If you want to know how to make cherry syrup, the short answer is this: cherry syrup is a deep-ruby, sweet-tart, jammy fruit syrup made by gently simmering fresh or frozen pitted cherries with sugar and water, then mashing and straining the fruit into a glossy, pourable syrup. One bottle stirs into a cherry latte, cold brew, iced coffee, a homemade cherry cola or soda, cocktails and desserts. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes and a single small pot.
Below is a reliable cherry syrup recipe with amounts, ordered steps, a sweet-versus-sour cherry guide, and the one food-safety rule that matters most. If you want the plain sugar-and-water base on its own, that lives in our guide to how to make simple syrup; for the whole flavour family, from vanilla and caramel to nut and fruit, see coffee syrups explained.
What cherry syrup is
Cherry syrup is a fruit syrup: a simple syrup that has been simmered with real cherries so it takes on their colour, juice and flavour. Think cherry pie in liquid form, sweet with a bright tart edge and a soft, jammy roundness. The colour lands somewhere between glossy ruby and deep garnet, and a single spoonful turns a plain glass of milk, soda or coffee an unmistakable pink-red.
The cherries you choose set the tone. Sweet cherries, the dark, firm kind you eat out of hand such as Bing or Rainier, make a rounder, mellower, candy-like syrup. Sour or tart cherries, such as Morello, Montmorency, and the Marasca cherries behind classic maraschino that have long been grown around the Mediterranean and across Europe, make a punchier, more balanced syrup with a grown-up tang that keeps the sugar in check. Plenty of people land on a mix, or a sweet-cherry base with a squeeze of lemon to sharpen it.
Like other fruit syrups, cherry syrup is a close cousin of blackberry syrup and fig syrup: the same core method of fruit simmered into a sugar syrup and then strained, just a different fruit in the pot. Once you can make one, you can make all three.
The one rule: pit the cherries, never the stones
Here is the single food-safety point to get right: pit the cherries and discard the hard stones. Cherries are stone fruit, and like the pits of apricots, plums and peaches, the hard inner kernels are not something you want to crush or cook into your syrup. Remove every pit before the cherries go in the pot, and do not smash, blend or simmer the stones to try to "get more flavour" out of them. You don't need to, and all the flavour you are after comes from the fruit and, if you like, a single drop of almond extract. Throw the pits away.
A cherry pitter makes quick work of it, but the tip of a small knife, a sturdy drinking straw or a chopstick pushed through the fruit over a bowl all work fine. Frozen cherries are usually sold already pitted, which is one reason they make such an easy shortcut here. Either way, give your cherries a quick check before they go in.
What you'll need
This is a small-batch cherry simple syrup built on equal parts sugar and water, with cherries steeped into it. Scale the amounts up freely if you want a bigger bottle.
- 1 cup (about 200 g) sugar — plain white granulated is the neutral default; see the note below on swaps.
- 1 cup (about 240 ml) water
- 2 generous handfuls (roughly 1.5 to 2 cups) pitted cherries, fresh or frozen, sweet or sour
- A squeeze of lemon (optional) — lifts and brightens the fruit
- 1 tiny drop of almond extract, or a splash of vanilla (optional) — almond echoes the classic cherry-almond note, so go easy, since almond extract is strong
Want a deeper, more caramelly base? Swap in brown sugar or stir in a spoonful of honey, but taste as you go, because those flavours can compete with the cherry. For the mechanics of dissolving sugar cleanly and adjusting the ratio, the same simple-syrup principles apply.
How to Make Cherry Syrup, Step by Step
- Pit the cherries. Remove and discard every stone. If you are using frozen cherries, there is no need to thaw them first.
- Dissolve the sugar. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has fully dissolved and the liquid runs clear.
- Add the cherries. Tip in the pitted cherries and bring the pot to a gentle simmer.
- Simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Let it bubble softly, stirring now and then, until the cherries are soft and slumped and the liquid has turned deep red.
- Mash lightly. Press the cherries against the side of the pot with a spoon or a potato masher to release more juice and colour. Don't puree them, since a light mash keeps the straining easy.
- Steep off the heat. Turn off the heat and let everything sit for 5 to 10 minutes so the syrup can pull in the last of the flavour.
- Strain. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing the fruit gently with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the syrup. For a crystal-clear pour, strain a second time or line the sieve with cheesecloth.
- Season and cool. Stir in the optional squeeze of lemon and the tiny drop of almond extract or splash of vanilla, then let the syrup cool completely.
- Bottle. Funnel the cooled syrup into a clean, sealable bottle or jar and refrigerate.
Don't toss the strained cherry pulp: spoon it over yogurt, oatmeal or ice cream so nothing goes to waste.
Sweet vs sour cherries and ratios
Use this as a quick guide to pick your cherries and dial in the sugar. Sour cherries can take a touch more sugar because they start out tarter, while sweet cherries often want that squeeze of lemon to balance them.
| Cherry type | Examples | Syrup flavour | Sugar-to-water ratio | Good with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet | Bing, Rainier, dark sweet (fresh or frozen) | Round, mellow, candy-like | 1:1 (add lemon to sharpen) | Lattes, cold foam, desserts |
| Sour / tart | Morello, Montmorency, Marasca | Punchy, bright, balanced | 1:1 to 1.25:1 | Sodas, cocktails, cherry cola |
| Mixed | Half sweet, half sour | Best of both, sweet with an edge | 1:1 | An everyday all-rounder |
How to use cherry coffee syrup and more
Start small, because cherry syrup is intense and a little goes a long way. Add a teaspoon or two, taste, and build from there.
- Cherry latte: stir a spoonful into the bottom of the cup, then add espresso and steamed or cold milk. It is also lovely drizzled over a cold foam.
- Cold brew and iced coffee: this is where cherry coffee syrup really shines, as the tart-sweet fruit cuts cleanly through cold, concentrated coffee.
- Cherry cola and soda: pour a measure over ice and top with soda water or cola for a homemade cherry soda.
- Cocktails and mocktails: shake it into a whiskey sour, a spritz or a lemonade; it also stands in for the sugary syrup in a cherry cola float.
- Desserts: spoon it over ice cream, pancakes, cheesecake or yogurt.
Storage and shelf life
Cherry syrup is fresh fruit and sugar, so treat it like a perishable. Keep it refrigerated in a clean, sealed bottle, and use it within about a week to 10 days while the flavour is at its brightest. The sugar helps preserve it, but real fruit syrups simply don't keep as long as a plain simple syrup does.
To hold it longer, freeze the extra: pour the syrup into an ice-cube tray, freeze it, then bag the cubes and thaw a portion whenever you need it. As with any homemade syrup, trust your senses. If it smells off, looks cloudy or turns fizzy, or grows anything fuzzy, then when in doubt, throw it out. A clean bottle and a clean spoon each time go a long way.
That really is all there is to it. Once you have made cherry syrup once, the same simmer, mash and strain rhythm opens up nearly every stone fruit and berry at the market, which is exactly why this fruit-syrup method is such a handy one to have in your back pocket.