How to Make Infused Simple Syrup for Drinks

We explain how to make infused simple syrup for drinks, using your own custom flavor blends whether herbs, spices or fruits.

Simple syrups are a hugely versatile tool in the world of drink craft and mixology. Not only are simple syrups using in cocktail making, but they are also the basis for non-alcoholic cordials and fruit syrups, which are enjoyed as a pleasant alcohol-free drink in their own right.

With infused simple syrups, we can expand our repertoire of cocktail and mocktails, and have a way of introducing flavors into our drinks that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to do. Spices such as cinnamon and cardamom for instance are very difficult to incorporate into drinks as they are, but on the contrary easily to use in simple syrup form.

We explain how to prepare different ingredients including hard spices, fruits, berries and herbs so you can make infused simple syrup how you like it. We also share a few example recipes for infused simple syrups you can use as a basis for crafting your own.

How to Infuse Simple Syrup Overview

Historically, the sweetness and intensity of flavor of syrups and cordials made them an ideal vehicle for medicines (a tradition we carry on at AlcoFree Brew with our herbal elixir recipes). Spice and herb extracts were added to improve their efficacy and intensify the flavors.

More recently, syrups and cordials have become popular as drink enthusiasts are keen to try more complex combinations. Examples of flavors that can be used in creating syrups and cordials include:

• Citrus fruit – using juice and zest – lime, orange, grapefruit
• Other fruit – berries, exotic fruit eg. pineapple, passion fruit
• Extracted flavors – hazelnut, almond, vanilla
• Fresh Herbs – basil, thyme, rosemary, or mint
• Spices – root ginger, star anise, cinnamon, chilli

When flavoring syrups and cordials, the goal is to transfer as much of the ingredient’s flavor into the syrup. Boiling or leaving the two components macerating for a long time is a tempting solution. However, the flavor elements are often volatile and easily lost with such harsh treatment. A better option is a quick and effective flavor transfer, often creating a much cleaner result.

How to Extract Flavors for Simple Syrup

The following are common techniques for how to make infused simple syrup flavor extracts and extraction methods:

Herbal tea

A simple syrup uses sugar and water, so one reliable way of introducing flavor into your simple syrup is by infusing the water. This is my preferred method for how to make infused simple syrup for drinks and herbal elixirs, whereby I will replace the entire water component with my own herbal tea blend. Make sure to strain and filter the tea very well to remove all particles, before using it in your simple syrup recipe.

For example, you could replace the water with fresh peppermint tea, lemongrass and ginger tea, or some other herbal tea to your taste. When doing this, ensure you steep the herbs and spices in boiling water as long as needed to extract the flavors sufficiently, but not over-extract them which can lead to undesirable flavors. The length of time will vary depending on the herb or spice you are using.

Maceration/Soaking

This is the best process to use for soft, fleshy fruits and berries. Finely chop or crush the berries/fruits with a fork, then add them into the simple syrup to infuse.

The same process is applied to flower components such as elderflower. The aroma of elderflower flowers is a complex combination of several organic compounds, which are water-soluble. Once boiled, the elderflower is added to the sugar syrup, and this is left to cool down for 24 hours and macerate before straining. Generally, the maceration process takes one hour to 24 hours and can be carried out refrigerated or at room temperature.

How it works? When soft fruit and berries are chopped small or crushed and mixed into a sugar syrup, the juices in the fruit are more concentrated than in the syrup. This difference in concentration creates a gradient, and the fruit juices naturally transfer across the fruit membranes into the sugar syrup until the concentration of the whole batch is uniform. This process is called osmosis. By chopping the fruit into smaller pieces, its surface area is increased, which helps to speed up the fruit juice extraction.

Juice extraction

The fruit can be juiced when the zest has been removed from a citrus fruit using either a potato peeler or zester. A citrus reamer is a cheap kitchen tool which makes short work of juicing citrus fruit in small quantities. A juicing attachment on a food processor is much quicker for larger quantities. Make sure you strain and filter the juice before using, to remove any seeds and fleshy residue.

When adding juice, subtract the quantity of juice from the water component, so the overall liquid in the simple syrup remains the same.  

Grinding

For certain spices, such as cinnamon, star anise, and cloves and for some harder herbs, such as thyme and rosemary, grinding is necessary to extract enough flavor. Once more, the grinding process creates a much larger surface area for the flavor elements to transfer from.

Add these into the simple syrup, and allow to infuse 24 hours, before straining. Alternatively, you can infuse the spices in boiling water beforehand, using the herbal tea method above.

