Keep Agave Syrup On Hand For Effortless Cocktail Crafting

One of the most crucial cocktail ingredients you can have in your inventory is simple syrup. The two-ingredient syrup is a key part of many cocktails, and simple syrup is incredibly easy to make, too. The downside of simple syrup, though, is that the sugar-water combination doesn't exactly offer much outside of a general sweet note. If you feel like amping up your cocktail game in a seamless way, or if you're just plain tired of simple syrup's simplicity, agave syrup may well be the answer for you.

Not only is agave syrup, or agave nectar, one of the more effective replacements for simple syrup when crafting cocktails, but it also boasts some rounded flavor notes that simple syrup could only dream of. Agave syrup has a naturally sweet, earthy, almost honey-like taste — there's a reason tea-drinkers sometimes substitute honey with agave — while being not quite as viscous as its bee-made counterpart. Aside from cocktails, you can use it in tea or use it to replace corn syrup in recipes. Once you make the switch from a simple sugar to an agave syrup, you might never look back.

There are two categories of drinks in which agave syrup fits effortlessly. The first is anything that contains tequila. Agave-based tequila already contains many of the earthy notes present in agave syrup and benefits from having these unique flavors enhanced. The key ratio that defines tequila dictates that at least 51% of the drink's sugars must come from agave, so pairing a tequila base with agave syrup in margaritas or palomas is a perfect union. You could even try agave syrup with other Mexican-made alternatives to tequila, such as the agave-based pulque.

Consider including agave syrup in a drink where you'd normally use honey syrup. Honey syrup, which is a mix of honey and hot water, is a staple in some classic cocktails such as the Bee's Knees and the Gold Rush, but a switch to agave syrup could provide a welcome change here. Agave syrup, having a similar flavor profile and consistency to honey, should fit in with these cocktails perfectly, while still being distinct enough to give you a change-up. Before you know it, you may just have a new favorite cocktail.