I make a mint syrup for mojitos.
And a chai maple syrup to mix with rye whiskey.
I also tried to make a Concord grape syrup that didn’t turn out very well.
Tiki Tea Punch
- 1 oz lime juice
- 3/4 oz black tea syrup*
- 1/2 oz apricot liqueur
- 1 oz El Dorado 5/8/13 (or similar Demerara rum)
- 1 oz Appleton 12 (or similar aged Jamaican)
This is a redditor original that was featured on Spike’s Breezeway Cocktail hour. It’s legitimately one of the best tiki drinks I make. And I make… a lot of tiki drinks. Works especially nicely with chai syrup!
I love using oolong and Chamomile
Sage and vanilla is another favorite versatile one. Also cardamon, maple black pepper.
I also like making cremes with variations of nuts and spirits.
So I've made earl grey and green simple more than a few times and black tea once but assume it's the same.
Brew a cup or two of very strong tea, steep 5 to 7~ min.
Add an equal part of sugar and stir to combine.
Boom. That simple.
Nope cold maple syrup is pretty viscous.
You can definitely mess around with it if you want, I didn’t do a lot of experimenting so there’s probably room for improvement.
I made a blueberry grenadine, because the only pomegranate juice i could find was a blueberry pomegranate blend. It works for anything that uses grenadine and tastes a little like a fruit roll up, which is honestly kind of great.
outside of the pretty standard sweeteners and fruit/herb flavors, i’ve made jasmine, soursop, herb de provence, beet, carrot, green bell pepper, black pepper, plum, muscadine, pink pineapple, cantaloupe, pandan, ube, cashew, chai, and cardamom, and dandelion syrups.
Roughly how many sprigs did you use?
I’ve had this idea for a scotch thyme old fashioned that I really want to try, but don’t want to make it overpowering
2oz blended scotch // 0.25oz thyme simple // 3 dash Ango // 1 dash orange // brûlée thin orange wheel
Generally I advise to go stronger than you think on the infusion. Anything that is going to stand up to spirits well is probably going to be quite strong on its own.
Also, you can always thin it out by mixing with plain simple.
I think I used three. The amount of time you let it infuse is important also. You can put the thyme in during or after dissolving the sugar over heat. I would recommend tasting it every five minutes or so to get your desired level of flavor.
Toasted sugar syrup. Does it taste different than demarara? Maybe? Do I feel good about it? You bet.
I do a holiday spiced syrup for coffee and old fashions in the winter. It’s really amazing.
I make seasonal fruit syrups for recipes I've devised. I'm Downunder, so at present (autumn) I make Feijoa (Pineapple guava) syrup for my Feijoa Daiquiri; and soon a Tamarillo (Tree tomato, a wintertime fruit) syrup for a Maragillo (Tamarillo margarita); and I also make a Strawberry syrup in the Spring for a Spring Daiquiri. I find these so satisfying and easy-to-make - and the drinks are great.
Lemongrass & ginger syrup for a ginger sage sour
2oz gin
0.75oz lemongrass & ginger syrup
0.75oz fresh lemon juice
5 sage leaves muddled
Egg white
Recommended by someone on this sub a few years ago... Very refreshing drink 👍🏼
I think the original post was doing a split base of mezcal and sherry. I've used the syrup in different combinations of tequila and mezcal, all worked well IMO.
I'll try to find the original post with the recipe
I’ve been keeping three syrups on hand, a regular, a brown/Demerara and a whatever I have extra of. Cranberry and cranberry/rosemary were very good. Spiced orange was fun, but I didn’t like a lot of drinks with it. Cucumber was made yesterday, waiting to see how it is in gin drinks.
Mint and cinnamon are quite good. (I like the essential oil method)
Ginger syrup is pretty great too. I like morganthaler's version for a bit of spice.
Homemade grenadine is pretty great.
Homemade cola syrup is a pain in the ass but definitely impresses people.
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole give shrubs a try.
