Cocktails with Vanilla syrup
Vanilla syrup is a sugar syrup infused with vanilla pods or extract, used to sweeten drinks while adding a warm, aromatic edge.
How it's used
It suits coffee, cream, aged rum and bourbon, and it sweetens the Pornstar Martini. Use 5–15 ml: less when the vanilla sits in the background, more when it is the point. Syrup made with real vanilla may carry seeds that settle, so shake the bottle before pouring.
Substitutes for Vanilla syrup
Plain sugar syrup with vanilla extract
The closest swap, in the same amount. Add the extract a few drops at a time, tasting as you go.
Vanillin syrup
A cheaper option with a flatter, one-note flavor.
Plain sugar syrup
Swaps one for one. It sweetens the same but brings no vanilla.
Will not do on its own: it flavors but does not sweeten.
Storage
Sealed commercial bottles keep for months; homemade keeps two weeks in the fridge. Settled vanilla seeds are normal, but a cloudy syrup has started to go.
