*This recipe was retested and rewritten on 5.21.20*
An Easy Recipe for Homemade Honey Lavender Syrup
Honey lavender lattes are one of my favorite beverages, but I don’t always want to spend $6 for one from the coffee shop. This recipe is for an easy homemade honey lavender syrup, which can be easily mixed with your favorite brewed espresso or dark coffee at home! This syrup is also great in cocktails, such as a Honey Lavender Bee’s Knees.
Ingredients for Honey Lavender Syrup:
- Raw Honey (raw honey contains the most nutrients, as opposed to honey that has been processed)
- Fresh Lavender Leaves OR Dried Culinary Lavender
- Water
That’s truly it. This is a very basic, easy recipe for honey lavender syrup! There are more involved recipes floating around online, but this is the one I created three years ago, and has consistently been a hit for many people.
What kind of Honey should I use?
I suggest raw honey for this recipe. In all honesty, I recommend using a local, raw honey from the farmer’s market if that is an option for you. Supporting your local farmers is a wonderful way to guarantee their continued success, and the honey is almost guaranteed to be far more nutritious than honey you can find at a major grocery chain. Ask the person selling the honey about the flavor of it, and they will most likely tell you what to expect!
There are a couple of popular types of honey that you will see at major grocery chains, so let’s go over the flavor differences you may see.
Clover Honey :: Clover honey is probably the most popular honey in the States. Clover honey is made from bees who collect nectar from various clover plants, hence the name. It’s a sweeter, floral honey, and really great for a variety of recipes. Clover honey that is labeled “raw” has far more antioxidant qualities than processed honey.
Wildflower Honey :: Wildflower honey may not as popular, but this honey is so delicious in its own way. Similar to clover honey, wildflower honey gets its name from bees collecting nectar from a variety of wildflowers! It is typically fruity and rich, and has a lot of character. The only disadvantage of wildflower honey is that it can vary greatly in flavor, depending on the season and region of the wildflowers it is sourced from. If you have an opportunity to sample a local wildflower honey first, that would be a great way to see if it fits your tastes for this syrup. Again, look for a “raw” bottle to benefit from the antioxidants and nutrients.
Orange Blossom Honey :: Coming from the orange blossom nectar collected by bees, this varietal of honey tends to have a fresh, citrusy taste. Said to have tons of benefits from anti-cancer to anti-allergy, this is a wonderful varietal to keep on hand. “Raw” orange blossom honey is the best choice here, as well!
If you already have a favorite honey, use that for this recipe! Because this honey lavender syrup is so simple, the flavor of the honey is important. Your favorite honey is perfect, especially if you already have it on hand!
Should I use Fresh Lavender Leaves or Dried Lavender?
This is a matter of preference and availability. When I first published the recipe a few years ago, I called for fresh lavender leaves. I grew English lavender on my balcony while creating this recipe, so I used the fresh, fragrant leaves from that plant to make the syrup. However, fresh lavender leaves are not always easy to come by. If you have access to them and thoroughly wash them, I recommend trying them at least once in this syrup to see if you like it!
Dried culinary lavender seems to be more accessible to most people, so I have since changed the recipe to reflect that.
Either option is wonderful. Before using either, check to make sure it is very fragrant. The quality and fragrancy is the lavender is important!
I make this lavender syrup all year long, because it’s so good in hot or iced coffee drinks. It’s also really great in cocktails! I have a blueberry cilantro margarita on the blog that uses honey syrup, but I’ve used this lavender honey syrup with it before, and it’s amazing.
I hope you love this syrup as much as I do! If you make it, I would love to see how you use it if you’ll tag me on Instagram! Feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions, too.
Cheers!
xx Sara
Honey Lavender Syrup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lavender leaves OR dried lavender buds
Instructions
- Heat water in a small saucepan until hot, but not boiling. Add honey and lavender leaves (or buds), and stir until honey is completely dissolved.
- Remove from heat, and let steep for one hour. Stir every fifteen minutes or so to recombine the lavender into the liquid.
- Strain the syrup through a fine mesh sieve, and into an airtight container. Press down on the lavender in the fine mesh sieve to squeeze more flavor into the syrup. Discard lavender.
- Use for coffee or cocktails (or whatever you please!), and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
I have yet to mix it into my latte (b/c it’s 5 pm) but can already tell this recipe will be perfect! It smells lovely and the lavender is not too over-bearing. I made another batch this morning using 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar and 1/4 cup lavender buds, per the recipe. It was so powerful that after only 1 sip of coffee I can still taste the lavender hours later. I had to toss the cup, it was too much. Looking forward to my iced lavender latte tomorrow! Also, I always find that mesquite honey is a lot more mild. Anytime I’ve used clover honey with cooking it’s all I could taste. Thanks again!
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a wonderful comment, Melissa! I’m so excited to hear how your iced lavender latte is this morning! I completely agree that the taste of lavender needs to be prominent, but I also don’t enjoy it when it’s too overwhelming. I also love your note on the honey – I used clover honey for a test batch of this syrup, and definitely found it to be too powerful. The mesquite honey is MUCH better to use with the syrup, and allows the lavender notes come through in a subtle, delicious way. I should add a note of this to the recipe! Thank you again, and let me know how your latte turned out!
When in college, I’d save my pennies to buy myself, only once a month, a sublime “lavender latte” this little café served in the West Village. That always stayed with me. Well….now some two decades later….it’s back! This is it! Thanks for this wonderful elixir—it even elevated my margarita!
I’m SO glad you love it! The honey lavender lattes are such a wonderful “every now and then” treat for me, too. Making them at home (for FAR less $) is the way to go. Also, I LOVE that you use this syrup in margaritas – what perfect timing for a Friday! Thank you so much for leaving such a kind comment, and cheers to your honey lavender lattes and margaritas!
Hello! I’m really excited to try this. I have never tried honey lavender syrup in anything but finding out it can be homemade made me so happy. I want to ask if I can do this with other teas? Like masala chai or other floral teas? I’ve purchased butterfly pea tea and cherry peach together with my lavender tea since I’m curious about them.
I’d also like to ask how long is the shelf life of this syrup and do I have to refrigerate it? Thank you so much!
Hi Lou!! I’m so excited for you to try this, too! It can be stored (in an airtight container) in the refrigerator for up to two weeks! In regards to the butterfly pea tea and cherry peach tea, I am not 100% sure (I LOVE this idea but haven’t tried it yet!), but here is what I’m thinking: You could totally infuse other flavors into a honey-based syrup, but the quantities may differ a little bit. If you have a loose leaf tea that you’re infusing into the syrup, I would probably use more than two tablespoons of the dried tea for the infusion. This particular recipe uses only lavender buds, so I use two tablespoons because they’re pretty potent and I don’t want the flavor to be overpowering! But if you’re using loose leaf tea, the lavender flavor (or whatever flavor you’re using) should be subdued, so I would use about 1/4 cup to start and adjust accordingly! I hope that’s what you meant, and I hope that helps! But if you’re using this particular honey lavender syrup to mix into teas, it should be absolutely delicious in either one of those! If this didn’t answer your question or you have any others – just let me know! You can also email me at aflavorjournal @gmail.com if that’s easier for you, too!
How long does the syrup keep and how should we store it?
Hi Denisse! I get this question a lot, so it’s actually in the recipe with step #4! Store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two weeks max. I hope you love it!!