Watercolor illustration of a glass bottle of dark red raspberry syrup with fresh raspberries scattered on a dark ash surface, a small dish of sugar to the side, faint saucepan outline behind

Component

Raspberry Syrup

Raspberry syrup is a flavored simple syrup made by simmering equal-weight sugar and water until dissolved, then crushing fresh raspberries into the warm syrup and fine-straining out the seeds. The result is a deep crimson sweetener that carries the full raspberry flavor without seed grit. It is the canonical fruit-syrup base for the Clover Club, the Pink Lady, and other pre-Prohibition gin sours.

20 min Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
  • 1/2 oz vodka, optional, as a preservative

Method

  1. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar fully dissolves.
  2. Reduce the heat to low. Add the raspberries and crush them into the syrup with a spoon until pulpy.
  3. Fine-strain through a sieve into a clean jar, pressing the solids to extract the syrup. Discard the seeds and pulp.
  4. Stir in the vodka if using. Seal and refrigerate.

Pro tip

Frozen raspberries work as well as fresh and often better. They release more juice during the macerate step, and the syrup ends up deeper in color. The flavor difference once the syrup is shaken into a drink is negligible.

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