Lavender Syrup substitute

Substitutes for Lavender Syrup with ratios

1. 2Earl Grey syrup

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   Steep two Earl Grey tea bags in a cup of hot simple syrup for five minutes.

   What changes

   The bergamot oil gives you an unmistakably perfumed, citrus-floral aroma in the same register as lavender, without the piney camphor note. A lavender latte made this way becomes an Earl Grey latte, which is honestly excellent.

   Best for

   lattes and coffee drinks, gin cocktails, baking, lemonade

   Do not steep the tea longer than five minutes or the tannins make the syrup bitter and drying. If you can find bergamot-heavy Earl Grey or Lady Grey, they are more floral and less tannic and work even better here.

2. 3Rose syrup, or rosewater stirred into simple syrup

   Different taste

   Use the same amount for rose syrup, or ¼ teaspoon rosewater per ounce of simple syrup

   The closest thing to what most people imagine lavender tastes like: sweet, perfumed and floral.

   What changes

   Rose is rounder, jammier and more obviously feminine in flavour, and it lacks lavender's resinous edge entirely, so the result is prettier and less complex.

   Best for

   lemonade, gin and vodka drinks, desserts and icings, Middle Eastern sweets

   Rosewater is extremely potent, so measure it rather than pouring. A quarter teaspoon per ounce is generous. Going further tips it into the same soapy territory that over-steeped lavender does, for the same reason: too much floral aromatic in too little liquid.

3. 4Chamomile syrup

   Different taste

   Use the same amount made with 2 chamomile tea bags per cup of hot simple syrup

   Honeyed, hay-like and gently floral.

   What changes

   It is a much quieter flavour than lavender, so it works beautifully in a lemonade where you want a soft floral background and gets completely lost in a milky latte or against a strong spirit.

   Best for

   lemonade and iced tea, light spritzes, delicate desserts

   You can push the strength safely, since chamomile does not turn soapy the way lavender does. Three or four bags and a longer steep gives a more assertive syrup without any risk of overdoing it.

4. 5Rosemary syrup

   Different taste

   Use the same amount made with 1 small sprig per cup of hot simple syrup, steeped 5 to 8 minutes

   Rosemary is a close botanical cousin and shares lavender's resinous, piney, slightly camphorous backbone without any of the perfume.

   What changes

   In a gin and lemon drink it is genuinely convincing. In a milky latte it tastes savoury and wrong.

   Best for

   gin cocktails, lemonade, grapefruit drinks, savoury-leaning sweets

   Use half the steeping time you would give lavender, because rosemary gives up its oils quickly and an over-steeped rosemary syrup tastes like pine cleaner. Pull it at five minutes and taste.

5. 6Elderflower syrup or cordial

   Different taste

   Use the same amount with the recipe's other sweetener reduced slightly

   Distinctly floral, honeyed and a little muscat-grapey.

   What changes

   It occupies the same aromatic space as lavender in a gin drink and is far more forgiving, since it never turns soapy. Most elderflower cordials are sweeter than a 1:1 syrup, so scale back elsewhere.

   Best for

   gin and sparkling wine drinks, spritzes, lemonade

   The best all-round swap for cocktails specifically, because it is designed for exactly this job. Less convincing in coffee, where the light, grapey aroma disappears under the espresso.