Fruit Syrup

How is Fruit Syrup made?

Fruit syrup starts with fresh or frozen fruit that gets simmered with sugar and water until the natural juices extract and the mixture thickens to a pourable consistency. The fruit gets strained out, leaving behind a concentrated syrup that captures all those bright, natural flavors. Some bartenders skip the straining step and keep chunks of fruit in the syrup for added texture and visual appeal in their cocktails.

How do you drink Fruit Syrup?

Fruit syrups are rarely consumed neat due to their intensely sweet, concentrated nature - they're designed as cocktail ingredients rather than standalone spirits. Most bartenders use them as mixers in tropical cocktails, punches, and tiki drinks where their bold fruit flavors can shine alongside rum, vodka, or gin. Popular applications include classic daiquiri variations, fruit punches, and modern craft cocktails that call for natural fruit sweetness, making them perfect for summer entertaining, poolside gatherings, and any time you want to add vibrant fruit character to your drinks.

How do I choose a good Fruit Syrup?

Start by reading the ingredient list – the best fruit syrups list actual fruit or fruit juice as the first ingredient, not high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors. Your cocktail choice should guide your selection: opt for lighter, more delicate syrups like elderflower or pear for gin-based drinks, while robust flavors like blackberry or cherry work beautifully with whiskey and rum cocktails. Consider the syrup's sweetness level too – some brands pack more sugar punch than others, so taste before you commit to that full ounce in your recipe.

Nutritional Information

Typical Calorie Range per Ounce: 60-80 calories

Typical Carbohydrate Range per Ounce: 15-20 grams

Typical Sugar Range per Ounce: 14-19 grams

Typically Gluten Free: Yes

While fruit syrups are generally made from naturally gluten-free ingredients like fruit juice, sugar, and water, we recommend checking the detailed product information on each specific brand to confirm gluten-free status. Some manufacturers may process their products in facilities that also handle gluten-containing ingredients, which could affect those with severe sensitivities or celiac disease.

Scrolled this far? Your reward? Fruit Syrup Trivia!

1. Medieval monks accidentally created the first fruit syrups while trying to preserve medicinal herbs in honey. When fruit juices mixed with their concoctions, they discovered these sweet elixirs lasted months without spoiling – and tasted far better than their bitter herbal remedies.
2. The bright red grenadine you know from Shirley Temples was originally made from actual pomegranates and cost more than wine in 18th-century France. Today's artificial versions contain zero pomegranate, making real grenadine syrup a luxury ingredient that completely transforms cocktails with its tart complexity.
3. Fruit syrups powered the California Gold Rush – miners paid premium prices for raspberry and strawberry syrups shipped around Cape Horn because they prevented scurvy better than hardtack and beans. Bartenders in mining camps became wealthy selling "medicinal" fruit-syrup cocktails.
4. Japanese craftsmen spend up to six months making a single batch of fruit syrup using a traditional method called "shizuku-zukuri," where whole fruits hang in mesh bags over sugar for months until gravity slowly extracts every drop of juice. The resulting syrups sell for over $100 per bottle.
5. During Prohibition, fruit syrup sales exploded 400% as savvy manufacturers marketed them with winking instructions like "Do NOT add two ounces of grain alcohol to this innocent fruit syrup." The government couldn't regulate fruit syrups, making them the legal loophole that kept America's cocktail culture alive.