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Two white ceramic cups of fennel spiced coffee with toasted fennel seeds and cinnamon on an oak board

Fennel Spiced Coffee with Warm Anise Notes

A fast, naturally sweet spiced coffee made with toasted fennel seeds and espresso.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Total Time 12 minutes
Servings: 2 cups
Course: Coffee
Cuisine: Specialty Coffee
Calories: 95
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Spiced milk base
  • 300 ml whole milk or full-fat oat milk for dairy-free
  • 0.5 tsp whole fennel seeds lightly crushed after toasting
  • 1 cinnamon stick small; optional, about 5 cm
  • 2 cardamom pods lightly crushed, optional
  • 1 pinch pinch of fine sea salt
Coffee
  • 2 espresso shots / 60 ml; or 120 ml strong moka pot coffee
  • 0.5 tsp honey optional, stir into hot milk before straining

Method
 

Toast the fennel seeds
  1. Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds with no oil and toast for 60 to 90 seconds, shaking the pan once or twice, until the seeds smell fragrant and turn very lightly golden. Do not walk away - they burn quickly past 90 seconds.
  2. Remove the pan from the heat. Use the back of a spoon to gently crush the toasted seeds against the base of the pan. This cracks them open without grinding them to powder.
Simmer the spiced milk
  1. Return the pan to low heat. Pour in 300 ml of whole milk. Add the cinnamon stick and crushed cardamom pods if using, and the pinch of salt.
  2. Heat gently for 4 to 5 minutes until the milk reaches about 70 C / 158 F and begins to steam. Do not let it boil. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. The milk should smell warmly spiced.
  3. If using honey, stir it in now and remove the pan from heat. Let the spiced milk sit for 1 minute.
Brew the espresso and combine
  1. Pull two shots of espresso (60 ml total) or brew 120 ml of strong moka pot coffee. Divide evenly between two pre-warmed cups.
  2. Set a fine-mesh sieve over each cup. Pour the spiced milk through the sieve, dividing it equally between the two cups. Discard the strained seeds and spices.
  3. Serve immediately. The spice oils floating on top will be visible - give a gentle stir before drinking.

Notes

  • Toast fennel seeds dry - no oil - or they turn greasy and coat the cup.
  • Use a fine-mesh sieve, not a paper filter, or the oils get stripped out.
  • Espresso pulled at 93 C / 200 F gives the least bitter base for spiced coffee.
  • Crushed seeds extract faster than whole - reduce simmer time to 2 minutes if crushed.
  • Scale up the spiced milk base by 4x and store in the fridge for a week of quick cups.