Homemade
The 15 syrups and mixers the drinks on this site call for. Most need only a few minutes and a saucepan; a few, like orgeat and falernum, need time to steep. Each recipe is checked against a second source.
5 minutes · 37 drinks
Equal parts sugar and water, stirred until clear. Keeps a month in the fridge.
10 minutes · 2 drinks
Simple syrup made with demerara sugar: a little toffee and molasses.
10 minutes · 8 drinks
Honey and warm water, 1:1 by volume, stirred together.
10 minutes · 1 drink
Three parts honey to one part warm water: as little water as keeps the honey pourable. Richer than the usual 1:1 honey syrup.
10 minutes · 17 drinks
Pomegranate syrup. The best is homemade from pomegranate juice and sugar.
About 5½ hours, mostly soaking · 5 drinks
Almond syrup, sometimes with orange flower water. Essential for tiki.
40 minutes · 3 drinks
Syrup of raspberries and sugar.
5 minutes, plus thawing · 2 drinks
Syrup of passion fruit and sugar.
About 1 day, mostly soaking and resting · 4 drinks
Caribbean sweetener of lime, ginger, clove and almond, with or without rum.
10 minutes · 2 drinks
Sweetened lime juice, such as Rose’s: sweet, tart and preserved. Not the same as fresh lime juice.
5 minutes, with simple syrup made · 3 drinks
Equal parts fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. Bottled mixes are sweeter and often taste of preservatives.
2½ hours, mostly steeping · 1 drink
Two parts fresh grapefruit juice to one part cinnamon syrup (1:1 sugar and water simmered with cinnamon sticks).
15 minutes, plus 12–24 hours infusing · 1 drink
Non-alcoholic elderflower syrup: floral and lychee-like.
30 minutes · 1 drink
Syrup made with chamomile tea and sugar.
15 minutes, plus 5 days steeping · 1 drink
Sweet syrup of lemon balm (Melisse), a lemon-scented herb in the mint family.