Easy Homemade Peppermint Syrup (2 Ways)

With just 5 minutes of prep, you can make copycat Starbucks Peppermint Syrup for coffee, mocktails, teas, and even ice cream! Not only is this peppermint syrup recipe easy to follow, but it can be made with either fresh mint leaves or mint extract.

If you love making easy syrups, try my homemade ginger syrup or cardamom simple syrup.

Jump to:

• ⭐ Why this recipe is great
• ❓ Are peppermint and mint the same?
• 🌿 Ingredients
• 📋 How to make homemade peppermint syrup: step-by-step
• 🥣 Substitutions and variations
• 💡 Storage and freezing
• 👨🏻‍🍳 Expert notes & tips
• 🙋🏻‍♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
• 🌟 Other easy simple syrups
• ✔️ Peppermint syrup uses
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❓ Are peppermint and mint the same?

Mint and peppermint are not the same plant. For one, 'mint' is more specifically known as spearmint. Although both mint and peppermint are members of the mint family, they have distinct differences in flavor, aroma, and uses.

Spearmint, known scientifically as Mentha spicata, has a sweet and mild flavor with a hint of freshness, making it a versatile herb in culinary applications. It contains the compound carvone, which contributes to its characteristic taste, suitable for both savory dishes and beverages, from fried cauliflower to herbal teas.

On the other hand, peppermint, or Mentha piperita, has a more intense and sharp flavor profile with a pronounced cooling effect, due to its high menthol content. This makes peppermint a go-to for confections, toothpastes, and medicinal products like balms.

Its bold taste stands out in sweets, and here in the States it's most commonly associated with Christmas. However peppermint is actually a hybrid of spearmint and watermint, so you can think of spearmint as the original mint, known as hierba buena in Spanish.

In terms of cultivation, spearmint is more common in home gardens, as it's hardier and spreads easily, while peppermint can be more temperamental. But both herbs do offer plentiful health benefits, including being digestive aids and offering relief from symptoms like nausea.

🌿 Ingredients

Fresh Peppermint: you can use peppermint extract, peppermint oil, or fresh peppermint leaves (I used some from my garden!), but make sure that they're clean before adding them to the water.

Sugar: you can really use any granulated sweetener that's a 1-to-1 swap for white cane sugar, but here I use an allulose & monk fruit blend that acts the same as cane sugar, making it possible to make fresh peppermint syrup that's diabetic- and histamine-friendly.

Water: this helps to make this homemade peppermint coffee syrup liquid enough to pour.

See recipe card for quantities.

📋 How to make homemade peppermint syrup: step-by-step

Step 1. If using peppermint oil, skip to step 2. Pick and wash your peppermint leaves and then pluck them off the stems (if applicable).

Step 2. Heat the water and sugar in a metal-bottom pan until just simmering and the sweetener has fully dissolved.

Step 3. Then pour in the well-cleaned peppermint leaves, and stir everything together. If using peppermint oil, don't add it yet.

Step 4. Heat this mixture on low for five minutes (set a timer), never letting it get above a simmer, stirring occasionally. When your timer goes off, remove the mixture from the heat, add the peppermint oil now (if using) and stir well, then let it sit on a cool burner for 20-30 more minutes (to infuse further).

Step 5. Then strain the mixture and preserve your homemade peppermint syrup in a closed container in the fridge for up to 10 days, or the freezer for 6 months.

🥣 Substitutions and variations

No Fresh Mint: if you can't get your hands on fresh peppermint leaves and don't want make syrup with spearmint, you can alternately use 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract or ¼ teaspoon of food-grade peppermint oil.

Sweetener: while you can use almost any granulated sweetener in this recipe, I've made it with regular sugar and more recently with allulose-monk fruit sweetener, a sugar-free FDA-approved sweetener that's a direct swap for sugar. But other great sweetener options include honey, brown sugar, coconut sugar, or even erythritol.

• Chocolate Peppermint Syrup - yes, seriously! If you swap the peppermint for chocolate mint, ginger mint, lemon mint, or really any other kind of mint, it will produce a flavorful variation that makes a truly delicious homemade soda, or adds a flavorful kick to mocktails and cocktails.
• Peppermint Vanilla Syrup - you can create a more complex peppermint syrup for drinks by adding either one whole split vanilla pod, the vanilla seeds from one pod, or ¼ teaspoon vanilla paste to the infusion when you take it off the heat to steep. Alternately, adding ½ teaspoon high-quality vanilla extract after it stops bubbling to make a delicious vanilla peppermint syrup.
• Sugar-Free Peppermint Syrup - make peppermint syrup sugar-free by using either xylitol, erythritol, or my favorite allulose-monk fruit blend.
• Peppermint Cream - mix 2 parts heavy cream and 1 part peppermint syrup for a creamy peppermint syrup that stays good in the fridge for up to 5 days if kept airtight. I've only tried this with high quality organic dairy cream.

See the basil version of this recipe on my website!

💡 Storage and freezing

Fresh peppermint simple syrup will stay good in the fridge for up to 7 days, but will stay good frozen for 6+ months without losing any flavor (if stored in an air-tight bottle). For low histamine readers, freezer storage is recommended after a few hours cooling air-tight in the fridge or an hour at room temperature.

🙋🏻‍♂️ Frequently Asked Questions

🌟 Other easy simple syrups

✔️ Peppermint syrup uses

• Mix into milkshakes or smoothies
• Use it to soak a freshly-made cake
• Flavor your morning coffee or latte
• Stir into tea for a soothing beverage
• Sweeten and flavor homemade frosting
• Drizzle over more plain ice cream flavors
• Drizzle it with cut fruit onto flax seed pudding
• Drizzle over fresh fruit for a refreshing dessert
• Make sweet peppermint-flavored whipped cream
• Add to hot chocolate (if tolerated) for a minty twist
• Create a peppermint martini or other cocktails and mocktails

📖 Recipe