Cocktails with Lavender syrup
Lavender syrup is a flavored sweetener infused with culinary lavender in a sugar-water solution.
How it's used
It adds sugar and a floral lavender that carries further than most herbs. Gin, lemon and sparkling drinks take it well, but too much turns almost any drink soapy.
Substitutes for Lavender syrup
Homemade lavender syrup
Bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil with dried culinary lavender, about two tablespoons for a small batch. Take it off the heat, steep 15 minutes and strain. It comes out slightly less sweet than bottled.
Sugar syrup and lavender bitters
A solid backup. Use plain sugar syrup at the same measure and add two dashes of lavender bitters per serving.
Won't work alone. A concentrated tincture used in dashes adds the flower scent but no sweetness.
Lavandin
Skip it for homemade syrup. It carries more camphor than culinary English lavender, making the result taste medicinal.
Storage
A sealed bottle keeps for months; opened or homemade, it lasts about two weeks in the fridge. The lavender fades before the syrup spoils, leaving little but sugar.
