There are plenty of companies willing to sell you crappy factory-made sticky stuff made with high fructose corn syrup.  Just say no.  Spiced syrups are super easy to make and a fun way to experiment with drinks, with or without booze.  Here’s the very basic recipe I use.

Basic Syrup
One part sugar (superfine sugar is best)
One part water
Dried herbs or spices to taste

Note that this method is only for dried herbs and spices.  Fresh herbs and fruits are a totally different thing, which I’ll cover some other day. 

Put everything in a saucepan on medium heat.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.  Just before it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to almost as low as it will go.  Let it cook down, giving it a few occasional stirs, until about a quarter of the liquid has evaporated – maybe 45 minutes to an hour.  Turn off the heat and let it come to room temperature.  Strain and put it into a squeezy bottle (ideally) or another sealed container.  Refrigerate.

If you’re not a fan of white sugar, turbinado works too – or Demerara, if you want to get wacky.  Just a bit more of a molasses taste to it.  The quantity of herbs or spices you use depends on how strong you want the syrup.  I tend to use about five sticks of cinnamon with 1.5 cups of sugar and 1.5 cups of water.  Personally, I like erring on the side of adding too much.  Weak syrups suck.

I also make cardamom and rosemary syrups.  Both of these ingredients need to be bruised with a mortar and pestle.  If you’re willing to put in a little extra effort, toasting the ingredients for a minute or two in a hot skillet before you add them will bring out the flavor even more.

So what can you make with this stuff, aside from kick-ass tiki drinks?  Some ideas:

  • Rosemary lemonade
  • Cinnamon and orange juice with club soda
  • Muddled basil, cardamom, with ginger ale
  • Grapefruit and rosemary with club soda

The best thing about these concoctions is that non-boozing friends can come to our cocktail parties and still have some delicous and special drinks.

And what about the kick-ass tiki drinks?  Up next:  the Jet Pilot.