How to Make Infused Simple Syrup

Equipment for Infused Simple Syrup

Equipment for preparing the simple syrup:

• Large saucepan or stock pot
• Long-handled spoon for stirring
• Large colander (for straining out the flavor elements)

Equipment for preparing different flavor elements:

• Kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Coffee filter paper, clean tea towel or muslin
• Potato peeler or zester – to peel citrus zest
• Reamer – for juicing citrus fruit
• Large bowl – to soak and clean ingredients, such as elderflower
• Mortar and pestle – to crush harder spices, to better extract the flavor

Ingredients for Infused Simple Syrup

Infused simple syrup uses a very basic selection of ingredients:

• White sugar
• Filtered water
• Your choice of fruits, herbs, spices.

How to Make Infused Simple Syrup – Method

Since infused simple syrup can take many shapes and forms, I have shared a few recipe variations for how to make infused simple syrup for beverages, so you can see how to treat different ingredients. Please note, these are just examples and open to experimentation.

Soft Fruits and Berries

Blackberry Simple Syrup

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup blackberries

The basic technique here is to crush and cook the berries briefly, to help them release their juices, which will lead to better flavor extraction in the simple syrup. Likewise, if you are using soft fruits such as plums, cut them into smaller pieces.

1. In a bowl, crush the blackberries with a fork. For soft fruits, cut them into smaller pieces. Sprinkle over the sugar, and set aside for an hour. This will allow the berries to release their juice.
2. In a large saucepan, place the blackberry-sugar mixture and water. Cook over low heat until the blackberries begin to break down and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Turn off the heat, put on a lid, and allow it to cool overnight.
4. The next day, strain the liquid through a fine strainer or coffee filter paper, to remove all particles.
5. Pour into sterilized bottle and store in fridge.

Herbs and Soft Spices

Lemongrass and Ginger Simple Syrup

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 inch (2.5cm) piece of ginger, grated
• 1/4 cup dried lemongrass tea

The basic technique here is to infuse the ginger and lemongrass in boiling water, to make a herbal tea. Then use the herbal tea to replace the water component of the simple syrup. An alternative method would be to make the simple syrup, add the herbs to infuse overnight, then strain/filter the simple syrup the next day. I find this herbal tea method simpler, mainly because I don’t like filtering sticky liquid (it’s messy).

1. In a small saucepan, place the water, lemongrass and ginger.
2. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, and allow the herbal tea to cool to room temperature.
3. Strain the tea to remove all lemongrass and ginger residue, through a tea strainer or coffee filter paper.
4. Measure the liquid, and top up with water to make 1 cup of herbal tea.
5. In a saucepan, combine the herbal tea and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
6. Bottle the simple syrup, and store in the fridge.

Hard Spices

Cinammon Simple Syrup

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4-5 cinnamon sticks

The basic technique here is to break up the hard spices as small as possible, then make the simple syrup with the spices, as well as allow it to infuse for 24 hours. Hard spices are reluctant to release their flavors, so we use a combination of heating and infusing to extract their flavors.

1. Break the cinnamon sticks into as small pieces as possible. Using whole spices will always give a better flavour than pre-ground spices, so buy the whole spices and break it yourself in a mortar and pestle, or food processor.
2. Put the sugar, water and cinnamon spice in a large saucepan.
3. Bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat. Put on a lid, and set aside for 24 hours.
5. Strain the syrup through coffee filter paper or fine strainer, to remove the spices.
6. Bottle the simple syrup, and store in the fridge.

Final Tips for How to Make Infused Simple Syrup

That’s pretty much it for learning how to make infused simple syrup for drinks. Simple syrup, as the name implies, is a simple thing – equal parts of water and sugar, heated to form a syrup. The trick is learning how and when to add your own custom ingredients to create your own simple syrup flavor profiles and blends, which we have explained throughout this article.

Final tips for how to infuse simple syrup:

• Berries should be crushed and macerated with sugar, to release their flavors before using.
• All fruits should be cut as small as possible, to increase their surface area.
• Herbs can be made into a herbal tea to replace the water, or infused in the simple syrup overnight.
• Hard spices need more treatment, and should always be infused for 24 hours to allow their flavor to release.

The simple syrup should be stored in the fridge, unless you plan on adding a preservative. The most common preservatives are citric acid and tartaric acid, but beware they will add sourness to your simple syrup that may not be welcome.

For a more detailed recipe for fruit syrup cordial with a citrus base, check out our homemade lemon cordial (fruit syrup) recipe which uses a simple syrup as the base. It tastes great as is, and the recipe gives some more tips and ideas for how to make infused simple syrup using your own flavor blends.

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What is Cordial Drink? Easy Introduction to Non-Alcoholic Cordials What is an Elixir Drink? Easy Introduction to Non-Alcoholic Elixirs FAQ: Is Cordial Alcoholic? Cordial vs Liqueur Explained How to Make Fruit Syrup for Drinks (aka Non-Alcoholic Cordial)