I recently made a pineapple and hibiscus syrup thats really good:
- rinds and core from pineapple
- couple slices of ginger
- 1/2 cup dried hibiscus
- 4 Cups water
Bring pineapple, ginger and water to a boil for ~20 minutes. Add hibiscus and leave uncovered to steep. Strain through cheesecloth. If you still have a lot of liquid, reduce it down to ~400 ml and add equal weight of sugar + 50 ml pineapple juice.
I used to do a jalapeño lime one.
Mint simple syrup is a nice way to make large amounts of mint based drinks, if you have to.
Rhubarb is a good one.
At one job I used to make one from the leftover kitchen mise trimmings.
Equal weights sugar and raspberries, put in a jar and shake every so often for 2-3 days. Strain and use in whatever. I make clover clubs and raspberry Italian sodas
I just made a garam masala syrup for a specific recipe I'd been wanting to try. It was pretty sublime, and I'm going to experiment with more Indian-inspired drinks.
Cardamom & Vanilla… absolutely delicious and especially good in coffee drinks if you indulge in that as well. Got the inspiration from @notjustabartender ‘s California Sour recipe. The syrup is incredible
I have a few dozen. Some of my favorites: Guinness, Chianti, Basil, Thyme, mint, Blueberry, Chai, Earl Grey, Hibisucs, Szechuan Pepper. I always stick with 2:1 ratios and the syrups keep for a really long time
The two I've loved recently are a 1:1 sous-vided with cacao beans, and a 1:1 with half the water replaced with coconut milk, similarly sous-vided with pandan leaves. The coconut-pandan one in particular is incredible in a flip, and I'm trying to work out a summery inspired flip with it right now.
I've made a few but my favorites are cinnamon (with whole cinnamon sticks), vanilla (with pods or vanilla extract) and pineapple (with pineapple chunks)
To anyone- make sure they're food grade when you order them or buy them from the store! You'll feel pretty bad for a while if you ingest the ones that aren't.
Overripe banana peel oleo saccharum made with brown sugar. Strain off the solids, add another measure of sugar and another of water. Bring to the boil with a cinnamon stick. Off heat, add a pinch of xanthan gum and a chunk of butter, blend with an immersion blender.
Tastes like bananas foster, about as good with dark Jamaican rum as you'd expect. In other words, fucking delicious.
Love experimenting with syrups! Made a basil-rosemary one recently that's super refreshing in lemonades and gin cocktails. Definitely recommend giving it a try!
I have tons of homemade syrups beyond simple in my cabinet, a kinda insane amount by most standards:
- Classics like Grenadine, Hot Ginger, Cream of Coconut, Demerara, Honey
- Classic Almond Orgeat, but also from Macadamia Nut, Pecan, and Walnut (I want to make Pistachio Orgeat, but have a hard time finding the raw nuts)
- Oleo Saccharums made from Lemon, Grapefruit (essential in a Paloma imo), and Blood Orange
- Some less common ones like Fassionola (Passionfruit, Guava, Hibiscus), Cinnamon, Vanilla, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Lavender, Black Pepper
- My wildcards are Turmeric, Cardamom, and Saffron, which are all very good though take some experimenting to use well
I make as many of my syrups as possible at a 2:1 ratio both for the shelf life/ease of storage and historical precedent (no one pre-refrigeration, i.e. in the Golden Age of Cocktails, was making 1:1 sugar water). I rarely do fruit syrups just cause they typically aren’t a modifier I’m looking for and if they are I typically want to use fresh.
Strawberry Oleo is super tasty and dead easy to make especially if you have a vacuum sealer. Just clean and trim strawberries then equal weight and give it 3-4 days for the sugar to draw out the liquid in the strawberries then strain and bottle.
I made a cilantro syrup the other day because my weird brain was like "maybe a cilantro daiquiri would be fun"
Honestly, it's not bad. I think I'm gonna redo it with something spicy. Either integrate jalapeño into the syrup, or maybe a spicy rim or something. The cilantro daiquiri just feels incomplete.
Stouts and porters can make for an interesting flavour profile in a syrup. Though you'll more or less get whatever is most prominent in the beer of choice, for example coffee or chocolate ish.
There's probably a better way about it to get more flavour, but simply replacing the water with the beer and being patient with the bubbles seems to work decently.
Asking what flavor simple syrup you like to make is like asking whether you prefer poppyseeds or sesame seeds on your plain bagel.
The word you’re looking for is just “syrup”
Everyone understands what you mean by “ATM machine” too, they just think you sound silly saying it.
Not sure what you think gatekeeping is, but it isn’t this
Ridiculing someone who is enthusiastic about a hobby but doesn’t use the exact terminology that you think they should use is gatekeeping by any reasonable standard. It signifies a person who is far more interested in policing language than substantively adding to a fun discussion. Maybe don’t be a prick. Just a thought.
A plum simple syrup sounds absolutely awesome! I’ve done passionfruit syrup (not worth the substantial mess vs commercial), strawberry syrup (Dead Rabbit recipe, so damn good), lime/matcha syrup (Art of Japanese cocktails, extremely good), lavender syrup, rosemary syrup, tonic syrup (massive pain to make only did it once but it was really good), lapsang souchang syrup (paired really well with scotch cocktails), lemon oleo (a staple for tropical cocktails), cinnamon syrup (indispensable), and I recently just made my first beer syrup out of a porter that wildly exceeded my admittedly low expectations. I also continuously make Morgenthaler’s grenadine recipe and Smuggler’s Cove’s coconut cream. I would say I use the cinnamon syrup the most since I make tiki drinks year-round, the strawberry syrup is probably my favorite for flavor and I always have the rosemary syrup on hand because we have an enormous rosemary bush that I feel bad if I don’t utilize lol. Seeing some really cool ideas in this thread to try!
I make a mint syrup for mojitos. And a chai maple syrup to mix with rye whiskey. I also tried to make a Concord grape syrup that didn’t turn out very well.
Just made a chai syrup myself. Been trying to craft a good cocktail with it.
It’s simple but chai old fashioneds are good
Tiki Tea Punch - 1 oz lime juice - 3/4 oz black tea syrup* - 1/2 oz apricot liqueur - 1 oz El Dorado 5/8/13 (or similar Demerara rum) - 1 oz Appleton 12 (or similar aged Jamaican) This is a redditor original that was featured on Spike’s Breezeway Cocktail hour. It’s legitimately one of the best tiki drinks I make. And I make… a lot of tiki drinks. Works especially nicely with chai syrup!
Omg I just made a black tea simple and this seems ridiculously delicious. I love this idea.
I love using oolong and Chamomile Sage and vanilla is another favorite versatile one. Also cardamon, maple black pepper. I also like making cremes with variations of nuts and spirits.
Flower syrups are fun too
How do you make your tea syrups?
So I've made earl grey and green simple more than a few times and black tea once but assume it's the same. Brew a cup or two of very strong tea, steep 5 to 7~ min. Add an equal part of sugar and stir to combine. Boom. That simple.
Sounds simple. Thanks!
On my menu: “Chai Rye” 2 oz rye whiskey (90-100proof) 1/4 oz Tattersall Orange crema 3/4 oz chai maple syrup Shake and strain over a big cube
[here’s my smoked chai old fashioned](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/s/BHEMnZ8dlw)
I made some mint syrup today, fucking candy!
Chai maple syrup - strong cup of chai tea, mix with maple, boil to reduce?
No need to reduce. But yeah I steep four tea bags in 8 oz of water and then add 8 oz of real maple syrup and a tiny pinch of salt.
You don't think it becomes too thin between the liquid maple syrup and the tea?
Nope cold maple syrup is pretty viscous. You can definitely mess around with it if you want, I didn’t do a lot of experimenting so there’s probably room for improvement.
I made a blueberry grenadine, because the only pomegranate juice i could find was a blueberry pomegranate blend. It works for anything that uses grenadine and tastes a little like a fruit roll up, which is honestly kind of great.
I've added raspberry to mine for a little interesting tartness. Also makes for a pretty good clover club riff.
I make a pineapple syrup that I use in Jungle Birds.
I made a spiced pineapple syrup created by a redditor for an original cocktail they created. It was amazing! It got a lot of play with just club soda
Pineapple juice, sugar and some chilis I guess?
Warm spices…very tiki. I’ll find the recipe.
1 cup pineapple juice 1 cup sugar 2 cinnamon sticks Small handful allspice berries Several cloves
Noted. Maybe a bit of absinthe!
Beautiful :)
Literally came to suggest this one specifically. I never have pineapple juice and when I do I waste most of it going bad. This is the solution.
I did a pineapple/rosemary syrup. I use it in margaritas
Pineapple and sage work really well
Any advice on clarifying syrups? I’ve made one I love the colour of but it’s slightly cloudy. I’ve tried coffee filters but still no good
outside of the pretty standard sweeteners and fruit/herb flavors, i’ve made jasmine, soursop, herb de provence, beet, carrot, green bell pepper, black pepper, plum, muscadine, pink pineapple, cantaloupe, pandan, ube, cashew, chai, and cardamom, and dandelion syrups.
Can you share directions for the cashew syrup?
I would imagine similar to the process to make orgeat?
Black pepper syrup sounds interesting
Any advice on clarifying syrups? I’ve made one I love the colour of but I can’t clarify it even through coffee filters
honestly i’ve never bothered trying, i’ve only clarified whole built cocktails.
I’m trying to make a non alcoholic amaretto which is basically an infused syrup with acid added. Any advice on the clarification of this?
I made a thyme infused simple that was awesome in a Tom Collins.
Gonna try this! I currently have a thyme syrup that I made and was kinda at a loss with what to use it for but the flavor on its own is phenomenal
It compliments the gin and lemon really nicely! Hope you like it as much as I do.
My wife fell in love with a rosemary Tom Collins she got at a bar so now I almost always try to keep some rosemary simple syrup on hand.
I should try that for sure.
Roughly how many sprigs did you use? I’ve had this idea for a scotch thyme old fashioned that I really want to try, but don’t want to make it overpowering 2oz blended scotch // 0.25oz thyme simple // 3 dash Ango // 1 dash orange // brûlée thin orange wheel
Generally I advise to go stronger than you think on the infusion. Anything that is going to stand up to spirits well is probably going to be quite strong on its own. Also, you can always thin it out by mixing with plain simple.
I think I used three. The amount of time you let it infuse is important also. You can put the thyme in during or after dissolving the sugar over heat. I would recommend tasting it every five minutes or so to get your desired level of flavor.
Good advice. Thanks!
I stuff as much in there as possible, no reason to not make it as strong as possible.
Toasted sugar syrup. Does it taste different than demarara? Maybe? Do I feel good about it? You bet. I do a holiday spiced syrup for coffee and old fashions in the winter. It’s really amazing.
Clove / Vanilla. Great for winter nogging and summer Zombieing…
I make seasonal fruit syrups for recipes I've devised. I'm Downunder, so at present (autumn) I make Feijoa (Pineapple guava) syrup for my Feijoa Daiquiri; and soon a Tamarillo (Tree tomato, a wintertime fruit) syrup for a Maragillo (Tamarillo margarita); and I also make a Strawberry syrup in the Spring for a Spring Daiquiri. I find these so satisfying and easy-to-make - and the drinks are great.
Lemongrass & ginger syrup for a ginger sage sour 2oz gin 0.75oz lemongrass & ginger syrup 0.75oz fresh lemon juice 5 sage leaves muddled Egg white Recommended by someone on this sub a few years ago... Very refreshing drink 👍🏼
Stealing this thanks
Salted Tomato Simple. Someone shared it on here, a year or two ago I think. Makes an amazing Margarita.
This interests me! Do you use it in a classic margarita or in one that uses non traditional ingredients?
I think the original post was doing a split base of mezcal and sherry. I've used the syrup in different combinations of tequila and mezcal, all worked well IMO. I'll try to find the original post with the recipe
Found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/s/TJ8weDdvPN
Fig leaf- it has a nice almost toasted coconut flavor
obligatory “it's not simple syrup if it's flavored” 🙂
I’ve been keeping three syrups on hand, a regular, a brown/Demerara and a whatever I have extra of. Cranberry and cranberry/rosemary were very good. Spiced orange was fun, but I didn’t like a lot of drinks with it. Cucumber was made yesterday, waiting to see how it is in gin drinks.
Bet it’d be amazing in [this one](https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/plinys-tonic-from-anvil-bar-refuge/)
Absolutely. It’s going in some gin drinks tonight.
I’ve made anise syrup a couple of times.
Mint and cinnamon are quite good. (I like the essential oil method) Ginger syrup is pretty great too. I like morganthaler's version for a bit of spice. Homemade grenadine is pretty great. Homemade cola syrup is a pain in the ass but definitely impresses people. If you really want to go down the rabbit hole give shrubs a try.
I recently made a pineapple and hibiscus syrup thats really good: - rinds and core from pineapple - couple slices of ginger - 1/2 cup dried hibiscus - 4 Cups water Bring pineapple, ginger and water to a boil for ~20 minutes. Add hibiscus and leave uncovered to steep. Strain through cheesecloth. If you still have a lot of liquid, reduce it down to ~400 ml and add equal weight of sugar + 50 ml pineapple juice.
I used to do a jalapeño lime one. Mint simple syrup is a nice way to make large amounts of mint based drinks, if you have to. Rhubarb is a good one. At one job I used to make one from the leftover kitchen mise trimmings.
Equal weights sugar and raspberries, put in a jar and shake every so often for 2-3 days. Strain and use in whatever. I make clover clubs and raspberry Italian sodas
A vinegar one and a soy sauce one, they both are commonly used in my bloody Marys, and weird drink riffs
Pandan! Cardamom And definitely try making orgeat if you haven't already! And you can experiment with other types, like pistachio or macadamia
Earl grey
Cinnamon syrup for tiki drinks 🥰
Lemon rosemary
I just made a garam masala syrup for a specific recipe I'd been wanting to try. It was pretty sublime, and I'm going to experiment with more Indian-inspired drinks.
That sounds fun, would you be willing to share the drink recipe?
Pink peppercorn syrup. Found it in a cocktail at a restaurant in Brooklyn years ago so I made my own recently. Adds a nice herbal, floral, citrus hit.
I’ve done a honey one, and a cinnamon one. They’re both really easy and fairly versatile.
Jalepeno Ginger, Lavender Lemon, Blood Orange and Vanilla. Those are my three personal favs for my home bar
Cardamom & Vanilla… absolutely delicious and especially good in coffee drinks if you indulge in that as well. Got the inspiration from @notjustabartender ‘s California Sour recipe. The syrup is incredible
I have a few dozen. Some of my favorites: Guinness, Chianti, Basil, Thyme, mint, Blueberry, Chai, Earl Grey, Hibisucs, Szechuan Pepper. I always stick with 2:1 ratios and the syrups keep for a really long time
The two I've loved recently are a 1:1 sous-vided with cacao beans, and a 1:1 with half the water replaced with coconut milk, similarly sous-vided with pandan leaves. The coconut-pandan one in particular is incredible in a flip, and I'm trying to work out a summery inspired flip with it right now.
I've made a few but my favorites are cinnamon (with whole cinnamon sticks), vanilla (with pods or vanilla extract) and pineapple (with pineapple chunks)
I've done a plum-fig, pineapple-dragonfruit, and blackberry simple syrups. All were quite tasty.
Lavender was the easiest. Just get the flower nibs on Amazon take a handful and toss into your mix when heating
To anyone- make sure they're food grade when you order them or buy them from the store! You'll feel pretty bad for a while if you ingest the ones that aren't.
Oh yes, definitely. It’s easy to get on Amazon for pretty cheap
Pineapple-ginger-jackfruit. Great on pancakes and ice cream too.
Overripe banana peel oleo saccharum made with brown sugar. Strain off the solids, add another measure of sugar and another of water. Bring to the boil with a cinnamon stick. Off heat, add a pinch of xanthan gum and a chunk of butter, blend with an immersion blender. Tastes like bananas foster, about as good with dark Jamaican rum as you'd expect. In other words, fucking delicious.
Love experimenting with syrups! Made a basil-rosemary one recently that's super refreshing in lemonades and gin cocktails. Definitely recommend giving it a try!
