How to Make French Vanilla Coffee

French Vanilla Coffee or French Vanilla is a richly flavour drink popular in the USA and it’s winning fans from all over the world. It tastes great. You can find it at some of the best cafes or simply make your own one exactly the way you like it. 

If you love the taste of vanilla you really should give French Vanilla coffee a whirl.

I’ve a soft spot for vanilla; it has a subtle taste that gives my brew a slightly sweet spin. This coffee type is named after the beans that are soaked in vanilla extract.

Read on to find out where to find the best French Vanilla and how to make yours.

What’s really French Vanilla Coffee? 

French vanilla is a real treat and I usually make myself a cup on Friday night to kick off the weekend. I see it as a treat and usually make myself a cup of it on Friday evening to round off the week.

What are the French Vanilla ingredients? 

The main ingredients of French Vanilla are:

• Espresso coffee (preferably high quality grounds)
• Full-fat milk
• Vanilla

What does it  taste like? 

It has the strong flavour of espresso with hot whole milk worked together and a sweet spin of vanilla, all three work perfectly together to create a decadent brew.

4 ways of making your own French vanilla coffee?

There are four winning methods of making your own vanilla coffee at home,  experiment with all of them to see what you love best. You can either flavour your coffee with vanilla syrup, extract, creamer or vanilla-flavoured beans.

French vanilla with syrup

Make your filter coffee and then add a squeeze of vanilla syrup to your liking.

Where can you buy vanilla syrup? 

You’ll find it in supermarkets or you can order yours on Amazon. You’ll find a decent one at around $10-$20.

If you won’t compromise on the flavour and quality vanilla available in supermarkets and online, you can always make your own. Here’s a handy recipe with simple and affordable ingredients.

Here’s the DIY Vanilla Syrup recipe:

• 3 tbsps of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of water 
• 1 cup of sugar

Many of us love vanilla syrup and it’s surprisingly easy to make, all you need to do is mix up hot water and sugar in a little pot, place it on a hot stove and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add your vanilla extract and keep stirring for another 2 minutes, take it off the stove and let the mixture cool down for about five minutes before pouring it into a bottle, and now pop it in your fridge for use when you need it.

See it as an excuse to try something new and get your creative juices flowing. If you’re on a strict diet and cautious about calories you can always find an affordable low-calorie vanilla syrup substitute.

Vanilla Extract 

Let’s move on to my favourite way of making French Vanilla that is my go-to option, especially if you are into a healthy diet or even making a heroic attempt to cut down on sugar and it’s super quick.

All you need to do is add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract to your coffee that adds an addictive sweet spin to your brew.

French Vanilla Coffee Creamer

Creamer is great with coffee, and like syrup there is an easy and hard way to go about it. The easy way is to simply nip into the store or go online and buy creamer; you’ll find a decent one from about $17-$40.

How to make your own coffee creamer

The best way is to make your own which tastes better simply because YOU made it, it’s dead easy to make and far cheaper than buying it…

All you need for this delicious recipe is three basic ingredients: 

• 0.12l whole milk
• 0.12l condensed milk 
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Mix all three ingredients in a bowl and give the mixture a good whisk for around 5 will do. Put your blend in a jug or flask and cover the top with plastic wrap and store it in your fridge, so it’s handy for the next time you fancy a top brew. It’s vital to use it the right way, otherwise, creamer can turn chunky.

French Vanilla Coffee Beans

Making coffee with beans infused with vanilla is a quick and no-fuss way of making classic French Vanilla. 

There are both natural and artificial methods when infusing vanilla into those coffee beans, so before you go ahead and purchase a pack, it’s wise to take a glance at the product description to see that real vanilla extract is used.

Generally, there are three variations of coffee bean roasts: light, medium and dark. As a rule of thumb, light beans tend to have more distinct vanilla flavour whilst vanilla in medium and dark blends isn’t so distinct.

Simply grind your beans and make coffee as you would normally do – like I said it’s fuss free.

 Other French Vanilla must-try recipes

Fancy having a variety of recipes so you can try a new one out every now and again? Here are six delicious recipes to experiment with:

Iced Vanilla Latte: 

It’s a great option for a scorching day (especially in Cyprus where I live, summer lasts almost 8 months a year).

Practically, the steps are identical with the French Vanilla, the only difference is that once you’ve mixed the coffee, milk and vanilla, you just pour it into a chilled glass filled with crushed ice – it tastes like nothing else!

