Fresh Kiwi Syrup
Use ripe kiwis that give slightly when pressed. Gold kiwis are sweeter while green have more tang.
Use ripe kiwis that give slightly when pressed. Gold kiwis are sweeter while green have more tang.
- 4 wholeripe kiwis(peeled and roughly chopped)
- 1/2 cupwater
- 1 cupwhite sugar
- 1Do not boil to preserve bright flavor and color.
- 2Refrigerate and use within one week.
- 3Kiwi oxidizes quickly so use while fresh and green.
Store in a sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Keep refrigerated.
Gold kiwis produce a sweeter, more tropical syrup with less astringency than green kiwis; green kiwis produce a more tangy, slightly herbal result. Kiwi contains actinidin, a proteolytic enzyme that breaks down proteins — this means kiwi syrup should not be used in cocktails containing egg white, as the actinidin will denature the foam proteins and prevent the foam from forming. The black seeds are edible and strain out cleanly; there is no need to remove them before cooking. A pinch of lime zest in the finished syrup amplifies the tropical brightness.
Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is native to China — specifically the Yangtze River valley — where it was known as yang tao (Chinese gooseberry) and consumed by the Indigenous Yi people for centuries. New Zealand horticulturalists brought the fruit to cultivation in the early 20th century; Hayward Wright developed the large, commerciallyviable variety in the 1920s, and the fruit was renamed "kiwifruit" in 1959 for export marketing purposes, after New Zealand's national bird. New Zealand became the dominant commercial producer through the 1970s and 1980s, followed by Italy and Chile. The gold kiwi variety (Actinidia chinensis), sweeter and less acidic than the standard green kiwi, was developed by Zespri in New Zealand and launched commercially in 2000. Kiwi entered craft cocktail culture through the tropical and exotic fruit trend of the 2010s, used in margarita riffs, sours, and gin cocktails.
A kiwi-strawberry syrup, a classic fruit pairing, can be made by adding one cup of fresh strawberries during simmering alongside the kiwi — the combination produces a vibrant pink-green syrup. A kiwi-ginger syrup adds one tablespoon of fresh ginger juice to the finished cooled syrup for a tropical-warming combination used in gin and rum cocktails. For a kiwi-mint syrup suited to summer spritzes, steep five fresh mint leaves in the warm finished syrup for five minutes before straining.
No common top-eight allergens. Naturally vegan and gluten-free. Kiwifruit is one of the more common causes of oral allergy syndrome, particularly in those with latex or birch pollen sensitivities. Actinidin (the kiwi enzyme) can cause reactions in those with oral allergy syndrome.