Easy Simple Syrup Recipe & 10 Flavors For Mocktails & Coffee’s & More
Hey friends! Whether you’re making fancy mocktails, jazzing up your morning coffee, or whipping up delicious hot chocolate, I’ve found that a good flavored simple syrup is the absolute key to success. Tired of buying those costly, store-bought coffee syrups? I hear you! In this post, I’ll show you the easy, simple syrup recipe you can make in minutes, plus 10 delicious flavor variations. These syrups are perfect for elevating any beverage, from holiday mocktails to your everyday espresso. Plus, they are great for adding to desserts, pastries, and more. Let’s get mixing!
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How Can You Use Simple Syrup Recipes?
Simple syrup is an essential ingredient for any home barista or mixologist (even for mocktails!). The great news is that it is so easy to make. Essentially, it’s a quick, liquid sweetener that disperses easily, preventing the grittiness that granulated sugar often leaves behind in cold liquids. While the classic version is perfect for sweetening iced coffee and tea and is the base for nearly every cocktail, its real magic lies in flavor infusions. Use these syrups to transform a plain glass of sparkling water into a vibrant Italian soda, drizzle them over fresh fruit or pancakes, add a burst of flavor to homemade whipped cream, or infuse your baked goods with moisture and flavor. They are the versatile secret weapon for elevating any beverage or dessert.
Great Gift Idea
Another use for these tasty syrups is to make them for gifts. Use sealable bottles such as these and apply labels. Use them for thank-you gifts, hostess gifts, teacher gifts, and more.
Simple Syrup Recipe
Everyone needs a bottle of plain, simple syrup for a quick and easy sweetener when you don’t want to worry about dissolving sugar in a recipe or beverage. Let’s begin with the basic recipe, and then I’ll share the flavors and reasons you will want to make some flavored selections.
- Place a saucepan on the stove top
- Add 1 cup of water
- Plus 1 cup of Sugar
- Bring to a soft boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
- Allow to cool and pour into a sanitized, sealable bottle or jar.
- Store in refrigerator up to 4 weeks. (Follow the safety precautions for maximum shelf life)
Simple syrup can be used with any recipe that calls for sugar. Plain simple syrup is used in many cocktail recipes, and today I’m introducing flavors that are excellent for making alcohol-free mocktails.
Insider Tip
Because many flavored simple syrup recipes will have a short shelf life, you may want to reduce the recipe for smaller batches. All simple syrup recipes can be reduced or increased easily. Just use equal amounts of water and sugars. Then adjust flavor ingredients accordingly. Example if you reduce the water and sugar by half, reduce the flavor ingredient by half also.
Flavored Simple Syrup Recipes
Here are a few of my favorite flavored simple syrup recipes that work great for making mocktails, flavored coffee, hot chocolates, or adding to dessert and pastry recipes.
In these flavored simple syrup recipes, you will bring the water to a soft boil, then remove it from the heat and let it cool. Overboiling certain herbs can result in a strong flavor. If you want a mild, simple syrup flavor, let them simmer for only a few minutes. Below are the exact recipes and instructions for each flavor of simple syrup.
Mint Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup washed, fresh mint leaves (cut or torn into smaller pieces to release more flavor)
- Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a soft boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Use a strainer to pour liquid into a jar or bottle. Throw the mint leaves away. You can add a few fresh leaves to the bottle if you desire. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
A mild mint flavor, perfect for mojito mocktails or cocktails. Delicious in hot chocolate and coffee drinks. Use mint simple syrup to add mint flavor to cookies or cakes. This recipe is much milder than peppermint simple syrup.
Peppermint Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp. Peppermint Extract
- Bring water and sugar to a slow boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add peppermint extract. Stir and add to a sealable jar or bottle. Refrigerate up to 4 weeks.
Great addition to holiday peppermint drinks, including peppermint chocolate martinis, in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. Add it to hot chocolate and coffee drinks for a festive addition.
Rosemary Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 – 4 fresh (washed) Rosemary Stems. Use a spoon or a knife to hammer the stems to release more flavor.
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan and heat to a slow boil. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Remove the rosemary stems, then pour into a clean, sealable jar or bottle. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
Rosemary simple syrup is delicious with fresh fruit, fruit juice, mocktails, and cocktails. Pomegranate, Cranberry, and White Grape juices are enhanced with the fresh rosemary taste.
Pomegranate Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup 100% pomegranate juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- Bring all ingredients to a slow boil until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, pour into a clean jar or bottle, and seal. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
Create delicious fruit-enhanced mocktails by combining with club soda or seltzer water. Enhance white grape juice with a splash of pomegranate simple syrup over ice.
