You’re enjoying a nice drink when you want to add some sugar, so you add some from a packet and sip your drink only to discover that most of the sugar is sitting on the bottom of your cup, undissolved. It’s worse when you have a cold drink because it takes forever to sweeten with regular sugar. But you can easily avoid this with simple syrup (and this simple syrup recipe!)

Coffee shops and bars use simple syrup to sweeten all their drinks because it’s easy, fast, and avoids the annoying experience of dissolving raw sugar in water. And simple syrup is just sugar and water, so it’s incredibly easy to make at home (literally 2 ingredients). Making simple syrup will elevate your coffee game to the next level!

So, here’s how to make simple syrup at home!

What is Simple Syrup?

Simple syrup is literally sugar water.

Yes, you can make it at home; no, you do not need to buy it from the store! By dissolving a specific ratio of sugar and water, you make simple syrup, which is an easy sweetener to add in all kinds of drinks, from coffee to cocktails.

Making iced drinks would become ten times harder and annoying without simple syrup.

Why is Simple Syrup Necessary?

Anywhere you buy coffee, matcha, or alcoholic drinks from will 100% use simple syrup or some sort of liquid sweetener to sweeten drinks.

If you’ve ever tried to add regular sugar into an iced drink, you’ll quickly realize even after stirring, the sugar sits undissolved at the bottom. Liquids like liquid so if you dissolve sugar in water beforehand, it will be 100% easier to mix into drinks and sweeten the drink consistently.

Especially when you’re making multiple drinks at a time, something as simple as dissolving sugar faster makes the whole process easier.

How to Use Simple Syrup

You can add simple syrup to any liquid and mix using a stir stick or spoon. It should dissolve instantly with a couple of stirs. You can also add it to a shaker cup and shake it to combine, like how milk tea stores mix their drinks or a bartender mixes a cocktail.

For extra sweetness, you can also brush simple syrup into cakes for extra moisture, in yogurt bowls, heavy whipping cream, or even ice cream bases.

Simple Syrup Calories

According to some lovely Reddit users, 1 oz of simple syrup is about 50 calories. Depending on how concentrated your simple syrup is, the calorie amount changes.

A traditional simple syrup ratio has 50 calories per fluid oz. while a rich simple syrup ratio is about 71 per fluid oz.

What is the Simple Syrup Ratio?

Even if you don’t have the recipe memorized, it’s crazy easy to make simple syrup because all simple syrups follow the same ratio. There are 2 simple syrup recipe ratios:

• Traditional Simple Syrup: 1 part sugar to 1 part water
• Rich Simple Syrup: 2 part sugar to 1 part water

Traditional simple syrup is more liquid and resembles a watery syrup that is lightly sweetened. The rich simple syrup has more of a viscous texture and is sweeter, so it takes less syrup to sweeten the same drink.

It doesn’t matter how much you use, as long as you use the same ratios of sugar to water, you’ll have simple syrup. For example, if you’re making traditional simple syrup, you can use 1/2 cup of sugar and a 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water, etc.

How to Make Simple Syrup

All you need to make simple syrup at home is:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

That’s it!

Simple Syrup Recipe

1. Making Simple Syrup: Boil water on the stove or in a kettle before adding it to a small saucepan or pot.
2. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Let it simmer gently until completely translucent and all the sugar dissolves.
3. Storing Simple Syrup: Let it cool before transferring to an airtight bottle or container, then store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
4. Enjoy in Drinks!

Microwave Simple Syrup Recipe

Don’t want to use the stove? You can also make simple syrup in the microwave!

Add the sugar and water in a large heatproof, microwave-safe bowl and stir to combine. You want a larger bowl because the water will boil and double in size.

Then, microwave the mixture for 2-3 minutes. Carefully remove the mixture and stir until completely dissolved.

Let it cool before bottling and storing it in the fridge.

This is the perfect lazy simple syrup recipe!

Substitute for Simple Syrup

Instead of simple syrup, you can use other liquid sweeteners like maple syrup, agave, honey, or liquid stevia. These simple syrup substitutes are already in semi-liquid form, so it saves you from having to dissolve it in water first.

However, honey has quite a distinct taste and can change the taste of your drink. Maple syrup and agave have a pretty neutral flavor so it doesn’t add any extra flavor ad are a close replacement for regular simple syrup.

Sugar-Free Simple Syrup

If you’re conscious about sugar intake, you can also make simple syrup sugar-free by using any 0 sugar sweetener like monkfruit, stevia, or allulose. Monkfruit and allulose tend to make the best-tasting sugar-free simple syrups, as stevia can have a weird aftertaste.

Follow the same simple syrup recipe using the same simple syrup ratios with the zero sugar sweeteners and you’ll have an easy zero-sugar simple syrup!

How to Store Simple Syrup

You can store simple syrup in any glass or ceramic bottle or glass, as long as you can create an airtight seal. This will help keep bacteria out and your simple syrup fresher for longer

Does Simple Syrup Go Bad?

Contrary to popular belief, simple syrup can go bad, especially if you make a 1 to 1 ratio of simple syrup. Mold loves anywhere that is damp and where there is sugar, so if you leave your simple syrup out for too long, you might find it growing mold!

However, rich simple syrup is much more shelf stable due to the high concentration of sugar in the syrup. While regular simple syrup is a breeding ground for mold, the higher sugar actually acts as a natural preservative and inhibits mold growth, funnily enough.

Food Science Break: High sugar concentration creates a high osmotic pressure environment, so water moves from lower to higher concentration to achieve equilibrium. AKA, water moves out of microorganisms so it cannot reproduce.

Does Simple Syrup Need to be Refrigerated?

You need to refrigerate traditional simple syrup made with a 1 to 1 ratio, but you do not need to refrigerate a rich simple syrup with a 2 to 1 ratio.

However, I advise refrigerating them all, as both syrups will stay fresher for much longer in the fridge than on the counter.

If you make a lot of syrup, you can also freeze it for long-term storage. Pour the syrup into a sealable tub and store it in the freezer. Because of the high sugar content, it won’t freeze completely, attaining a sort of slush consistency, but it will last for months!

Where to Buy Simple Syrup

If you’re really in a pinch, you can always buy simple syrup from the store. You’ll usually find it in the coffee and tea aisle of most grocery stores. A small bottle will run you about $4 and a large bottle about $11.

You can also find fancier simple syrups for about $20+, and they’ll usually be flavored. However, if you can, definitely make the syrup at home! It’s so much cheaper and you can even bottle it using an old syrup bottle.

Making it literally costs you a couple of cents to a dollar depending on how much your sugar costs.

Simple Syrup Variations

Once you nail down this simple syrup recipe, you can use it as the base for flavored simple syrups! Here’s some flavored simple syrup inspiration:

• Lavender simple syrup
• Brown sugar simple syrup
• Mint simple syrup
• Honey simple syrup
• Spicy simple syrup
• Vanilla simple syrup (Classic!)
• Strawberry simple syrup
• Blueberry simple syrup

Tips:

Here are some tips for making a versatile simple syrup at home!

• Boil Water Ahead: My number 1 cooking hack is to boil water in a kettle first, then add it to your pot. You’ll save so much time and you won’t have to stand next to the stove waiting for your water to boil.
• Don’t Overboil: If you accidentally boil your simple syrup for too long (like minutes long), you’ll end up making caramel. You want to gently simmer or quickly boil your syrup just until the sugar completely dissolves in the water.
• Infuse Your Simple Syrup: If you want an herb-flavored simple syrup, add your desired herb to the simple syrup while it’s warm and let it infuse as long as possible for a fragrant syrup!