Product Review: Chic Chef Organic Simple Syrup

Chic Chef Simple syrup for cocktails
Chic Chef Simple syrup for cocktails, photo credit: Stefan Welter

Simple Syrup for Cocktails (and low ABV Drinks)

Simple syrup, sugar mixed with water to form a viscous syrup, make complicated cocktails–uh–simple.

What is It?

Known in metro Phoenix for their catering business, Chic Chef Co. is the work of chef Nik Fields. Perhaps best known outside of Arizona for her infused olive oils (there is a Butter flavor and a Bacon flavor), a new line of infused simple syrups demonstrates Fields’ ability to infuse with flair.

Sugar dissolved in heated water and whisked until it creates a thick liquid, simple syrup helps anyone master the art of the cocktail (and the mocktail), adding flavor and sweetness without fuss. With Chic Chef’s simple syrups in hand, I set out to refine a few cocktails and other beverages I make at home.

How does it Taste?

Chic Chef Simple syrup for cocktails
Jasmine Arnold Palmer with Chic Chef Lavender Vanilla Simple Syrup

I started off slowly, riffing on the classic Arnold Palmer lemonade and tea combo. Steeped jasmine tea with fresh lemon juice from my Meyer lemon tree, enlivened with a touch of Chic Chef Lavender Vanilla syrup, amplified the jasmine with lavender’s delicacy and vanilla’s smoothness.

I then turned to cocktails. Jalapeño was a no-brainer to mix with tequila and lime juice for an updated margarita. Raspberry Basil Mint stepped in for plain simple syrup in a new Old Fashioned I made with Argonaut Fat Thumb brandy. (I can’t wait to try this in summer with a garnish of fresh raspberries.) Ginger Honey purred in a California Gold Rush–a rim of candied ginger sugar would take this to an even higher place. The recipe is below.

Chic Chef designed simple syrup for cocktails. With a little imagination and a playful spirit, classic cocktails become new again.

Simple Syrup Recipe

Gold Rush Variation

A cocktail jigger makes the measuring easy.

  • 2 oz. whiskey or brandy (we tried it with Fat Thumb and again with High West Whiskey’s American Prairie Bourbon)
  • ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice
  • ¾ oz. Chic Chef Raspberry Basil Mint syrup
  • Garnish: Fresh raspberries if in season or Italian Amarena or Maraschino cherries

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the whiskey, lemon juice and Raspberry Basil Mint Syrup. Shake firmly, just until shaker begins to look icy (30 seconds). Strain into a lowboy or Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with berries.

*I received a free sample of this product.