How to Make Strawberry Simple Syrup for Cocktails & Other Drinks

November 26, 2022 by Anna-Bet Stemmet

If you’ve been on the lookout for a really good strawberry syrup for cocktails, we’ve got excellent news – you don’t have to buy it; you can make it at home! That’s right – when the summer harvest rolls around with baskets of plump, sun-ripened strawberries you can turn it into an amazing cocktail ingredient to use at home.

Righto, enough jibber jabber, let’s teach you how to make strawberry syrup for cocktails, shall we?

Strawberry syrup recipe for cocktails

Strawberry Syrup for Cocktails - Fresh strawberries, a key ingredient for crafting delicious cocktails.

The recipe for making fruit-infused simple syrup is nice and easy. You add one part sugar to one part to two parts fresh fruit. For instance:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cups diced, hulled strawberries

METHOD

Add the sugar and water to a saucepan over medium heat, stirring for 2 – 3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves.
Add the diced, hulled strawberries and simmer to infuse for 10 – 15 minutes
Remove from the heat and strain the syrup to remove the fruit.
Decant into a sterilized container.

To make a bigger batch you simply multiply the ingredients to suit your needs.

How to store strawberry simple syrup for cocktails

Once you know how to make strawberry syrup for cocktails, the trick is to store it properly so you can enjoy it for some time to come. Basic simple syrup variations will keep in your refrigerator in a sealed glass jar for up to 4 weeks if you handle it correctly.

This means sterilizing your jar or container by washing or rinsing it with boiling water before use, and letting both the container and the syrup cool before transfer. When using the syrup, rather pour what you need from the container than dipping a spoon in.

TOP TIP: Freeze your strawberry cocktail syrup in ice cube trays and transfer it to Ziploc freezer bags if you want it to keep for longer. This will last for up to 4 months, and can easily be thawed to use in recipes instead of making a new batch of syrup.

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Can you make simple syrup with other fruits?

Why yes, honey, you can! Once you’ve mastered strawberry sugar syrup for cocktails, we double dare you to experiment with preserving other seasonal fruits in this tasty way as well.

You could try apples, pears, quinces, and the peels of citrus fruit like grapefruit and orange. You can also infuse syrup with herbs like rosemary and mint, and spices like cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, and pink peppercorns. Read more about syrups here.

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Why do we use simple syrup in drinks?

Excellent question! The reason we make strawberry syrup for drinks, and other variations of this recipe as well, is because it yields better cocktails than adding sugar will. It gives your drink a viscosity that helps blend all the ingredients together, as well as delivering a smooth silky sweetness and mouthfeel that sugar granules just don’t deliver.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Yes, you can! Freezing berries is an excellent way to preserve the flavor of the fruit, and since you will be mashing and cooking it anyway, it doesn't matter that it goes a bit mushy in the thawing process.

Basic simple syrup variations, including homemade strawberry syrup, will keep in your refrigerator in a sealed glass jar for up to 4 weeks.

If you want to ensure that your strawberries are squeaky clean, we recommend soaking it in a bowl of water with one spoon of baking soda mixed in for around 5 minutes. Then rinse the berries under cold, running water and pat it dry before storing it in the fridge.

The hull is the leafy bit of the strawberry that is typically removed before cooking or serving the berries. The simplest way to remove it is to use a small, sharp knife to cut in a circular motion around the leafy stem at an angle. Once it's loose, tug it free and compost the hull (also called a calyx).