Rosemary Simple Syrup
This Rosemary Simple Syrup recipe is perfect for winter cocktails, lattes, and sweet drizzles to top pastries. The key to its perfection is actually a precise ratio of simple syrup (1 part water: 1 part refined sugar), agave syrup, and honey. Triple simple syrups, like this rosemary syrup recipe have the same thickness as a rich simple syrup (1 part water: 2 parts refined sugar) but far more depth of flavor than either the simple or rich simple syrups. A little confusing with the names (see FAQs for a better explanation), but I promise the results are worth the extra ingredients.
The ratio was created in the late 1990s by bartender Dale DeGroff who was looking for a less honey forward syrup option for a Bee’s Knees cocktail. After much tinkering, he came up with a now foundational triple simple syrup recipe that is the base of this recipe.
OMG this intro is longer than the recipe! That’s first!
Get the Recipe: Rosemary Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2-4 fresh rosemary, (3-4in or 7.5-10cm sprigs)
- ¼ cup agave syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey of your choice
Equipment
- 1 small sauce pot with lid
- kitchen scale optional
Instructions
- First, add the water and sugar to a small sauce pot over medium heat. Then, stir until the sugar is dissolved and just shows signs of small bubbles forming on the bottom of the pot. When done, turn off the heat and add the rosemary to the syrup. Tip the sauce pot on it’s side and baste the herbs with the syrup until they become fragrant and wilt a bit. Then, set the pot down, cover it, and leave the rosemary to steep for roughly 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the rosemary and pour the simple syrup into whatever container you want to house the final syrup. Then, measure and pour the agave and honey into the container. And lastly, stir everything together until uniform. Easy peasy!
Notes
- The ratio for all triple simple syrups is 4 parts simple syrup: 2 parts agave: 1 part honey. Feel free to use this ratio and riff other flavors.
- Do not let the sugar and water mixture (the base simple syrup) to boil until it takes on color (caramelizes), it will change the entire flavor and viscosity if the resulting syrup.
- The longer the base simple syrup cooks, the sweeter and thicker your final syrup will be.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Most bartenders and professional mixologists will only make simple sugars by weight. But they are making this stuff in BULK and need cocktails and mocktails to be the same every time. At that scale, it’s easier to just weight out an amount of water or sugar in a container. Then match that same weight with the other ingredient. It’s easier to worry less about how much you are making and more about the syrup being consistent. This is especially true for triple simple syrups. Honey and agave are heavier than sugar. And eyeballing liquid in a measuring cup can cause an overly strong flavored syrup accidentally.
For a home bar, I’d say it’s far less important to measure by weight, especially with a basic (1:1) simple syrup.
Simple Syrup: Made from equal parts water and refined, granulated sugar (1:1). This is the most versatile sugared syrup. It’s great for subtle and/or citrus forward cocktails (like a cosmopolitan martini) meant to be tart or balanced, not sweet (like a tiki cocktail).
Rich Simple Syrup: This syrup is 1 part water and 2 parts sugar, making it much thicker in texture. It also has a stronger sugary taste, because (stick with me) there’s more sugar! Rich simple syrups are best in drinks with minimal ingredients or where you don’t want a lot of water diluting flavors, like an Old Fashioned or a frozen daiquiri.
Triple Simple Syrup: A syrup in three parts, triple simple syrup is 4 parts (1:1 or basic) simple syrup, 2 parts agave, and 1 part honey. The individual ingredients in the base simple syrup, water and sugar, should both be the same amount by volume as the agave. This syrup is perfect for cocktails with aged liquors and fall flavors.
Of Note: Simple syrups without infused flavors do not need heat to make them. Sugar dissolves in water on it’s own. It just takes more agitation and time. Making basic simple syrups without heat means that they have exact ratios. This is because no water evaporates during the process. Therefore, the syrup is more consistent across the board. This recipe needs heat to infuse the rosemary flavors into the syrup, otherwise I wouldn’t be cooking it.
Refined, granulated sugar syrups have a very clean flavor. Simple syrup’s main job is to serve as a vessel or mellower for stronger flavors. A simple syrup that uses refined sugar has no other taste than “sweet”. Therefore, it won’t affect the flavor of the dish/drink. Other sugars, like brown sugar, still have molasses in them and can give simple syrups a caramel-like, earthy taste.
Yes! Although refined sugar simple syrups are more versitile, simple syrups made with a base of sugar and water can be a great for experimentation with a variety of sugars. Popular options use turbinado sugar, demerara sugar, or brown sugar to make syrups.
OF NOTE: I wouldn’t recommend using other sugars for a triple simple syrup. There is enough flavor from the agave and honey that anything other than refined sugar would make this syrup overly sweet. If you used, say, brown sugar in this syrup it won’t allow the more delicate agave to shine through. And it would fight for the spotlight with the honey. Overall it would also overpower any subtler cocktails.
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Made this syrup during the cook-along. The rosemary is subtle but still present. Really fun texture and adds a ton to the barrel-aged bees knees recipe.
Hi Becky, Thank you so much for your comment! 🙂