Iced Vanilla Coffee

It’s a great alternative to Iced Vanilla Latte if you prefer your coffee without milk. In essence, it’s iced espresso with vanilla.

Iced Blonde (Light Roast) Vanilla Latte 

Did you know that there are four common coffee blends? These are:

• Light roast (Blonde)
• Medium roast 
• Medium-dark roast 
• Dark roast 

You make Iced Blonde Vanilla Latte using a light roast blend for its unique citrus notes, but with minimum coffee oil, plus its distinct golden colour in itself is a great reason to give it a go. (You can also find Vanilla Latter with blonde roast beans at Starbucks).

Iced French Vanilla with Sweet Cream

The sweet cream turns this cold brew into a guilty pleasure that tastes slightly sweeter than the recipes above. All you need to do is make Iced Vanilla Latte and replace the whole milk with sweet cream.

Personally, I often go for the Iced Vanilla Latte, but… I have it with sweet cream now and again for a change.

French Vanilla Cappuccino

Another great alternative to the traditional French Vanilla is French Vanilla Cappuccino with smooth milk and one or two espresso shots (depending on your liking) and a spin of vanilla, creating a heavenly drink.

Iced French Vanilla Cappuccino

You can’t resist the temptation of making it iced on a hot summer’s day. Fill a glass full of ice cubes and pour the French Vanilla Cappuccino over the ice, sit back and chill.

How do the big chains French Vanilla coffee rate? 

What if you’re not bothered about making your own French Vanilla at home?

Luckily, plenty of chains make their own version, but the ingredients they use vary. I’ve checked it out and (IMHO) the ones worth trying are below.

And if you’re planning on making your own one, it’s a great idea to pop into and  order their French Vanilla to draw inspiration on how to make your own one.

McCdonald’s

Mac D’s French Vanilla comes in three different sizes (small, medium, large), made with steamed milk blended with espresso (Rainforest Alliance Certified™) with McCafé French vanilla flavour.

Dunkin Donuts

You won’t find French Vanilla at Dunkin Donuts, but luckily they sell packs of award-winning ground vanilla-infused coffee that takes French Vanilla to a new level, great to keep in your cupboard.

To find out more go here: link

Tim Hortons

It’s a signature drink at Tim Hortons and it comes in four different sizes (S, M, L, XL) and the M size contains 250 calories and has natural and artificial flavour; they don’t give away much about their recipe.

It’s a good excuse to pop into a Tim Hortons coffee shop and give it a shot.

Starbucks

You won’t find it on a Starbucks menu, but what you can do is ask a barista and they’ll know how to make a great one.

It is funny to get one from Starbucks.

So, you’ll probably get the standard French Vanilla with whole milk (2%), two espresso shots and Starbucks vanilla syrup (that’s delicious) and you’ll be sorted. (You can also try one of their salted caramel drinks at Starbucks for a change which are great too.

Costa Coffee

It isn’t on Costa’s menu either, but they do Latte coffee, and in fact it’s pretty good. It’s no harm in asking the barista to add some vanilla syrup to it. If you do so, let us know what it tastes like.

Nero Cafe

It’s not on the Nero Cafe menu either, so you know the trick.

You instruct the barista to make a Latte and add some vanilla syrup to your drink.

The good news is a Latte at Nero is a real treat made with their espresso smoothly blended with milk and presented with a thin layer of foam on the top.

Wrapping up

Coffee for many is an indispensable part of our daily lives, and especially great coffee with new flavours can really make our day.

French Vanilla belongs to the coffee types that you can’t do without and.

For those of you who haven’t had it yet it’s highly recommended, and for anyone already addicted to it I hope this article helped you find out one or two new easy recipes to give them a shot.

FAQ about French Vanilla coffee

Do you have more questions on the subject? Let’s look at some common and the answers to them.

What are the French vanilla coffee calories

It depends on the ingredients you use or where you buy it from; for example, a small French Vanilla at McDonald’s contains 120 cal, while a medium and large have 170 and 230 cal respectively.

Is French Vanilla Good for You?

Espresso, and coffee in general, is rich in toxins, helping your body to get rid of them. Whole milk contains calcium great for your bones while vanilla extract is conducive to your overall health.

But it depends how to make your brew, natural flavouring is a healthier option than artificial.

Does French vanilla coffee taste like vanilla?

The short answer is ‘yes’, but it also depends what sort of vanilla you use; is it syrup, extract, creamer or vanilla beans? It also matters how much vanilla you add to your drink.