Royal Rose Syrups By Emily Butters

Royal Rose's syrups make life sweeter

Emily Butters set out to can some peaches and ended up with a new career.

When this former schoolteacher was finished putting up peaches last summer, her fiancé, Forrest Butler, asked if he could use the leftover liquid. This innocent query quickly spiraled into 40 experimental batches and the eventual development of their new business, Royal Rose Syrups.

These syrups (which just hit shelves around the city) come in six flavors: tamarind, rose, raspberry, lavender-lemon, three chiles and cardamom-clove ($10 each).

The duo starts with organic, fair-trade sugar and filtered water, then steeps fruit and spices in 25-pound-kettle batches. The finished products' intense, clean flavors (and lack of preservatives, colors and artificial flavors) set these syrups apart.

The World's End, a spicy daiquiri made with the cardamom-clove, is now on our summer cocktail short list (click here for the recipe).

But Royal Rose's stubby glass bottles easily bust through the cocktails wall: Rose syrup enhances a pot of black tea, cardamom-clove elevates an afternoon coffee to Moroccan territory and raspberry is ready to be drizzled over your tart morning yogurt.

The (unfortunately muddy-colored) tamarind gets the upper hand when it's paired with lime juice, fish sauce, chile flakes and rice vinegar for a tangy twist on pad Thai sauce.

Butters and Butler's upcoming nuptials in Maine may inspire a celebratory blueberry edition, and we're eagerly awaiting apricot and spiced-plum releases.

Tasting Table subscribers are invited to join Royal Rose for a free demo and tasting of cardamom tea cake with rose syrup at Blue Apron Foods on Saturday, June 11 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Find Royal Rose syrups at Foragers Market, