Honey Simple Syrup: Simply simmer together 1 part honey and 1 part water for 20 minutes or until the honey has completely dissolved into the water. This basically creates a much thinner honey that works better for mixing in coffee drinks.
You'll need a funnel to add these syrups to bottles and a fine mesh strainer if you are infusing any fresh ingredients.
You can see Emma's simple recipes for vanilla, raspberry and caramel syrups here. These syrups are super easy to make, fun to infuse with new flavors and make great gifts!
In the past, we've gotten a lot of questions about shelf life. After doing some research, I don't feel comfortable naming an official shelf life. It can be affected greatly by the ingredients you use (fresh ingredients infused into the syrup can make it's life shorter). I, personally, have used syrups I have made for coffee and cocktails for up to six months (without refrigeration). If any of you have recommendations for shelf life, please share.
66 Comments
Oh these sound heavenly, I can’t wait to try them in my morning coffee!
http://catherinedenton.com
Im not a big coffee drinker, but the honey syrup would be delicious in a nice hot cup of tea! I might need to try these puppies out. Or even gift them for valentines since they’re all so sweet!
Melissa
http://shakeshakee.blogspot.com
Oh wow, this sounds yummy! I’ll have to whip some up to use with the espresso machines we have at work!
http://sourfawn.blogspot.com
http://whiskeybreakfast.blogspot.com
Syrups like these work great for italian sodas too! Just add a couple of Tbsp to a glass of club soda or sparkling water or what have you. I love to make a fresh lime syrup to keep on hand during the summer for when the limeade craving hits. Thanks for sharing these other flavors!
Oh that’s nice. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so happy you shared this! I saw this on your instagram and was hoping you’d share how to make this. Looks delicious!
http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/
Definitely trying this!
I really love that recipe. I need to try it now. I love coffee so that is great Have a nice day.
http://www.fashiondenis.com/
Vanilla syrup it’s so much my thing. I love it, in my morning coffee. I should learn how to make my own…
http://www.theironyou.com
Sounds delicious! I love those glass bottles too, where are they from?
Beautiful bottles, where are they from?
As long as there’s sugar in them, which all of them have, shelf life should be pretty long. Just make sure to sterilize the bottles before using them, and no fingers/dirty spoons in the sirup! Bacteria grows fast..
I had a peppermint cappuccino last time I was in the states, would love to try and make one, but not sweet for me please!
thanks for a lovely and inspirational blog, love it! xo Stella.
OH NO! i was just about to make some coffee. you just turned that into a project. haha.
Coffee syrups with no high fructose corn syrup and other unpronounceable ingredients! I think this is my favorite post yet. 😀
ohh, the lavender syrup sounds delicious! I love honey lattes!
I bet these would be good in hot tea too. 🙂
ooooh, Ive been thinking about trying this as well as investing in a caffetiere to make coffee myself, since its so expensive to get a cup out over here, thanks for sharing! Though Im not sure whether I fancy the lavender one.
Naomi –
The glass bottles are from Hobby Lobby and the top piece is from Bed Bath & Beyond!
A Beautiful Mess Staff
Lavender would be perfect for cocktails! (I guess you can see where my head is at!)
Wow! This is such an awesome post. I would love to try the lavender and the vanilla one, I’d die for these flavours!
http://curiosanddreams.blogspot.in/
Wow amazing idea ! I absolutely have to try it soon 🙂
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Do you think I could make hte vanilla syrup with honey instad of sugar? Might experiment this weekend, but we are sugar-free (specific carbohydrate diet – close to Paleo) and I miss my sweet coffee!
I like coffee although I never add syrups in it. Although I do like to use syrup in my hot chocolate! Mainly caramel syrup though although all these three sound pretty good to me too. Seriously, how do you guys come up with these ideas? It’s genius. I’ll definitely try this. 🙂 Love it.
+ I think it’s such a cute detail that we can see you in those bottles reflection, haha. Lovely! xo
I don’t like coffee, but I wonder if these would be good in Hot Chocolate?
none the less, great idea 🙂
xoxo
Juliette Laura
http://juliettelaura.blogspot.com/
This sounds great, I will have to try it!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Yum! These would make great homemade gifts!
http://sarahthearchitect.com/
i love this because all of the store-bought syrups have high fructose corn syrup or other artificial crap in them. this would make a great gift!
what a great idea!
i used your recipes last year for christmas presents with great success and tried a couple different sugars; i found that white granulated sugar has a much longer shelf life than using anything organic/not processed which only lasted us about a month before it molded. i can’t wait to try these new flavors! thanks, elsie + emma! xo.
I didn’t know it was so easy to make your own syrup! Thanks for sharing!
This is such a fantastic idea. Since I moved to Cyprus I have developed a great love for coffee and love adding syrups. I think I will have to try this one at the weekend!
This is such a good idea! It is crazy how much stuff we buy from the store when we can actually just make it ourselves at home! Thank you for sharing.
Carlee
http://almostendearing.blogspot.com/
They sound so good. I love making things myself and storing them in cute pretty bottles and jars.
Carina http://carstina.blogspot.co.nz/
I’m the same way about shelf life– I never want to give a hard answer, because it seems to be different for everybody! I made a batch of vanilla syrup 6 months ago and filled 1 bottle and a half of another bottle. I threw the spent vanilla bean into the full bottle to continue giving whatever little bit of flavor was left in it. I went back and forth between the two bottles, usually grabbing the fuller bottle, and finished the full bottle today with no problem and no question that it was okay to use. I went to grab what was left of the half bottle and, to my dismay, saw some cloudy stuff floating near the surface which meant I could no longer use it. Even one batch bottled at the same time had different shelf lives!
