Coffee is Back on the Menu (Thanks to Torani Sugar-Free Syrups)

Torani Sugar-Free Syrups for Coffee
Make Keto and Atkins More Sustainable

Moving to Texas over the past year has been quite disruptive in our lives.

I wouldn't call it traumatic, but it was very close to that.

Along with switching identities, and having to pass through all the red-tape associated with changing states, we had to make some drastic mental, emotional, and lifestyle changes.

The move was a bit frightening at first.

I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't, especially since it took so long for hubby to find work. Moving required a lot out of us. Our social life, diet, belief system, and spiritual values have all been affected by the change, but we have landed in a nice place.

Overall, we are grateful that we made this choice and have no regrets.

In fact, I've even figured out how to put coffee back on the menu, something I didn't think I'd be able to do when I first discovered that I'm now a borderline diabetic.

Yes, I could have settled for a couple of tablespoons of plain heavy cream and some liquid Splenda in my coffee, but going from a low-calorie flavored creamer to heavy cream and sugar substitute is similar to trying to go from a name-brand mayonnaise to the store-brand stuff.

It just wasn't the same, so I had opted to ditch the coffee rather than make the switch.

Until now.

Where We Got Torani Sugar-Free Syrup

A couple of weekends ago, while waiting for Costco to open, we were browsing through a store called World Market. A full rack of Torani Syrups at the back of the store caught my eye. For a few seconds, a lightning bolt of hope shot through my body.

I honestly wasn't thinking coffee, though.

Since these syrups are gluten free, I was thinking Chinese food.

Sugar-free orange syrup adds a special touch to stir fries and cole slaw, and since I'd been hoping that my blood glucose was going to correct itself, now that I was paying attention to what I was eating again, I hadn't gone back to using netrition.com yet.

Netrition is an low-carb online store where you can find all kinds of keto products and ingredients, such as sugar-free syrups for your coffee and ketogenic recipes.

Unfortunately, the World Market we were in didn't have the orange flavored syrup I wanted. I suppose I could have settled for pineapple, but hubby suddenly made the coffee connection, once I began explaining to him what Torani sugar-free syrups were created for.

And at that point, my mind switched from making Chinese food to drinking coffee.

"Coffee?" he said. "You put this stuff in your coffee?"

He ignored what I was saying about our low-carb diet and glanced at the wall of sugar-free syrups. There was:

• french vanilla
• salted caramel
• chocolate
• strawberry
• banana
• pineapple

And a whole lot more.

After a brief pause, he said: "You can drink coffee again!"

It was a startling thought.

Torani syrups were originally created to go in coffee, but since you can use them for so much more on low carb, the fact that I could make my own flavored gluten-free creamer at home never dawned on me -- until then.

List of Sugar-Free Syrup Brands for Coffee

Sugar-free syrups are nice because they are generally made with a liquid form of sucralose, and sometimes additional sweeteners for an added synergistic effect.

When you combine more than one sugar-free sweetener together, the result is sweeter than either sweetener alone.

This means that unlike the powdered stuff you can get at the grocery store that's been bulked up with maltodextrin, these syrups are diabetic-friendly, keto-friendly, and gluten free.

They have zero carbs and no calories, so even those with severe insulin resistance can use these syrups freely.

Most of the sugar-free syrups are super thin and watery, but they make an excellent flavoring in recipes that call for liquid ingredients.

You simply substitute the syrup for some of the liquid in the recipe. This makes them appropriate for low-carb baked goods, puddings, salads, and other dishes that would benefit from a touch of flavor and sweetness.

The exchange is cup for cup, which means that a tablespoon of the syrup (the pump measures out just less than a tablespoon) equals a tablespoon of sugar.

To make the exchange, you'll have to subtract an equal amount of liquid from your recipe or your recipe will be too wet.

Sugar-Free Strawberry Syrup
Turns Plain Yogurt Into a Special Treat!

Torani isn't the only brand of sugar-free syrup designed to flavor your coffee. It's just the brand that's available at World Market. In 2007, when I first started this blog, there were only three brands of sugar-free coffee syrup to choose from, but today, there is a whole lot more:

• 1983 Maison Routin Syrup
• Amoretti Premium Syrup
• Archer Farms Syrup
• DaVinci Syrup
• Flavorganics Organic Syrup
• Jordan's Skinny Syrups
• Monin Syrup
• Nature's Flavors Powdered Syrup
• NuNaturals
• Stirling Syrup
• Torani Syrup
• Weldon Coffee Flavorings

Torani, DaVinci, and Monin are the most popular brands among ketogenic dieters, so they are the easiest to find locally, but all of the above brands carry a sugar-free syrup line that are easily available online.

