Mixology at Home - Making Cocktail Syrups

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Even relatively small at-home bars can be supplied with syrups for great cocktails.

The first one that comes to mind is simple syrup; used in drinks such as the whiskey sour.

You can buy cocktail syrups, individually or in kits. A kit of samples might be worthwhile to see what you like.

I personally like to make my own syrups: simple syrup, which is just cane sugar and water; brown sugar, honey, maple, and cinnamon round out my collection. I am lazy with grenadine, buying it instead of whipping up a batch.

But you can do more, experimenting with herbs, fruits. Agave can be a substitute for simple syrup.

To store my syrups, I use small flasks, so they don’t take up a lot of room in my bar fridge. You also don’t want too much because the syrups should be replaced after about a month. I’ve stretched it sometimes.

Homemade Syrups

Simple Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar (granulated, raw, cane, your choice)

Directions: Add water and sugar to a saucepan and over a medium heat, stir until the sugar is dissolved and then cool before storing in an air tight container/bottle in a refrigerator. Syrup should last for about a month.

Brown Sugar Syrup

Same recipe as simple syrup but replace granulated sugar with brown sugar.

Cinnamon Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cinnamon sticks

Directions: Bring water to a boil, place in sugar and stir until dissolved. Reduce the heat, add cinnamon sticks and simmer for five minutes. Then let cool and steep for at least an hour (up to six hours to strengthen the flavor) before storing in an airtight container/bottle in a refrigerator. Syrup should last for about a month.

Honey Syrup

• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup water

Directions: Add honey and water in sauce pan and over medium heat, stir until honey is dissolved. Let cool and then store in an air-tight container/bottle in a refrigerator. It will last about a month.

Other Syrups: You can also make syrups flavored with ginger, coconut, or fruit. I admit, I don’t make my own grenadine syrup. If you don’t want to make your own, there are kits you can buy with a variety of flavors.

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