Cocktails with Lavender syrup
Lavender syrup is a flavoured sweetener made by infusing culinary lavender flowers into a sugar-and-water solution.
Taste profile
Perfumed, floral aroma over a sweet base; the lavender note can turn soapy and overpowering as infusion strength rises.
How it's used
A sweetening and aromatic element that adds floral character along with sugar. Because lavender is easily overpowering and infusion strength varies widely between batches, it is dosed cautiously and to taste. Homemade batches can differ substantially in intensity from a syrup labelled the same.
Substitutes for Lavender syrup
As a small floral accent, a plain simple syrup can stand in — it matches the sweetness and body, though not the lavender aroma. Where the floral note is the point of the drink, only an actual lavender infusion or lavender flavouring will do.
Description
A solution of sugar in water carrying an infused floral flavouring, it draws its character from the flowers of lavender — most commonly Lavandula angustifolia, the species usually grown for culinary use. Its aroma comes largely from volatile terpene compounds such as linalool and linalyl acetate present in the flowers.
Storage
Homemade lavender syrup is an unpreserved sugar-water infusion and perishable; refrigerate and use within a limited period.
