This Homemade Cola Syrup is inspired by the Cuba Libre drink. It’s a more difficult syrup to make for cocktails, but so worth it!
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About this Homemade Cola Syrup recipe
I want to tell you a story. The story of one of the most incredible cocktails I’ve tasted in my life. I’m usually the kind of person to visit the website of every restaurant on my itinerary and plan all my meals, but I decided to be a go-with-the-flow kind of person for my trip to The Outer Banks of North Carolina in June. (How is it already almost August, though?)
At our first dinner at the 1587 Restaurant, I was mingling with the other bloggers. I had one look at the cocktail menu and knew instantly what I wanted. Who needs to plan anyway?!
I would normally skim right over a Cuba Libre on a menu because it’s basically a Rum & Coke — with lime. That’s it. Pretty standard bar fare. Great for airplanes and dive bars.
But this one was different. Something caught my eye: “House-made cola syrup,” the menu boasted. “Rum distilled locally in the Outer Banks. Fresh lime juice.” I have a weakness for cocktails that have house-made ingredients. I also have a weakness for spirits from small, local, craft distilleries. This cocktail had my name all over it!
When waiter brought this drink to me, I fell in love immediately. (Love at first sight is possible with cocktails.) It was lighter in color than any rum-and-Coke I’ve ever had. Tiny flecks of vanilla floated on the top. It was smooth, complex in flavor and I wanted to drink them all night.
I knew immediately I wanted to recreate this cocktail when I got home. I begged the bartender to share his recipe with me. He joked it was a secret, and I was crestfallen. I’d never get to taste this beauty again!
Ingredients
The waiter shared that his recipe was inspired by the cola syrup recipe in The Curious Bartender: The Artistry and Alchemy of Creating the Perfect Cocktail by Tristan Stephenson. Score. I ordered the book from our beautiful beach house that night.
I’ll be honest: the recipe required ingredients I didn’t even know where to find — let alone how they worked in a cocktail! But this book answered it all.
It starts with a homemade cola flavoring, which uses essential oils of wild orange, cinnamon, lemon and coriander, plus orange blossom water, vodka and food-grade gum arabic, which is a stabilizer, thickener and emulsifier used in food and drink. It helps to emulsify the essential oils into the drink (so you don’t have ribbons or bubbles of oil floating on top), and citric acid is a preservative (useful if you are serving this cocktail in a restaurant or need the syrup to last longer).
Then the syrup comes together with honey, sugar and water, infused with dried bay leaves, fresh basil, vanilla beans * (or extract), fresh lime juice and citric acid. If you like, add caffeine powder and caramel coloring to make it more like the colas you know and love. The caffeine and coloring have everything to do with making a cola syrup more like the stuff in the red cans. Totally optional in my opinion!
Cuba Libre cocktail
For a Cuba Libra, you’ll also want light rum, club soda and more fresh lime juice to mix with the cola syrup.
Don’t miss Rum 101 where you can learn more about which bottles to buy.
Side note: We got to tour Outer Banks Distilling (who makes the Kill Devil Rum used in this drink) during our stay. I seriously love how craft distilleries are popping up all over North Carolina, and I am glad the OBX has one all its own.
How it’s made
So to be totally honest with you: this Homemade Cola Syrup is complicated. It’s nothing like the simple syrup we know and love.
I made it anyway. (I had to! So good.) Honestly, the effort that goes into this syrup reminds me a lot of the beautiful Outer Banks. These islands are a little off the radar and they’re a long drive away, but they are so, so worth the effort!
You’ll need a bit of time for this recipe, and it’s made in a few parts. There’s the cola flavoring, which goes into the cola formula. There’s a long infusion, where you let vodka soak up the flavor of bay leaves and basil for 48 hours. And once all that has taken place, you’ve got all the makings for a cola syrup.
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Homemade Cola Syrup
ingredients
Cola Flavoring
- 4 drops wild orange essential oil
- 2 drops cinnamon essential oil
- 6 drops lemon essential oil
- 1 drop coriander essential oil
- ¼ teaspoon orange blossom water
- 2 ounces vodka
- 2 grams gum arabic
Cola Formula
- 3-4 whole dried bay leaves
- 12 leaves fresh basil
- 1 ounce vodka
- 6 pods vanilla beans * or 1½ tablespoon vanilla extract *
- 6 cups granulated sugar
- 4 cups water
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon citric acid
- 6 millileters cola flavoring recipe below
- 5 grams caramel coloring
- 2¾ grams powdered caffeine optional
For a Cuba Libre
- 2 ounces light rum
- 1 ounce cola syrup
- 4 ounces club soda
- lime wedge for garnish
instructions
Make the Cola Flavoring
- In a medium bowl or jar, combine the essential oils, orange blossom water and vodka. Slowly whisk in the gum arabic. The mixture will turn cloudy and yellow.4 drops wild orange essential oil, 2 drops cinnamon essential oil, 6 drops lemon essential oil, 1 drop coriander essential oil, ¼ teaspoon orange blossom water, 2 ounces vodka
- If the oils and vodka still separate when the mixture rests, add a small amount of gum arabic until the mixture is emulsified.2 grams gum arabic
Make the Cola Formula
- In a jar with a lid, infuse the bay leaves, basil leaves and vodka. Let sit for 48 hours. Reserving the liquid, strain out the leaves.3-4 whole dried bay leaves, 12 leaves fresh basil, 1 ounce vodka
- Score vanilla pods * lengthwise with the tip of a knife. Using a spoon or knife, carefully scrape the seeds from the pods. Discard the pods or save for a later use.6 pods vanilla beans
- In a pan over medium low heat, warm the vanilla seeds, sugar and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in the honey. Heat for 25 minutes more. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer * or a cheesecloth.6 pods vanilla beans, 6 cups granulated sugar, 4 cups water, ½ cup honey
- In a large bowl, combine 3½ ounces of the vanilla syrup, the lime juice, citric acid, cola flavoring, caramel coloring, citric acid and caffeine powder, and ½ teaspoon of the basil and bay leaf infusion. Stir until combined.½ cup lime juice, 1 teaspoon citric acid, 6 millileters cola flavoring, 5 grams caramel coloring, 2¾ grams powdered caffeine
- Stir the mixture back into the vanilla syrup. Decant into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Make the Cuba Libre
- In a highball glass * filled with ice, add rum, cola formula and soda water. Garnish with a lime wedge.2 ounces light rum, 1 ounce cola syrup, 4 ounces club soda, lime wedge for garnish
notes
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nutrition information
amount per serving:
Check out all the other stops my friends and I made on our road trip to the Outer Banks! Don’t miss my watermelon blue cheese salad inspired by this trip!
Disclosure: Thank you to The Outer Banks of North Carolina for inviting me on this amazing trip. All opinions written are 100% my own. I’m so grateful for opportunities like this. I only work with brands I know and love, and I thank you for supporting them! Also, this post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something we receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are those of the author.
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