Simple Syrup with Honey (and Lavendar)

Ingredients for simple syrup with honey (and lavendar)

I’ve been exploring different nonalcoholic beverages that are refreshing and lower in sugar than wine. Many mock tails use simple syrup as a main ingredient. Rather than using sugar I wondered if I could substitute sugar for honey, specifically honey from Andy’s bees! While his bees have opted to vacate our hives, we still have some of his honey. Turns out you can use honey to make simple syrup!  So, this week’s blog post is all about creating simple syrup with honey. Next week’s post will feature mocktail recipes using this delightful syrup!

The ratio of honey to water is like that of traditional simple syrup; one part water to one part honey. If you want a richer ratio use two parts honey to one part water.

Ingredients

Honey

Water

Directions

Add honey and water to a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Do not let the mixture boil as high heat can destroy the delicate flavors and raw nutrients.

Stir gently until honey dissolves completely in water, cool completely and store in an airtight glass jar or squeeze bottle. One to one ratio keeps for about two to four weeks.

Lavendar Honey Simple Syrup

If you want to up your simple syrup game, you can add dried lavender to the mix! For Lavendar Honey Simple Syrup add one tablespoon of dried culinary Lavendar per cup of honey and follow the same instructions above. Once the honey has dissolved in water, remove pan from heat add lavender and cover with a lid. Steep this mixture for 15 to 30 minutes. Taste as it cools, leave it longer if you want a stronger herbal flavor.

This week I made both types of simple syrup so I could experiment with different mocktail recipes! I will share these tasty concoctions in the weeks that follow!