Culinary Lavender Syrup

Store in a sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to one month. Lavender's aromatic character fades over time; at two to three weeks the syrup is still excellent. Keep refrigerated.

Use only food-grade culinary lavender — ornamental lavender sold for dried arrangements is often treated with pesticides and should never be used in food or drink preparations. Less is always more with lavender; even a small excess tips from floral and elegant to soapy and medicinal, and the threshold is surprisingly low. Steep for no more than ten minutes; lavender releases its aromatic compounds quickly and prolonged steeping extracts the more bitter, camphor-like compounds from the stems. English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) produces the sweetest, most cocktail-appropriate flavor; French or Spanish varieties are more intense and require even less quantity.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has been cultivated in the Western Mediterranean since ancient times, valued by the Romans who used it to scent their baths — the Latin name derives from lavare, to wash. The Provence region of southern France became the world's leading lavender-growing area in the 19th century, establishing the association between lavender and French culinary tradition that persists today. Culinary lavender entered the modern cocktail world primarily through the rise of floral cocktail menus in the early 2000s, when bartenders began exploring herbs and botanicals beyond the traditional cocktail aromatics. The honey-lavender Bee's Knees and lavender lemonade cocktails were among the first wave of lavender cocktails to achieve wide popularity, and the ingredient became closely associated with the aperitif-style cocktail movement driven by gin's resurgence.

A lavender-honey syrup can be made by substituting honey for white sugar, producing a more complex, floral sweetener well suited to gin-based cocktails and sparkling wine drinks. A lavender-lemon syrup can be made by adding the zest of two lemons to the warm syrup after straining and steeping for ten minutes before bottling. For an Earl Grey lavender syrup that combines two floral aromatics, steep one Earl Grey tea bag alongside the lavender for the final five minutes of infusion.

No common top-eight allergens. Naturally vegan and gluten-free. Lavender is in the mint family (Lamiaceae) — those with known mint family sensitivities should use with caution. Only food-grade culinary lavender should be used.