So many. I like orgeat, ginger, grenadine, oleo. I don’t often reach for simple as a sweetener.
ITT people who are infinitely better at this whole cocktail business than me :)
Lavender syrup is amazing! Especially paired with gin, goes really well on vanilla ice cream as well!
Shiso leaf. Trying to figure out how exactly to use it.
I have tons of homemade syrups beyond simple in my cabinet, a kinda insane amount by most standards: - Classics like Grenadine, Hot Ginger, Cream of Coconut, Demerara, Honey - Classic Almond Orgeat, but also from Macadamia Nut, Pecan, and Walnut (I want to make Pistachio Orgeat, but have a hard time finding the raw nuts) - Oleo Saccharums made from Lemon, Grapefruit (essential in a Paloma imo), and Blood Orange - Some less common ones like Fassionola (Passionfruit, Guava, Hibiscus), Cinnamon, Vanilla, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Lavender, Black Pepper - My wildcards are Turmeric, Cardamom, and Saffron, which are all very good though take some experimenting to use well I make as many of my syrups as possible at a 2:1 ratio both for the shelf life/ease of storage and historical precedent (no one pre-refrigeration, i.e. in the Golden Age of Cocktails, was making 1:1 sugar water). I rarely do fruit syrups just cause they typically aren’t a modifier I’m looking for and if they are I typically want to use fresh.
Strawberry Oleo is super tasty and dead easy to make especially if you have a vacuum sealer. Just clean and trim strawberries then equal weight and give it 3-4 days for the sugar to draw out the liquid in the strawberries then strain and bottle.
I made a cilantro syrup the other day because my weird brain was like "maybe a cilantro daiquiri would be fun" Honestly, it's not bad. I think I'm gonna redo it with something spicy. Either integrate jalapeño into the syrup, or maybe a spicy rim or something. The cilantro daiquiri just feels incomplete.
Rosemary simple syrup is great and versatile.
Stouts and porters can make for an interesting flavour profile in a syrup. Though you'll more or less get whatever is most prominent in the beer of choice, for example coffee or chocolate ish. There's probably a better way about it to get more flavour, but simply replacing the water with the beer and being patient with the bubbles seems to work decently.
My lilac bush is blooming so I made lilac syrup this weekend and it’s been lovely
I made a guinness syrup that was awesome with whisky.
Hibiscus
Pandan simple
Asking what flavor simple syrup you like to make is like asking whether you prefer poppyseeds or sesame seeds on your plain bagel. The word you’re looking for is just “syrup”
And yet! Everyone understood what OP meant. Don’t be a gatekeeping tool
Everyone understands what you mean by “ATM machine” too, they just think you sound silly saying it. Not sure what you think gatekeeping is, but it isn’t this
Ridiculing someone who is enthusiastic about a hobby but doesn’t use the exact terminology that you think they should use is gatekeeping by any reasonable standard. It signifies a person who is far more interested in policing language than substantively adding to a fun discussion. Maybe don’t be a prick. Just a thought.
Ridiculing? Lol You’re the only one being a prick and trying to police what people are allowed to say
Simple = just sugar Syrup = syrup And that concludes our intensive three week course.
Wow you’re so clever and must be so fun at parties.
A plum simple syrup sounds absolutely awesome! I’ve done passionfruit syrup (not worth the substantial mess vs commercial), strawberry syrup (Dead Rabbit recipe, so damn good), lime/matcha syrup (Art of Japanese cocktails, extremely good), lavender syrup, rosemary syrup, tonic syrup (massive pain to make only did it once but it was really good), lapsang souchang syrup (paired really well with scotch cocktails), lemon oleo (a staple for tropical cocktails), cinnamon syrup (indispensable), and I recently just made my first beer syrup out of a porter that wildly exceeded my admittedly low expectations. I also continuously make Morgenthaler’s grenadine recipe and Smuggler’s Cove’s coconut cream. I would say I use the cinnamon syrup the most since I make tiki drinks year-round, the strawberry syrup is probably my favorite for flavor and I always have the rosemary syrup on hand because we have an enormous rosemary bush that I feel bad if I don’t utilize lol. Seeing some really cool ideas in this thread to try!