simple syrup

Coffee drinkers in summer do well to ice their drinks–an iced latte is my summer coffee drink of choice. Smart coffee shops (Joe in New York, Victrola and Vivace here in Seattle) understand that raw sugar doesn’t dissolve in a cold drink. So iced latte drinkers are normally left with two unpleasant options: grainy sugar crystals up your straw or chemical sweetener (which dissolves better) but ruins a perfectly good coffee drink. Enter simple syrup. Equal parts water and sugar, my favorite coffee shops keep a tall glass bottle of it near the other sweetening options and for a cold coffee drink, nothing is better. Just a little drizzle and your drink is naturally sweetened without being grainy. Three cheers for simple syrup!