One of my favorite parts of blogging is when I’m given the opportunity to sample products and give my honest review of them. I love the chance to try something new and to incorporate it into recipes. So when Routin 1883 contacted me to sample some of their gourmet syrups, I was excited to dust off my bartending kit and concoct some tasty beverages. The company produces gourmet flavors for use in cocktails, specialty coffees, Italian sodas, etc. The syrups, manufactured in the French Alps, have no preservatives, GMO’s, or high fructose corn syrup (they are even gluten free). Routin 1883 was kind enough to send me a bunch of different samples so I tried to highlight each of them to review.
To try the vanilla, I added the syrup to a traditional White Russian (I thought it sounded like it would be delicious, I was right!)
Ingredients:
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Kahlua
1/2 ounce vanilla syrup
Top with cream
To make, add ice cubes to a glass. Pour vodka and Kahlua over the ice. Add the vanilla syrup and stir. Fill with light cream and serve.
The vanilla syrup held up nicely to the strong coffee flavor of Kahlua and was an awesome complement to this already delicious drink. After a sniff of the syrup I decided to go with a 1/2 ounce instead of an ounce because it seems to be quite strong.
The coconut syrup meant I could pretend it is summer. I added it to rum and pineapple juice for a taste of the islands.
Ingredients:
2 ounces light rum
1 ounce coconut syrup
fresh pineapple juice
Add ice cubes to a tall glass. Pour rum and syrup over the ice. Fill with pineapple juice and serve.
This is so refreshing. It’s a perfect escape from the winter weather and would also be perfect as a pitcher in the summer months. Coconut and pineapple just go so well together.
I decided to use the raspberry syrup to make a raspberry rickey: a gin rickey with raspberry flavoring.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounce gin
the juice of 1/2 a lime
club soda
1 ounce raspberry syrup
Add ice to a short glass. Add gin, lime juice , and raspberry syrup and top with club soda.
This was another really refreshing drink. The syrup wasn’t sugary so it didn’t take away from the bite you’d normally get in the original version of this drink. You could also serve it straight up (no ice) if you’d like. Just mix it in a shaker and pour into a glass.
For the caramel syrup, I thought it might be fun to try a flavored martini. I happened to have sour apple liqueur in my apartment (I have no idea why) so a Caramel Apple Martini immediately popped into my mind.
Ingredients:
2 ounces sour apple liqueur
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce caramel syrup
Add ice to a shaker. Pour in apple liqueur, vodka, and caramel syrup and shake. Strain into a martini glass rimmed with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.
This tasted exactly like a candied apple. The caramel’s sweetness really helped tone down the sour apple flavor of the liqueur.
Next up, a frozen strawberry-champagne daiquiri. I had some champagne left over from New Years Eve that I just put into an ice cube tray. I thought this would be a perfect use of those champagne ice cubes.
Ingredients:
2 ounces light rum
1/2 ounce triple sec
1 ounce strawberry syrup
6 strawberries
juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon sugar
5 champagne ice cubes
5 normal ice cubes
You’ll need normal ice in there too because champagne doesn’t freeze entirely. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until frothy. The champagne might bubble a bit. Pour into a glass and serve.
I think champagne should be the base of every strawberry daiquiri from now on. The strawberry syrup added a much bolder flavor to the daiquiri than strawberries alone would without adding a typically syrupy, sugary taste to it. It really enhanced the daiquiri!
Last but not least, I made what I’ve dubbed a Toasted Martini.
Ingredients:
2 ounces chocolate liqueur
1 ounce espresso (cooled)
1 ounce roasted hazelnut syrup
Add ice to a shaker. Add the chocolate liqueur, espresso, and syrup and shake. Strain into a martini glass rimmed with cocoa powder.
Do I even have to mention how amazing this was? I could drink this all day. It was like a grown up chocolate milk, definitely my favorite. The hazelnut flavor was amazing!
Overall I think I gravitated more to the syrups that would go nicely in coffees (which is next on my list to try): Roasted Hazelnut, Vanilla, Caramel, and Coconut. But the fruit flavors were really nice as well! They are actually flavored with real fruit juice which is very noticeable. They don’t have that normal “syrupy” taste at all. Routin 1883 has tons of different flavors on their site so be sure to check them all out. They also have plenty of recipes if you’re looking for inspiration!