Mixers

Strawberry Syrup

Strawberry syrup is hulled strawberries macerated overnight with their own weight of sugar, no heat, then pressed. We keep it a week, refrigerated. It is softer and less sharp than raspberry syrup, so it sweetens and colours without adding much acid, and our Reggae Rum Punch takes 15ml as both its sweetener and its red.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

Flavour Strengthmedium

Our keeping timeHome-made: one week refrigerated.

Storage

Bottled and refrigerated, and used within a week.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Strawberry Syrup

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

StrawberryJammyBright

Tasting Notes

Ripe strawberry with gentle acidity: rounder and sweeter than raspberry syrup, with no cooked or jammy note.

Hull, sugar, wait, press

Hull 250g of strawberries, halve the large ones and toss them with 250g of caster sugar. Covered in the fridge overnight, the fruit releases its juice into the sugar. In the morning sieve out the fruit, pressing hard, then add a little fresh lemon juice, bottle and refrigerate. The yield is about 300ml.

No heat goes near it, which keeps the taste of fresh fruit and limits its life to a week. Take the green tops off at the start: they add a grassy note, and they are far harder to pick out of sugared fruit later.

Softer than raspberry, redder than sugar syrup

Strawberries are usually less acidic than raspberries, so this syrup reads round where raspberry syrup reads sharp. In a long drink already carrying three juices, that softness is the point.

Strawberry syrup beside the sweeteners a rum punch might use

Strawberry syrup

Fruit: Hulled strawberries, 1:1 with sugar, no heat
Taste: Round, gentle acid
Keeps: One week, refrigerated
Colour in the glass: Soft red

Raspberry syrup

Fruit: Raspberries, 1:1 with sugar, no heat
Taste: Sharp, bright
Keeps: One week, refrigerated
Colour in the glass: Rose red

Grenadine

Fruit: Pomegranate juice, 1:1 with sugar
Taste: Deep, tart-sweet
Keeps: One week, refrigerated
Colour in the glass: Deep red

Simple syrup

Fruit: None: sugar and water, 1:1
Taste: Sweet only
Keeps: Two weeks, refrigerated
Colour in the glass: None

	Fruit	Taste	Keeps	Colour in the glass
Strawberry syrup	Hulled strawberries, 1:1 with sugar, no heat	Round, gentle acid	One week, refrigerated	Soft red
Raspberry syrup	Raspberries, 1:1 with sugar, no heat	Sharp, bright	One week, refrigerated	Rose red
Grenadine	Pomegranate juice, 1:1 with sugar	Deep, tart-sweet	One week, refrigerated	Deep red
Simple syrup	None: sugar and water, 1:1	Sweet only	Two weeks, refrigerated	None

In the punch it sweetens and colours

The Reggae Rum Punch shakes 15ml with 45ml of Jamaican white overproof rum, 45ml each of fresh pineapple and orange juice, and 10ml of lime. The syrup is the only added sugar, and it turns the drink pink. Squeeze the three juices the same day; the syrup can be made up to a week ahead.

Out of season, freeze the fruit

The British Dietetic Association puts the home-grown strawberry season at May to September. Fresh strawberries frozen ripe in summer make a fine syrup in winter; thaw them first, and expect them to give up their juice faster than fresh ones.

Using it

Using Strawberry Syrup

Usage

Our Reggae Rum Punch shakes 15ml with white overproof rum, pineapple, orange and lime, and the syrup gives the drink its colour. Elsewhere, use 10 to 15ml in place of simple syrup where strawberry suits, and taste first: ripe fruit makes a sweeter batch.

House Recipe

Ratio1:1 by weight (hulled fruit to sugar), no heat

MakesAbout 300ml

Our keeping timeOne week refrigerated

Ingredients

250g strawberries, hulled, fresh or frozen and thawed
250g caster sugar
A few drops of fresh lemon juice

Method

Halve fresh strawberries, toss them with the sugar, cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
Press the fruit through a fine sieve.
Stir in a few drops of lemon juice to hold the colour, then bottle.
Label with the date and refrigerate.

Food safety

Raw fruit and sugar with no heat treatment: refrigerate throughout, and throw it out if it fizzes, smells fermented or grows mould.

Pro Tip

Keep a splash back when you build the punch. The syrup's sweetness moves with the ripeness of the fruit, and a batch made from midsummer berries can need a few millilitres less than one made from early or frozen fruit.

Top Tips

Hull the berries before the sugar goes on. Pulling leaves out of soft, sugared fruit the next morning is slow and messy.
Halve any large strawberries so the sugar reaches more cut surface overnight.
Add a few drops of fresh lemon juice after pressing to keep the red from dulling.
Label the bottle with the date and finish it inside a week.

Possible Substitutions

Raspberry Syrup: Same method and measure, with a sharper, brighter result
Grenadine: The Reggae Rum Punch allows it: a sharper, pinker drink
Fresh Strawberry: Two or three muddled with a 10ml splash of sugar syrup, fine strained

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

How do you make strawberry syrup without cooking it?

Hull 250g of strawberries and toss them with 250g of caster sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight while the sugar draws juice from the fruit. Sieve, pressing the pulp, stir in a squeeze of lemon, bottle and date it. Expect about 300ml.

How long does homemade strawberry syrup keep?

One week, refrigerated. Nothing in it is heated, so it behaves like fresh fruit rather than like plain sugar syrup, which keeps two weeks. Throw it out sooner if it fizzes, turns cloudy or smells of yeast.

Strawberry syrup or raspberry syrup: which should I use?

Strawberry for softness, raspberry for bite. Strawberries usually carry less acid, so their syrup sweetens a long, juice-heavy drink without sharpening it further. Raspberry syrup suits short sours, where it has to hold its own against lemon. Both are made the same way and used at 15ml.

Why add lemon juice to strawberry syrup?

To keep the colour. Strawberry juice dulls towards brown as it meets air, and a little acid slows that down. A few drops are enough; the syrup should not taste of lemon. It does not lengthen the keeping time, which stays at seven days, chilled.

Can I make strawberry syrup with frozen strawberries?

Yes. Fruit you froze ripe in July makes a better winter syrup than hard imported fruit, and the ice crystals have already broken its cells, so the juice comes out faster. Let it thaw completely first, then follow the same overnight method and weights.

Can I use grenadine instead of strawberry syrup?

In our Reggae Rum Punch, yes: the recipe names it as the alternative. Grenadine is pomegranate juice and sugar, so the punch comes out sharper and pinker. Use the same 15ml. Raspberry syrup is the other swap, and it also sharpens the drink.

Make something

Made with Strawberry Syrup

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Reggae Rum Punch

Often Used With

Updated 17 October 2026

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