness can only be appreciated black. Most people disagree, dolloping cream and sugar into their mugs or opting for luxuriant homemade mocha lattes. While it's true that high-quality coffee makes a high-quality cuppa, additional flavorings — provided they're the right ones — can enhance coffee's natural flavors rather than hide them. Caramel and chocolate often do a decent job, but there are also a number of fruits you can add straight to your coffee that elevate it.

Blueberries are especially good because their sugary tartness balances coffee's acidity — particularly when combined with the floral earthiness of vanilla extract and maple syrup. Together, these three flavors infuse your morning java with flavors strikingly similar to a stack of blueberry waffles. Especially iced, this combination takes your coffee from perfunctory morning jolt to a fun, brunch-style beverage that's simple enough to put together on even your busiest mornings. It's also a perfect accompaniment to a perfectly air-fried Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich.

When putting together this latte at home, you need to balance the four main flavors to avoid making a latte that's too sweet or tart. This is easy enough to achieve with equal parts blueberry syrup and maple syrup, plus a few drops of vanilla extract. You could also use vanilla syrup, but we recommend high-quality extract to prevent your coffee from tasting too sugary.

For the purest blueberry flavor, it's ridiculously easy to make your own flavor-infused simple syrups — and fairly cheap as well, since all you need are water, sugar, and, in this case, blueberries. The result is a fresh, bright, fruity flavor you simply can't get from a store-bought syrup. You can even add in a little vanilla extract as everything simmers to skip a step in making your new favorite coffee-based bevvy. Refrigerated, homemade syrups stay fresh for several weeks, so it's pretty easy to keep it stocked if you prefer it over store brands.

While this drink is most often a latte made with a double shot of espresso, you can also enhance regular drip coffee, stronger French press, or bloomy pour-over with these breakfast-y add-ins. However, since non-espresso coffee tends to have a lighter cream-to-coffee ratio, hold back a little when adding enhancements: start with half (or even a quarter) the amount you use in an iced latte. From there, taste and adjust until you find the perfect ratio of flavors for your palate. This is also a great flavor profile to try both hot and cold. Iced is the perfect way to cool down as warmer weather approaches, but enjoying this style of coffee hot helps solidify the blueberry waffle vibe.