Fresh mint syrup is a truly fragrant delight, refreshing, quick, and ready to use. It’s a very easy preparation with which we can make exquisite drinks to offer to our guests after a meal, at a buffet, and so on. It’s ideal for refreshing the upcoming hot summer days. It’s also great for creating cocktails or as a topping for desserts and ice cream. This homemade syrup is natural, contains no dyes; the more or less intense color of the syrup depends on the amount of mint leaves added. We can drink it after a meal or during the day, especially when it’s very hot.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: about 2 qt
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups Water
- 2.2 lbs Sugar
- 3.5 oz Fresh mint leaves
- to taste Lemon zest (grated)
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 pinch Fine salt
Preparation
1) Thoroughly wash the mint leaves with running water and place them in a pot with the water, sugar, grated zest, lemon juice (which will help enhance the flavor and aroma of the mint), and the pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, let the sugar dissolve, and boil the syrup for 5 minutes over high heat.
2) Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool completely before removing the mint leaves and lemon zest. Transfer it into a 1-quart bottle with an airtight seal or small juice bottles.
3) To prepare delicious drinks, simply dilute 1 part of concentrated mint syrup with 3 or 4 parts of water, according to personal taste. The drinks can also be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge until serving, with fresh mint leaves and lemon zest as garnish.
Extra idea. If we want to preserve the syrup for a long time, we can sterilize it as with preserves. Immediately after filtering and bottling the syrup, fill the bottles and seal them tightly (in this case, it would be better to use small juice bottles). Boil them in already boiling water for 30 minutes. To prevent the bottles from bumping into each other during boiling, wrap them individually in kitchen towels. Let them cool completely before removing them from the water. This way, we can offer and enjoy this delight all year round.
