1883 is a syrup house from Chambéry that has been making the same line since the year on the label. Philibert Routin started it; the family still runs it. The bottles cost $28 most of the time. They sit in our shop next to the spirits because that's where they belong — these are the syrups that bartenders use, which means they're stable, they don't fade when shaken with ice, and they don't tip into cough-medicine territory the way cheaper supermarket versions can.
Most people buy them for cocktails and then leave them in the cupboard. Here's what to do with the bottle once the espresso martini phase is over.
1883 White Peach — the prosecco upgrade
A teaspoon of 1883 White Peach Syrup ($30) in the bottom of a flute, topped with dry sparkling, is what a Bellini was meant to taste like before pre-mixed pulp ruined the reputation. Use a serious base — Domaine Pichot Vouvray Brut 2022 ($37) or even a cheaper Monmousseau Brut Étoile NV ($31) — and you have a Sunday brunch drink that costs you about $5 a glass.
Same syrup, different job: drizzle a tablespoon over poached stone fruit with a sprig of thyme, or stir it into Greek yoghurt for breakfast.
1883 Salted Caramel — the coffee shop trick
A teaspoon of 1883 Salted Caramel Syrup ($28) in a flat white turns a Tuesday morning into a Melbourne café visit. Don't add sugar — the syrup is the sugar. Same syrup, splashed over a scoop of vanilla ice cream with toasted hazelnuts, is dessert in ninety seconds.
For an after-dinner cocktail, two parts dark rum (try the Goslings Black Seal Rum, $95), one part 1883 Salted Caramel, half a part cream, shake hard with ice. It's an espresso martini's heavier cousin.
1883 Ginger — the cold and flu antidote
1883 Ginger Syrup ($32) is the one to keep on the counter through winter. A tablespoon in hot water with lemon and a slice of fresh ginger — you have a hot toddy without the whisky, or with the whisky if it's been that kind of day.
For a Moscow Mule the right way: 60ml vodka or gin, 20ml lime, 15ml 1883 Ginger, top with soda. Better than store-bought ginger beer, and you control the sweetness. The syrup also goes into a stir-fry sauce — a tablespoon with soy, sesame oil, and rice vinegar for pork or tofu.
1883 Vanilla — the baking shortcut
1883 Vanilla Syrup ($28) is made with real Bourbon vanilla pods. Use it where you'd use vanilla essence and sugar, in one step. Pancake batter, French toast soak, crème anglaise, whipped cream. A teaspoon in a long black is the cheapest version of a luxury affogato setup.
1883 Rose — the dinner-party flourish
1883 Rose Syrup ($28) sounds gimmicky and isn't. A teaspoon in a gin and tonic with a slice of cucumber turns the drink Middle Eastern; a tablespoon over fresh raspberries makes Eton mess feel less like a school dessert. It pairs with cardamom — add a few crushed pods to the syrup bottle and let it sit a week.
For a dinner party cocktail: 30ml rose syrup, 60ml dry gin (the Antipodes Organic Gin, $82, is the right level of restrained), 15ml lemon, top with prosecco. Garnish with a single dried rose petal.
1883 Hibiscus — the savoury surprise
1883 Hibiscus Syrup ($30) is the dark horse. Tart, floral, deep red. In drinks it's a Mexican icon — hibiscus and tequila, hibiscus and mezcal (the Amores Verde Momento Organic Mezcal, $85, is the right base). But the trick is in the vinaigrette: equal parts hibiscus syrup, olive oil, and red wine vinegar with a pinch of salt, over a beetroot and goat cheese salad, is the kind of pairing that gets asked about at the table.
The kitchen rules
- Replace, don't add. A teaspoon of flavoured syrup replaces a teaspoon of sugar plus an extract. Don't stack them.
- Acid balances syrup. If you're using a sweet syrup in cooking, find acid to match — lemon, vinegar, yoghurt.
- Stash in the fridge once opened. 1883 syrups have no preservatives. Eight weeks chilled, give or take.
- The bottle goes further than you think. 1L gives you roughly forty cocktails, or four months of weekend coffees.
The full 1883 range is in the spirits aisle on our site — around twenty-five flavours, all $28-$32, all 1L. They make better gifts than most people realise.
— Chris, Caravan Wines & Spirits
