Cocktails with Gin syrup
Gin syrup is a sweetener of sugar and gin, carrying the spirit’s juniper-herbal character in a pourable syrup.
Substitutes for Gin syrup
Sugar syrup with a barspoon of gin rebuilds it closely enough, or gin with a pinch of sugar if the drink can take the alcohol. Plain sugar syrup covers the sweetness and leaves the botanicals behind.
Often confused with
Sloe gin
Sweet and alcoholic, made from the berry rather than from botanicals. It shares almost nothing with gin syrup but the word in the name, and pouring it in adds both strength and a great deal of sugar.
Gin itself
Around 40% ABV against a syrup’s nothing. Swapping one for the other rewrites the strength of the drink entirely, which is the reason the syrup exists.
Storage
The alcohol in it does most of the preserving work, so it keeps longer than a plain sugar cordial: a month or more cold. The botanical aroma is the part that fades, and it fades faster than the sugar goes anywhere.
