Ginger syrup
Also called fresh ginger syrup, ginger honey syrup (with honey)
A house syrup of fresh ginger juice or grated ginger, sugar and water, bright, hot and lemony. It is the spice in a Penicillin, the backbone of a home made ginger beer, and a sharper substitute for ginger liqueur. Fresh ginger loses its heat within days of juicing, so make it in small batches.
- fresh ginger heat
- lemon
- pepper
- sweet
- green
- faint earth
Origin
Ginger is the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, native to tropical Asia and among the oldest traded spices; young roots are juicy and mild, mature ones fibrous and hotter. Ginger drinks run from the ginger beers of Victorian Britain to the Moscow Mule and the Dark 'n' Stormy, and the fresh ginger syrup became a craft bar staple with Sam Ross's Penicillin at Milk & Honey in 2005, which pairs it with honey, lemon and Scotch.
Production and safety
House recipe (juicer method): juice 8 oz (225 g) peeled fresh ginger to give about 0.75 cup (180 ml) juice; stir with 1.5 cups (300 g) sugar until dissolved, no heat needed. Grater method: simmer 1 cup (200 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) water and 4 oz (115 g) finely grated unpeeled ginger for 5 minutes, steep 1 hour off the heat, strain through a fine sieve. Bottle while warm into a clean, labeled container, cool, and refrigerate. Keeps 2 weeks refrigerated; the heat fades after one. Discard if cloudy beyond its natural haze, fizzy or sour. Yield about 1.5 cups (360 ml).
Allergens: None
Common uses
- Penicillin
- Moscow Mule with soda
- Dark 'n' Stormy with soda
- a Gin Gin Mule
- ginger Whiskey Sour
- the house concept that calls for it
Sources
- Zingiber officinale (NC State Extension Plant Toolbox), NC State Extension · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
- The Penicillin: the Most Riffed-On Modern Classic, Punch · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11