Mixers

Honey Ginger Syrup

Honey ginger syrup is a house prep of fresh ginger simmered in water, strained and stirred into honey at 2:1 by weight, honey to ginger water: 100g of ginger and 300g of honey make about 350ml. It keeps one week in the fridge, against a month for plain honey syrup, because of the ginger. It puts honey and ginger heat into a sour or a hot drink in one measure.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

OriginGlobal

Flavour Strengthlight medium

Our keeping timeHome-made: one week refrigerated.

Storage

Store refrigerated in a sealed bottle. Shake before use, as honey may settle. Discard if cloudiness or fermentation develops.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Honey Ginger Syrup

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

HoneyFresh gingerGentle spice

Tasting Notes

Floral honey sweetness upfront, followed by warming ginger heat and a rounded, slightly viscous mouthfeel. Clean finish with lingering spice rather than sharpness.

Ginger water and honey at 2:1 by weight

The method keeps the ginger and the honey apart until the end. Sliced fresh ginger simmers in water for 10 to 15 minutes, and the strained liquid is weighed: 150g of it to 300g of runny honey, stirred in off the heat. That is the same two-to-one ratio as our honey syrup, so a recipe written for one takes the other at the same measure.

The simmer sets the heat. Taste the ginger water as it goes, and stop when it is hotter than you want the drink, because the honey will round it off.

Infused, it keeps a week

Diluted honey is perishable, and an infusion more so. Our house rule gives every infused syrup one week in the fridge, against a month for plain honey syrup and two weeks for simple syrup. The full house chart sits on the syrup page.

Honey ginger syrup against the ways of sweetening and warming a sour (house prep)

Honey ginger syrup

Ratio by weight: 2:1 honey to ginger water
Ginger: Simmered in, rounded by the honey
Keeps: One week, refrigerated

Honey syrup

Ratio by weight: 2:1 honey to water
Ginger: None
Keeps: One month, refrigerated

Honey syrup with fresh slices shaken in

Ratio by weight: 2:1 honey to water
Ginger: Sharp and bright, two or three slices
Keeps: Syrup a month; cut root two or three days

Simple syrup

Ratio by weight: 1:1 sugar to water
Ginger: None
Keeps: Two weeks, refrigerated

Option	Ratio by weight	Ginger	Keeps
Honey ginger syrup	2:1 honey to ginger water	Simmered in, rounded by the honey	One week, refrigerated
Honey syrup	2:1 honey to water	None	One month, refrigerated
Honey syrup with fresh slices shaken in	2:1 honey to water	Sharp and bright, two or three slices	Syrup a month; cut root two or three days
Simple syrup	1:1 sugar to water	None	Two weeks, refrigerated

One pour replaces two ingredients

In a sour it stands in for both the honey syrup and any fresh ginger: 15 to 25ml against the same of lemon, with 50 to 60ml of whisky, rum or brandy, shaken hard and double strained. The heat is steadier than shaken slices, which vary with the root and the shake.

Using it

Using Honey Ginger Syrup

Usage

Pour it as you would honey syrup, 15 to 25ml against the same of lemon in a whisky, rum or brandy sour, or a spoonful in hot water with lemon. It replaces both the honey syrup and the fresh ginger in a drink, so leave the ginger slices out.

House Recipe

Ratio2:1 by weight (honey to ginger water)

MakesAbout 350ml

Our keeping timeOne week refrigerated

Ingredients

100g fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
250ml water
300g runny honey

Method

Simmer the ginger in the water, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, tasting for heat as it goes.
Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the ginger, and weigh out 150g of the ginger water; top it up with fresh water if it falls short.
Off the heat, stir in the honey until it runs clear.
Cool, bottle, label with the date and refrigerate.

Food safety

Strain out every fibre of ginger. Keep it in the fridge, shake it before pouring, and discard it if it clouds or fizzes.

Pro Tip

If a drink made with it tastes hot but thin, the ginger water was too strong for the honey. Next batch, shorten the simmer rather than adding honey, which would change the ratio and the balance against the lemon.

Top Tips

Weigh the ginger water after straining: 150g to 300g of honey, topped up with fresh water if the simmer took too much.
Taste the ginger water before the honey goes in. Simmer longer for more heat; the honey only softens what is there.
Stir the honey in off the heat. Boiling it dulls the aroma that makes the syrup worth making.
Write the date on the bottle. Seven days in the fridge, and out sooner if it clouds or fizzes.

Possible Substitutions

Honey Syrup: no ginger: shake a few thin coins of fresh ginger in with it

Production Method

Fresh sliced ginger simmered in water to the heat wanted, strained, then honey stirred into the ginger water at two parts honey to one by weight, off the heat, and cooled before bottling.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is honey ginger syrup?

A homemade syrup of honey and ginger water. Fresh ginger is simmered in water, strained, and the warm ginger water is stirred into twice its weight of honey. It follows our house honey syrup ratio, the water simply carrying ginger, so one pour sweetens a drink and warms it.

How do you make honey ginger syrup?

Simmer 100g of thinly sliced fresh ginger in 250ml of water, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, tasting for heat. Strain, pressing the ginger, and weigh out 150g of the liquid. Off the heat, stir in 300g of runny honey until clear, cool it and bottle it. It makes about 350ml.

How long does honey ginger syrup keep?

One week in the fridge, our rule for every infused syrup, against a month for plain 2:1 honey syrup. The ginger water is what shortens it. Keep it sealed, shake it before pouring because the honey settles, and throw it out early if it turns cloudy, smells sour or starts to fizz.

Does the Penicillin use honey ginger syrup?

Ours does not: it builds the honey and the ginger separately, shaking 22.5ml of house honey syrup with sliced root. Difford’s Guide prints Sam Ross’s original, from 2005 at Milk & Honey in Manhattan, with 22.5ml of honey and ginger syrup, and this one does the same job: 22.5ml in place of both the syrup and the slices.

Can I use ground ginger to make it?

Not as a swap. Powdered ginger is dried root with a drier, dustier taste, and it clouds the syrup and leaves a sediment that no sieve fully catches. The recipe depends on fresh ginger's juicy heat. If only powder is to hand, plain honey syrup and a pinch in a hot drink is the better route.

Is honey ginger syrup the same as honey syrup?

Same ratio, different keeping. Both are two parts honey to one of water by weight, so they sweeten a drink by the same amount. Here the water has had ginger simmered in it, which adds heat and cuts the keeping time from a month to a week. Measure them the same way.

What drinks can I use honey ginger syrup in?

Anything built on honey and citrus that would welcome heat: whisky, rum or brandy sours, a honey and lemon highball topped with soda, or hot water with lemon on a cold night. Use it in place of honey syrup at the same measure, and leave out any separate ginger.

Sources.

Correct as of 19 October 2026.

Difford’s Guide, “Penicillin” (secondary source: Sam Ross’s original, 2005, Milk & Honey, 22.5ml honey and ginger syrup (his syrup: ginger, honey and water, simmered, steeped and used within three days)).

Make something

Made with Honey Ginger Syrup

Often Used With

Updated 19 October 2026

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