Fresh Blueberry Syrup

Store in a sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to one month. Keep refrigerated.

Wild lowbush blueberries, available at specialty grocers and farmers markets, are smaller, more intensely flavored, and more tart than standard commercial highbush blueberries — they produce a noticeably more complex syrup. Frozen blueberries work very well year-round; the freezing process ruptures cell walls and releases more juice than fresh berries, producing a richer syrup from the same quantity of fruit. Pressing the cooked berries through a fine-mesh strainer produces a smooth, seed-free syrup with a deep indigo color. A splash of lemon juice and a pinch of lemon zest in the finished syrup amplifies the natural brightness of blueberry.

Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum and related species) are native to North America, where Indigenous peoples including the Algonquin and Iroquois nations consumed them fresh, dried them for winter storage, and used them medicinally for centuries before European contact. Commercial blueberry cultivation began in New Jersey in the early 20th century when botanist Elizabeth Coleman White and USDA researcher Frederick Coville selectively cultivated wild blueberries into commercially viable highbush varieties, launching the modern blueberry industry by 1916. Blueberries became one of the top commercially grown fruits in the United States and Canada and entered the "superfood" category in popular nutritional culture in the early 2000s. In cocktail culture, blueberry syrup is most commonly paired with gin and lemon in Blueberry Gins and Blueberry Smashes, and has become a standard summer cocktail ingredient at American craft bars.

A blueberry-lavender syrup, made by adding one teaspoon of dried culinary lavender during the last three minutes of simmering, creates a floral, elegant variation excellent in gin and sparkling wine cocktails. A blueberry-lemon syrup can be made by adding the zest of two lemons to the warm finished syrup and steeping for ten minutes — the citrus lifts and brightens the berry flavor. For a spiced blueberry syrup with autumnal character, add one cinnamon stick and three whole cardamom pods during simmering.

No common top-eight allergens. Naturally vegan and gluten-free. Blueberry allergies are rare.