Cranberry Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh (clean) Cranberries
- Bring all ingredients to a soft boil and simmer until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries burst. Strain the liquid from the cranberries, then strain again through cheesecloth to remove pulp. Store stained liquid in a clean sealable jar or bottle. Refrigerate up to two weeks.
Perfect addition to a holiday drink such as White Grape and Cranberry Punch, Cranberry Pear Mocktails, and more. Add a taste of cranberry to chocolate cookies or sugar cookies.
Insider Tip
To enhance cranberry simple syrup, add fresh cranberries with either fresh mint leaves or rosemary sprigs to ice trays and freeze in ice cubes.
Cinnamon Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 3-4 whole cinnamon sticks
- Remove cinnamon sticks and store in an airtight container. You can include a couple of cinnamon sticks in the bottle if you want. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
Cinnamon Simple Syrup is great for flavoring coffee, hot chocolate, spiced coffee lattes, and holiday mocktails. You can also glaze bread and pasties with cinnamon simple syrup.
Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2-3 vanilla beans (split)
- Store in an air-tight container. You can either drain the vanilla beans or add them to the jar. If you prefer, you can use whole vanilla beans in the jar. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup enhances any coffee drink, cream soda mocktails, and is great added to whipped cream toppings.
Basil Simple Syrup Recipes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- Approximately 1/2 cup torn basil leaves.
- Place the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Remove basil leaves and strain liquid into a sealable jar or bottle. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
Refreshing addition to most citrus-based mocktails or cocktails such as Lemon-Lime Soda, Blueberries, Pineapple, and Basil Lemonade Spritzers.
Brown Sugar Simple Syrup Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup brown sugar ( light brown sugar for more of a caramel flavor and dark brown sugar for more intense molasses flavor.)
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract (optional)
- Combine water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves! DO NOT BOIL or SIMMER! This will cause sugar to caramelize. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract if desired. Allow to cool and store in a sealable jar or bottle. Refrigerate up to 4 weeks.
Use Brown Sugar Simple Syrup for Old Fashioned Cocktails and Mocktails. Delicious in coffee drinks and for glazing pastries and cookies, and can be mixed with cinnamon or other spices for easy additions to many recipes.
Ginger Simple Syrup Recipes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh sliced ginger
- Allow to simmer, then drain through a strainer as you pour into a bottle or jar. Refrigerate up to two weeks.
Perfect for creating Mule mocktails, sparkling lemonades, and other sparkling mocktails. Take a shot of this recipe after a meal to support digestive health.
Insider Tip – Shelf Life & Recommended Storage For Safety
Simple Syrup can last several weeks in the refrigerator if safety precautions are followed.
- Bring liquid to a boil before storing.
- Use a well santized bottle or jar that can be sealed.
- Keep in refrigerator
When adding ingredients to flavor the simple syrup the shelf life can be shorter, usually 1-2 weeks for fresh herbs and longer for longer shelf-life ingredients. To incease shelf life, follow above recommendations and use only fresh, throughly clean ingredients. Be sure to remove leaves that damaged or don’t appear fresh. Adding fresh herbs to simple syrup jars can possibly decrease shelf life so only add if you plan to use quickly.
How To Know If Simple Syrup Has Gone Bad
- Cloudiness: The syrup should be perfectly clear. If it looks milky, hazy, or cloudy, it’s a sign of bacterial growth and should be discarded.
- Mold: Look for any fuzz or spots on the surface or around the rim.
- Off-Odor: If it smells sour or fermented, it’s time to make a new batch.
Easy To Make Simple Syrups
All simple syrup recipes are so easy to make and very cost-effective. As I’ve been experimenting with mocktails, I’ve found they are essential for adding flavor to non-alcoholic beverages.
I have found that rosemary is a great non-alcoholic substitute for alcohols such as Vodka and Gin when making mocktails. It has just a slight bite that can be missing in alcohol-free mocktails. I hope you’ll experiment with these flavors yourself. I’d love to know how you use them. Stay tuned for 10 Holiday Mocktail Recipes coming tomorrow.
I love these syrup ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Susan,
So glad you like these ideas. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi Rachel!,
Thank you so much for all of the simple syrup recipes. What a great idea for all of the cocktails that so many of us prefer these days. I might print up recipe cards to go along with the gifted syrups as it seems people like to know the ingredients in homemade gifts. Thank you so much. Thinking of you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you two. 😘❤️🌲🎅
Jan,
That’s a great idea. They are so easy to make and I’m really enjoying experminting with them. Have a great week.
I just love the different flavors of cocktail syrup. They are so pretty in color. I will be making some of these. I never thought of the many use they can be used in. I love it! Thank you so much for sharing.
Happy Holidays to you and your family
Ivory,
I’m so glad you like these ideas. I’ve been using them for everything since I started making them. I hope you have a blessed Christmas!