Every fall, your favorite coffee shop menu fills up with seasonal lattes, and the price of a cup creeps a little higher! Most of what makes those drinks taste like the season comes from a pump or two of spiced syrup. You can make your own at home in about twenty minutes, most of it hands-off, with five ingredients.

This recipe starts with our Mulling Spice, the same blend you’d drop into a pot of cider or red wine on a cold night. Simmer it with sugar, water, and a couple of wide strips of orange peel, and the spices give their warmth to the syrup in under ten minutes. The vanilla goes in after straining, once the pot is off the heat, so its aroma stays bright instead of cooking off.

What you end up with is a jar that earns its spot in the fridge door!

Stir it into your morning coffee or a mug of black tea. Shake a little into a bourbon sour. Brush it over a warm pound cake, or drizzle it on oatmeal. One batch keeps for up to a month, which gives you plenty of time to find a favorite use. Or pour it into a few small bottles, tie on a tag, and your holiday gifts are covered too.

By Spicewalla's Culinary Director, Alyse Baca