How to Make Infused Simple Syrups
Make infused simple syrups at home using herbs, fruit, vegetables, spices, and more. These naturally flavored and naturally colored syrups are incredibly versatile, easy to make, and simple, just as the name suggests.
Looking for simple syrup recipes? Try my peach simple syrup, strawberry simple syrup, or raspberry simple syrup.
Ingredients
- Sugar – This is typically white granulated sugar or organic cane sugar (my personal favorite). But it can also be light or dark brown sugar, coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar.
- Water – to dissolve the sugar.
- Add-ins – this is what will flavor the syrup. You can use one ingredient or combination for a more complex syrup. Keep scrolling for ideas of what to use.
Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations
Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.
How can you make any flavored simple syrup using what you already have? The options are endless, but here are several ideas to get you started…
- Citrus peels and/or citrus juice – orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, Meyer lemon, etc. Or a combination of citrus with another ingredient, like my lemon ginger syrup in my green apple mocktail.
- Whole or ground spices – cinnamon sticks, cardamom, ginger, allspice, clove, pumpkin spice, etc. Look in your spice cupboard and see what you can come up with.
- Dried flowers – such as rosebud, chamomile, hibiscus or lavender used in my lavender lemonade, just make sure to use culinary grade lavender.
- Fruit – this can be dried, frozen or fresh fruit such as apples, pears, berries (strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry) cherries, peaches, plums, or nectarines. These taste amazing in Italian cream sodas.
- Spicy peppers Рsuch as jalape̱o or serrano peppers. The spicy sweetness can be used to balance a drink like my cucumber mint mocktail with jalape̱o and lime.
- Vegetables – fennel, beets, cucumber, carrots, celery, etc.
- Fresh herbs – such as thyme, rosemary, sage, or tarragon. Or try basil or mint in frozen watermelon slushies.
- Fruit or vegetable juice – swap out some of the water for juice like in my citrus simple syrups: orange, lime, and grapefruit, but this can also be any type of fruit or vegetable juice.
- Tea – just like you infuse tea in water, you can also infuse it into simple syrup using either loose leaf tea or tea bags. My earl grey simple syrup is a must make, for London fogs and matcha lattes alike!
- Vanilla bean – drizzle on ice cream, blueberry pancakes, or waffles.
How to Make Infused Simple Syrup: Step By Step
Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!
- Dissolve sugar. Combine water, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. If using citrus or fruit/vegetable juice, you would add it in this step.
- Add infusions. Once the sugar has dissolved, add whatever ingredient you’re infusing into the syrup such as fresh or dried herbs, zest, tea, spices, fresh or frozen fruit, etc.
Helpful Tips
- Turbinado sugar, also known as raw sugar, doesn’t work when making simple syrups. The granules are too coarse and don’t dissolve as easily.
- A standard simple syrup uses a 1:1 ratio of water and sugar. For example: 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. However, I often find that ratio to be too sweet, so many of my recipes call for less sugar than water depending on what I’m infusing them with to suit my personal preference.
- A thick simple syrup, also called rich simple syrup uses a ratio of 2:1, two parts sugar to one part water. It has a thicker viscosity because there’s twice the amount of sugar, and it’s also twice as sweet, so you need less of it as a result.
- Let your syrup cool to room temperature before you put the lid on and store it in the fridge. Once cooled, it’s ideal to let the infused syrup chill for at least an hour before using it.
How to Use
There are many ways to use infused simple syrups. Here are a few ways to use them:
- Cold drinks:
- Cocktail – such as margarita, mojito, old fashioned, negroni, mule, etc.
- Mocktail – blackberry mojito mocktail, sparkling cherry mocktail with lime, grapefruit paloma mocktail, etc.
- Homemade soda – using a couple tablespoons of syrup with club soda or sparkling water over ice for a refreshing soda or Italian cream sodas.
- Iced matcha latte or coffee
- Homemade slushies
- Iced tea
- Agua fresca
- Breakfast – drizzle over pancakes, waffles, crepes, oatmeal, or yogurt.
- Desserts – pour over ice cream or cheesecake, brush onto cake layers, or use to sweeten sorbets or rainbow sherbet.
- Salad dressing – use in place of honey or maple syrup for vinaigrettes.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’ve ever added a spoonful of sugar or a squeeze of honey to an iced drink, it generally all congregates at the bottom and doesn’t mix well throughout the drink.
When sugar is made into a syrup, it seamlessly mixes in. This is why many cold drinks like cocktails, mocktails, and iced lattes use simple syrup as the sweetener.But they’re also great for warm drinks as well as desserts.
To make simple syrup, you’ll need a saucepan to cook the syrup, a whisk to stir it, a fine mesh sieve to strain out the add-ins, and a glass jar to store in it. If pouring into a narrow neck bottle, a silicone funnel can be very helpful.
Store simple syrup in a tightly sealed glass jar in the fridge for 2-4 weeks. Depending on what you use for the infusion will determine how long it’ll last.
The sugar in the syrup helps to preserve it, but when fresh fruits or vegetables are added, it reduces the shelf life to about two and a half weeks.
Yes, pour the cooled syrup into a silicone ice cube tray and place in the freezer. Once frozen, pop them into a tightly sealed freezer safe bag where they’ll last for up to 6 months.
Simple Syrup Recipes
- Peach Simple Syrup
- Hibiscus Simple Syrup
- Strawberry Simple Syrup
- Lemon Ginger Syrup
- Raspberry Simple Syrup
How to Make Infused Simple Syrups
Ingredients
Basic Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- â…” cup organic cane sugar or white granulated sugar
Infused Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- â…” cup organic cane sugar or sweetener of choice
Infusions – choose one, see blog post for more ideas
- 1 cup fresh basil or mint
- 2 cups fresh or frozen fruit of choice
- 4 teabags of choice or 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea
Instructions
Basic Simple Syrup
- Dissolve sugar. Combine water, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Transfer to a glass jar and let cool to room temperature before topping with a lid and storing in the fridge.
Infused Simple Syrup
- Dissolve sugar. Combine water, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. If using citrus or fruit/vegetable juice, you would add it in this step. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Infuse and simmer. Add whatever ingredient you’re infusing into the syrup such as fresh or dried herbs, fresh or frozen fruit, zest or citrus peels, loose leaf or tea bags, etc.
- Simmer. Reduce to medium low heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Strain. Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a jar. If using fruit, you can save it to use later, but discard anything else. Transfer the infused syrup to a jar and let cool to room temperature before adding a tightly sealed lid and storing in the fridge to chill before using.
Notes
- make it your way section with tons of infusion ideas
- helpful tips
- frequently asked questions
- serving ideas
- more simple syrup recipes