I’m working at Starbucks and the sirups we use have a shelf life of 1 month once opened. I’m pretty sure if you keep it clean it could easily be stored 2 – 3 months 🙂
Aww I really want to try the vanilla one!
xo Emily @ http://www.hungrydelights.com
i want these! coffee sounds so good right now 🙁
-deana, @ birdsandoxfords
Hi Elsie,
I was wondering what kind of lavender buds you used? I’ve read a few places that there are specific ones for cooking with versus ones that you use for scent alone but can’t seem to find out what the difference is anywhere. I have a huge bag I bought in provence last year and am going to try this recipe.Kendra
http://nestandacre.typepad.com/blog/
This would be amazing for a gift.
Katie xx
http://gravityandshe.blogspot.co.uk
These sound delicious so can’t wait to try making my own 🙂 The lavender one I’m excited about!
Lulu xx
http://luluslittlewonderland.blogspot.com
This looks so good! Lavender sounds amazing and unique!
How lovely! I have never used lavendar in FOOD before. I want to try that one the most!
Looks amazing! I love restyling projects too I’m always finding something just so I can do a project haha! Love the syrup recipes ill have to definitely try them out! I’m obsessed with my nespresso coffee machine mainly cause George clooney is in all the ads haha!
Steph 🙂
Mmm, lavender and brown sugar sounds amazing!
-Lindsey
http://ettu-tutu.blogspot.com
Hey! I made the caramel and vanilla syrups for a christmas gift this year. Unfortunately we found out the hard way that the caramel needs to be refrigerated? We went to use the leftover we had and found mold in it 🙁 Not sure if that is because of the caramel we used or what? Has anyone else had this problem?
YES! I never thought to make lavender syrup before. My local coffee/dessert place, Sucré (which I’ve mentioned before when you posted about macarons) has a white chocolate lavender drink. It’s my favorite thing to order there and it never even crossed my mind that I could make something similar at home.
I work in a coffee shop and honey is my absolute favorite thing to put in drinks, but it is so hard to dissolve in cold things! This is such a good idea, I’ll definitely have to try all of these.
Lavender would be such a unique coffee flavor. I can’t wait to have some more latte recipes, since I am obsessed with them!
Great idea!
Sar
http://www.etsy.com/shop/owleyevintage
I’m going to make the vanilla and honey syrup for sure!
Amazing, will be trying the vanilla recipe over the weekend! Massive vanilla latte addict so might just have to try something new for 2013… Lavender sounds worth a shot
Can’t image the mix of smell of coffee and lavender,, it may create some interesting favor☺
These all sound amazing! I will definitely be trying the lavender one- one of my favorite tastes!
xx Kait
ChickadeeSays
We make a honey simple syrup at the restaurant I work at, and we use the exact same methods. The corporate shelf life for it is 60 days, but honey is the one pantry item that never spoils, so I would comfortably say you shouldn’t have to worry about that.
As for the others, I’d just check once every 30-60 days to make sure nothing is off-color or growing any mold. If it looks and smells okay, it’ll be okay.
I love these flavor ideas! For sure going to try out the lavender, and add it to a London Fog!
We make these type of syrups at work all of the time, and our shelf life for them is about 3 months, although we rarely have a batch last that long as we go through them fairly regularly. We put them in the cooler overnight, but that is mostly to prevent attracting ants.
Homemade caramel is my favorite flavor 🙂
I´ve made syrups like that for the last three years and they are really delicious! I use them for coffee and tea and sometimes for some ice-cream, oatmeal or yoghurt 😉 And you´re right, they are really cute gifts vor some occasions. So far I´ve made Syrups with ginger, lemon, cinnamon (the sticks, not the powder!), apple, plum, orange, pomgranate, grapefruit, sweeties, vanilla, chili, Mint and lemon balm. I think I might be a little addicted… 😉
have to try that lavender syrup IMMEDIATELY.
http://www.fashionablytactless.com
I have made simple sugar syrup and mint syrup. Pure sugar is already one year old and there is nothing wrong with it. The mint syrup was good for one month only.
Want to try to make raspberry syrup.
Nice idea! I would love some in my house to make pumpkin spice, vanilla and caramel!
Olive xox
I made Emma’s syrups for gifts this Christmas and they were a huge hit and came out exactly like the tutorial! Thanks for sharing these new ones- I can’t wait to try them!
These look great – would love to make the lavender one but may I ask how one uses them? Do you simply stir some in with coffee?
Helen- yes! you simply stir the syrups into your coffee.
XO!
My daughter introduced me to your blog and we made these syrups! We LOVE them! Blogged about it here: http://lesliemartinyoung.blogspot.com.
Thanks for the inspiration!
You know what would be great? Pumpkin Spice syrup. I’m sure it’s as simple as buying pumpkin spice and mixing it with sugar water. I would try it myself but I don’t drink coffee frequently enough.
Where did you get the bottles from?
Love all your flavours! I need to make some more for home, I have run out. On a side note I have had lavender syrup go “off” before, (mind you it was store bought, not homemade). I have since started storing my homemade syrups in the fridge and have not had any problems with shelf life. I love the rich colour brown sugar gives your syrup, I have always just made mine with white sugar: http://www.thealbrecht.com/2012/05/01/first-world-problem/
Can you please share the bottles you used they are so pretty!