I've been told that Monin Syrups are thicker than the others and are worth the extra cost because they can be used on low-carb pancakes, waffles, and french toast, but I don't actually know if that's true because I've never tried them.

I have only used Torani and DaVinci, and both of them are thin.

How Much Do Sugar-Free Syrups for Coffee Cost?

These syrups are not cheap.

I paid $6.99 at World Market for 25.4 fluid ounces of coconut flavored syrup and a couple of bucks for a pump to make it easier to squirt it into my coffee mug. The smaller 12 ounce size will set you back about 4 dollars, or so.

Where Can I Get Sugar-Free Syrups?

If you don't have a World Market in your area, you can get small bottles of either Torani or DaVinci at your local Walmart. Walmart generally carries at least the French Vanilla in the sugar-free variety, but I've also seen the Caramel and Chocolate sometimes.

I've also seen the large size at our local Winco.

Vitacost, an online company, also offers a limited selection of the small bottles of Torani syrup. They cost about the same as you'd pay at Walmart.

Netrition, which I mentioned above, features an extensive list of sugar-free syrups in the three most popular brands among low carbers: Torani, DaVinci, and Monin.

They sell the Torani and DaVinci brands for the same price as World Market, plus shipping, of course. But since World Market doesn't always have the type of syrup I want, this is definitely a great option.

Netrition also has the handy plastic pumps available.

Some of the flavors come in glass and some come in plastic. For that reason, Netrition won't ship the glass bottles during the winter.

Amazon sells single bottles or combo packs

of Torani sugar-free syrups

Amazon also offers a good selection of sugar-free syrups and brands -- in both small and larger sizes. They have special deal bundles that you can choose from to make purchasing these more economical.

Unlike the other sources I've mentioned, Amazon carries Jordan's Skinny Syrups, as well as Torani, DaVinci, and Monin.

How Long Will These Sugar-Free Syrups Last?

These syrups do not have to be refrigerated, so they are easy to store on a shelf in your pantry.

All brands come with a two-year shelf life, and that includes after you open them up. Since they are just sucralose and water, opening them doesn't cut down on their life span.

They don't ever go bad, but will lose potency if you cross over that two-year shelf life.

Build Your Collection of Syrups Slowly

I'm not new to sugar-free syrups.

I used them freely in 2007 and 2008 before I started reacting to sugar substitutes. I have no idea what was going on with that, but today, I seem to be doing okay with them again.

The maltodextrin in most sugar alternatives does taste bitter to me. Plus, it raises my blood glucose too high. But, I've been doing fine with liquid sugar alternatives, without the fillers, which are much easier to get today then they were in 2007.

I've started to rebuild my collection of these sugar-free syrups for coffee to use in keto recipes, as well as my coffee and hot chocolate.

I ordered the orange flavor that I wanted from Netrition last week, but I don't have the chicken breast yet for Chinese food. I did put some of the orange syrup in this week's coleslaw, and I'll be posting the recipe for that shortly.

[Here's the link to the coleslaw recipe if you're interested in trying it out.]

Hubby also picked me up a large bottle of chocolate from World Market last weekend, after he tried some chocolate-caramel coffee creamer that he really liked. I don't have caramel yet, so I'm making chocolate-coconut coffee this week, but caramel is next on my wish list because of its versatility.

What Can You Do with Sugar-Free Syrups?

Sugar-Free Syrup Makes a
Tasty, Delicious Strawberry Mousse!

If you've always thought that these sugar-free syrups are for just coffee, you're in for a sweet surprise. They can be used almost anywhere that sugar would normally be used. For example:

• Pour a bit into your plain, unsweetened yogurt.
• Use instead of sugar and water in cheesecake.
• Flavor your whipped cream to go on top of gelatin.
• Soak your unsweetened coconut in a bit of syrup.
• Make flavored vinegar like raspberry-vinegar.
• Add to your diet soda for a flavor kick.
• Mix with cream cheese and butter for keto frosting.
• Use to replace milk in your favorite recipe for mousse.
• Mix lemon and strawberry syrups for strawberry-lemonade.
• Combine 50/50 with heavy cream and freeze for popsickles.
• Use to sweeten your one-minute muffins.
• Add to your protein shakes, smoothies, and egg creams.
• Add to coleslaw for a nice flavor punch.
• Use in salad dressings, spreads, sauces, and dips.

And of course, you can also use them in your dessert recipes and baked goods.

I don't have a lot of sweet recipes in our archives, yet, since we are gluten free now, and most low-carb bake mixes use wheat protein, but I've been experimenting with almond flour and coconut flour lately in hopes of finding a way to make low carb more sustainable for us.

In future posts, I'll be posting those recipes and additional food ideas for these sugar-free syrups designed for coffee.

So do YOU use sugar-free syrups for coffee? If so, what do you use them for other than coffee? I'd love to hear your ideas!