Honey Syrup
Honey syrup is honey let down with warm water so that it mixes into a cold drink, our house 2:1 by weight: 300g of honey to 150g of water makes about 350ml and keeps a month in the fridge. Because honey is already up to a fifth water, the syrup ends up just slightly sweeter than simple syrup and carries the flavour of the jar. It sweetens the Bee's Knees, the Penicillin, the Gold Rush and the Honey Sour.
Quick Facts
Refrigerate in a sealed bottle. Shake it before pouring if it has separated, and discard it if it turns cloudy or fizzes on opening.
None of the 14 listed allergens.
About Honey Syrup
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Rounded sweetness with gentle floral aroma and soft complexity. Less sharp than simple syrup, with a fuller mouthfeel.
Honey has to be thinned before it will mix cold
Neat honey is mostly fructose and glucose with no more than a fifth water, thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon and dense enough to drop through a shaker. Cold makes it worse. Two parts honey stirred into one part hand-hot water gives a syrup that pours, measures and disperses in a normal shake: 300g of honey and 150g of water make about 350ml.
2:1 is a balance between flavour and water
More water makes a thinner syrup that needs a larger measure and carries more water into the glass; less makes one that is slow to mix. The house 2:1 keeps the honey forward without either problem. The table sets the common ratios against neat honey and simple syrup, by sugar content.
Honey syrup ratios against neat honey and simple syrup
Neat honey
- Honey to water, by weight
- No water added
- Sugar, roughly
- About 80%
- In a cold shaker
- Sinks and seizes
Honey syrup, 3:1
- Honey to water, by weight
- 3:1
- Sugar, roughly
- About 60%
- In a cold shaker
- Thick; slow to mix
Honey syrup, house
- Honey to water, by weight
- 2:1
- Sugar, roughly
- About 53%
- In a cold shaker
- Mixes in a normal shake
Honey syrup, 1:1
- Honey to water, by weight
- 1:1
- Sugar, roughly
- About 40%
- In a cold shaker
- Thin; needs a larger measure
Simple syrup
- Honey to water, by weight
- 1:1 white sugar
- Sugar, roughly
- 50%
- In a cold shaker
- The baseline
| Mix | Honey to water, by weight | Sugar, roughly | In a cold shaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neat honey | No water added | About 80% | Sinks and seizes |
| Honey syrup, 3:1 | 3:1 | About 60% | Thick; slow to mix |
| Honey syrup, house | 2:1 | About 53% | Mixes in a normal shake |
| Honey syrup, 1:1 | 1:1 | About 40% | Thin; needs a larger measure |
| Simple syrup | 1:1 white sugar | 50% | The baseline |
It belongs with lemon, whisky and gin
Lemon suits honey more readily than any other citrus. The Bee's Knees sets 10ml against lemon and orange with gin; the Gold Rush and the Penicillin each take 22.5ml against the same of lemon, the Penicillin with fresh ginger slices shaken in rather than a ginger syrup. The Honey Sour uses 15ml and an optional egg white, and the Yellow Jacket puts it beside yellow Chartreuse, itself honeyed. Honey ginger syrup is a separate prep for drinks that want the two already joined.
Water shortens its life to a month
We keep neat honey for years on the strength of its low water content. Diluting it removes that protection, so we keep honey syrup in the fridge, a month at our 2:1, the same as the other 2:1 syrups on the syrup chart. It separates as it stands, which shakes back together. Label the bottle with the date, and pour it away if it turns cloudy or fizzes when opened.
Using Honey Syrup
Usage
Our recipes pour 10 to 30ml: 10ml in the Bee's Knees, 15ml in the Honey Sour and the Airmail, 22.5ml in the Penicillin, the Gold Rush and the Brown Derby. Measure it like any syrup, and check the balance whenever you open a new jar of honey.
House Recipe
Ingredients
- 300g runny honey
- 150g warm water (150ml)
Method
- Warm the water until hand-hot; the honey stays off the heat.
- Stir the honey into the water until it runs clear off the spoon.
- Cool, bottle, label with the date and refrigerate.
Food safety
Diluted honey has lost the low water content that keeps a jar safe in the cupboard, so we keep it in the fridge. Separation is normal and shakes back together; a cloudy or fizzing bottle is finished.
Pro Tip
When a honey drink tastes of honey and little else, the jar is too strong for the spirit. Change to a milder honey before cutting the measure: less syrup unbalances the lemon, while a lighter honey keeps the balance and lets the spirit through.
Top Tips
- Warm the water, not the honey. Hand-hot water loosens it in seconds and leaves the aroma alone.
- Weigh it: 300g of honey to 150g of water. A spoonful of honey is hard to measure and easy to underfill.
- Choose a mild honey for gin and a darker one for bourbon or dark rum. The jar changes the drink more than the ratio does.
- Shake the bottle before pouring. Separation in the fridge is normal; cloudiness or fizz is not.
Possible Substitutions
- Simple Syrup: cleaner, less complex
- Agave Syrup: lighter, more neutral
- Maple Syrup: darker, stronger flavour
Production Method
Two parts honey stirred into one part hand-hot water by weight, our house ratio of 2:1, until it runs clear, then cooled and kept refrigerated.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is honey syrup?
What ratio is honey syrup?
Why not use honey straight in a cocktail?
How long does honey syrup keep?
Which honey is good for honey syrup?
Can I use honey syrup instead of simple syrup?
Does the Penicillin use honey ginger syrup?
How do you make a honey sour?
Sources.
Correct as of 17 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, “The Honey (England) Regulations 2015, Schedule 1”.
Made with Honey Syrup
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Updated 17 October 2026