Fresh strawberries are at their peak right now, and if you've got access to good ones (the kind that actually taste like strawberries and not styrofoam) it's worth turning some of them into syrup while they're in season.
This is a no (or very low) heat method. You macerate the berries with sugar, let them break down on their own, then add warm water to finish. It keeps the strawberry flavor bright and fresh instead of cooked down or stewed, which is especially important with something as delicate as a berry syrup. The syrup works in anything, but it goes especially well in shaken sours, sparkling water builds, and mocktails.
What You'll Need
- 200g fresh strawberries (about 10 oz or roughly 1.25 cups)
- 250g cane sugar (roughly 1.25 cups)
- 120ml water (roughly 1/2 cup)
- Vodka or neutral spirit (optional, but helpful for preservation)
Instructions
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Macerate the berries. Hull your strawberries (unless they're really fresh and ripe, in which case you don't really have to) and cut them into quarters. Place them in a bowl and add the sugar. Mix thoroughly, breaking down the berries as you stir... you want them releasing juice, not pulverized into mush. Let this sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. By the time you come back, the sugar will have drawn a lot of liquid from the berries and started to dissolve.
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Warm the water. Heat the water until it's warm to the touch but not steaming, so around 150-160°F if you have a thermometer, or just warm enough that you'd be comfortable putting your finger in it. You're not trying to cook anything here.
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Combine. Pour the warm water over the macerated berries and sugar. Stir gently until the sugar is fully dissolved. Let this cool to room temperature... this usually takes 20-30 minutes.
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Strain. Once it's cool, pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a clean bottle or jar. Press gently on the berries to extract as much liquid as possible, but don't squeeze aggressively, as that can pull out pulp and make the syrup cloudy.
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Fortify (optional). Stir in the vodka or a high-proof neutral spirit. This extends the shelf life a bit. If you're skipping it, the syrup will keep up to 10 days in the fridge. With the spirit, you'll get closer to two weeks or a little more.
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Bottle and refrigerate.
A Note on Strawberries
Quality matters here. If the strawberries are good (we're talking sweet, ripe, actually flavorful) the syrup will be full of flavor. If they're bland or underripe, the syrup will taste like what you put in. Taste one before you commit. If it tastes like something worth eating, it's worth turning into syrup.
How to Use It
- Strawberry Sour: 2 oz whiskey or bourbon, 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice, 0.5 oz strawberry syrup. Shake, strain into a glass, add ice.
- Strawberry Smash: Gin, fresh strawberry, lemon, and a splash of strawberry syrup in a shaker.
- Sparkling Strawberry: Strawberry syrup stirred into sparkling water with a splash of lime.
Club members have been riffing on this one already this month: mixing this strawberry syrup with various whiskies as well as tequila, adding a little black pepper to the maceration, pairing it with mezcal. If you're curious what else is coming out of those experiments, the Cocktail Club is where that conversation is happening.
Final Pour
You notice a difference when you eat in-season, and there's something similar for drinking in-season too. Strawberries are just such an incredible fruit, and it's worth using them for your drink-making adventures while they're at their peak.
If you make it, let me know what you mix it with. And I hope you join us in the Cocktail Club when you're ready 🥂
Jordan / High-Proof Preacher
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