Homemade Pistachio Syrup for Coffee
This homemade pistachio syrup is perfect for coffee, matcha, and ice cream! This unique method — making homemade pistachio milk first and then sweetening it like a simple syrup — yields a silky-smooth, vibrant green syrup packed with fresh pistachio flavor.
I’ve always been a lover of pistachios, and with the recent popularity of Dubai chocolate, they’re EVERYWHERE right now. Of course, I wanted to make Dubai chocolate everything, including a Dubai chocolate latte, so I needed to develop a stellar recipe for pistachio coffee syrup I could use.
While I was working on this pistachio syrup recipe, Starbucks beat me to it and introduced the Dubai chocolate matcha latte. Oh well, no hate here — the more chocolate pistachio combos I can get my hands on, the better. Plus, they’re right: pistachio is great with matcha too! And it’s just one more recipe I could learn to make at home.
At long last, I’ve done it! I’ve developed the perfect pistachio syrup recipe for coffee drinks. I can’t wait for you to make it too!
Recipe testing
When I set out to develop a recipe for pistachio syrup, I assumed it would be basically the same as making homemade pecan syrup: simmer, partially blend with an immersion blender, simmer again, strain. Easy peasy, recipe done in a day.
WRONG. Pistachio, it turns out, is a surprisingly difficult flavor to capture. Using my pecan syrup technique produced a result that was greenish but ultimately didn’t taste much different from plain simple syrup. The Pistachio LaCroix of syrup, if you will — a hint of essence.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve tested half a dozen different techniques to get to the perfect pistachio syrup. It was a delicate balance between getting enough pistachio flavor into the syrup without introducing a gritty mouthfeel from blended up pistachio pulp.
I wanted ultra-smooth, super-flavorful, beautifully green syrup. I also wanted a predictable amount of sweetness. When you sweeten, blend, and then strain, you don’t really know exactly how much of the sugar ends up in the pistachio pulp you strain out.
The method I landed on is essentially making a homemade (but concentrated) pistachio milk — which really gets ALL the flavor out of the nuts — and then sweetening it to the ratio of a simple syrup. It works beautifully and is silky smooth!
Pistachio syrup ingredients
The best part about my ultimate pistachio syrup recipe is the simple ingredients. The secret is all in the technique!
How to make pistachio syrup for coffee
Soak and peel the pistachios. Let them soak submerged in a bowl of cool water overnight in the fridge, or for 6-12 hours (image 1). After this, the nuts will be softened and the peels will be easy to remove.
You can rub the soaked pistachios between two layers of a clean dish cloth to further loosen the skins, then pick off any remaining brown skins individually (images 2-3). Yes, it's a pain, but it's more tedious than difficult.
You should be able to remove the skins from half a cup of pistachios while watching an episode of your favorite half-hour show. It's a mindless task, like snapping green beans.
Blend and strain. Add the peeled, softened pistachios to a blender with a cup of water (image 4). Blend on low until the nuts are mostly incorporated, then switch to high and let it run for a couple minutes (imagse 5-6). We are essentially making pistachio milk as our starting point.
At this point, the pistachio meal will be fine enough that it will pass through a fine mesh sieve, so you will need to use a double layer of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. I lay the cheesecloth inside a fine mesh sieve over a Pyrex measuring cup and then pour the pistachio milk through it (image 7). You can let it drain slowly on its own or gather the corners of your cheesecloth and gently squeeze, being careful not to squeeze the pulp through the cheesecloth as well (image 8). Strain until you have about one cup of smooth green pistachio milk.
Dissolve the sugar. Add the pistachio milk and one cup of sugar to a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved (images 9-11). The color will deepen beautifully.
Cool and store. Cool to room temperature, add almond extract, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (images 12-13). Use in lattes, matcha, and cold foam, or drizzle over ice cream!
Tips & Tricks
- Shortcut pistachio sauce: If you want a shortcut version that's both easy and delicious, mix simple syrup with some pistachio cream until it has the consistency of chocolate syrup. Pistachio cream is essentially the pistachio version of peanut butter. Try to find a pistachio cream that lists pistachios as the first ingredient. I get mine at Costco.
The only caveat for this method is that due to variations between brands, I can't tell you how much of this syrup to use to make a consistently sweetened and flavored beverage. You'll have to use it to taste. - Save the pistachio pulp. You can discard the strained out pistachio pulp if you want, but you can also dehydrate it and add it to granola or yogurt for extra protein!
- Including almond extract: In our taste tests, adding a small amount of almond extract gave cold foam made with this syrup a more pronounced pistachio flavor; more on par with the boldness of commercial pistachio syrup, but much less artificial tasting. You can omit it, but the flavor will be more subtle, especially when added to bold flavors like coffee or matcha.
How to use homemade pistachio syrup
For a latte: To use pistachio syrup in a latte, add 1-2 tablespoons of syrup to a double shot of espresso and top with 12 oz. of steamed, frothed milk.
For ice cream: Drizzle over vanilla ice cream and top with chopped pistachios for some crunch!
More coffee shop syrups you'll love
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Homemade Pistachio Syrup for Coffee
Equipment
- Cheesecloth or nut milk bag
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw, shelled pistachios
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (recommended, see note)
Instructions
- Soak the pistachios. Submerge pistachios in a container of water and let the nuts soak for 6-12 hours or overnight. You can stick it in a tupperware in the fridge if you'd like.
- Drain and peel. Drain the pistachios, then rub them vigorously between two layers of a clean dish cloth to help loosen the brown papery skins. Some will come off on the towel, and the rest should come off easily by hand. Put on a show or something while you remove the skins from each pistachio; this is the longest step and takes about 20-30 minutes. This step is technically optional, but you will end up with more of a brown syrup if you leave the papery skins on.
- Blend. Add the pistachios to a blender with 1 cup of water. Blend on low until the pistachios are mostly incorporated, then turn to high speed for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is as smooth as possible.
- Strain the pistachio milk. Lay a double layer of cheesecloth in a fine mesh sieve and place it over a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl. Let the milk drain until you have a cup of smooth green liquid. You can gather the corners of the cheesecloth and gently squeeze to encourage the milk to come out, but do not squeeze so hard that pistachio pulp starts oozing out of the cheesecloth. Set aside the pistachio pulp for later if you plan to make pistachio crunch topping; do not discard.
- Add the sugar. Add pistachio milk and sugar to a small saucepan and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, cool, and add almond extract. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Enjoy! Add to lattes, drizzle over ice cream, or use to make Italian sodas!
