Cocktail Syrups for Home Use

The recipes for Classic Cocktails have been tested, and I find myself with bit of breathing room. This seems like a good time to share some syrup recipes for anyone looking to improve their socially distant cocktail game.

Today’s focus is on basic sugar and fruit syrups (I have a followup planned to cover a few more). All of these are reasonably easy to make with common ingredients, but will also accommodate substitutions.

Simple Syrup
1 part White Sugar
1 part Water

Cold Method: Combine ingredients in a container and shake until dissolved. Refrigerate.
Warm Method: Combine ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat and stir until dissolved. Transfer into a container and refrigerate.

Notes: Simple syrup lives up to its name! You can also substitute a more flavorful product, like demerara, turbindo, or muscovado sugar, or a blend of sugars if you want to be fancy.

Rich Simple Syrup
2 parts White Sugar
1 part Water

Warm Method: Combine ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat and stir until dissolved. Transfer into a container and refrigerate.

Notes: You can try the cold method here, but the warm one will work better with this sugar concentration. I prefer to use demerara sugar for my rich simple syrup to get richer flavor and texture all at once.

Grenadine (and other fruit juice syrups)
1 part White Sugar
1 part Pomegranate Juice

Cold Method: Combine ingredients in a container and shake until dissolved. Refrigerate.
Warm Method: Combine ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat and stir until dissolved. Transfer into a container and refrigerate.
Hot Method: Combine ingredients in a pot over medium heat and stir until dissolved. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture is reduced by half, or is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer into a container and refrigerate.

Notes: I’m including the hot method for reference, but I never use it personally; grenadine gets plenty thick enough under the warm method, and if the juice comes to a boil it will change the flavor for the worse. But it’s commonly cited, so I’m including it to make the differences in methods clear.

Optional additions to grenadine include orange flower water, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, vodka (in a small amount as a preservative), gin (ditto, and for flavor), and brandy (same as gin), but none of these is necessary.

You can also use this technique to make syrups out of other fruit juices! For the most similar results, stick to unsweetened ones with a tart note and not too much fiber or pulp - so, grape and cranberry are in, banana and orange are probably out, etc.

Rasperry Syrup (and other whole-fruit syrups)
2 parts White Sugar
1 part Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
1 part Warm Water

Warm Method: Mash raspberries. Add sugar and mix thoroughly, then allow to sit and macerate for 30 minutes. Add warm (not hot) water and stir until all sugar is dissolved. Strain to remove seeds, transfer into a container, and refrigerate.

Notes: Grenadine and raspberry syrup can often be used as substitutes for one another in cocktails, but there are classic recipes that call for raspberry syrup preferentially (most famously the Clover Club).

As with the grenadine recipe, you can also use this one to make syrups out of other fruits. For best results, stick to ones that have a high water content and pulverize easily - berries are probably your best bet, but I could imagine this method working for something like watermelon, too.

And of course, nothing says you have to use the raspberry syrup in cocktails! You can put it on pancakes or desserts, or stir it into seltzer for a homemade raspberry soda instead.

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All right, let’s put these into some recipes, shall we? To showcase the similar but distinct uses of grenadine and raspberry syrup, consider…

Clover Club
1½ oz. London Dry Gin
½ oz. Dry Vermouth
½ oz. Lemon Juice
½ oz. Raspberry Syrup
Egg White

Shake without ice to unfold egg proteins. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve. Optionally, garnish with 2-3 raspberries.

This could be either drink, but it’s the Pink Lady.

Pink Lady
1½ oz. London Dry Gin
½ oz. Apple Brandy
¾ oz. Lemon Juice
½ oz. Simple Syrup
½ oz. Grenadine
Egg White

Shake without ice to unfold egg proteins. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve.