My downstairs neighbor brought me a whole bunch of mint leaves last week as a gift because she knows how much I love sun brewed teas. Anyone ever try sun brewed tea? There is something about allowing tea to sit in the sun to brew for hours instead of using hot water. You get this amazing flavor that far surpasses the traditional tea brewing method.
With so much mint in my possession, I decided to sass up my simple syrup recipe to make a flavorful mint simple syrup that vamps up coffee and cocktails. Besides using them for iced teas, mint leaves are also great to incorporate into beauty treatments, yogurt toppings and plain old water.
I made my simple syrup with the intent of using it to flavor my iced coffee in the morning. However, due to an impromptu brunch for eight friends in my apartment, I used half it for my muddled blackberry gimlet. You can make this ahead of time and store it in a mason jar or any other air tight container for about a month.
INGREDIENTS
Simple syrup uses a 1 to 1 ratio of water and sugar. You can scale the recipe up or down using this principle. For a smaller amount, use 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
- 2 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of loosely packed mint leaves
- 2 cups of water
DIRECTIONS
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a gently boil
- Reduce the heat and let the mix simmer until sugar is completely dissolved and slightly thick
- Turn of heat and let the simple syrup cool for 30 minute. Strain and pour into an air tight container
- Store in the fridge and enjoy in cocktails and coffees
My morning coffee is a bit more jazzed up with mint flavor.
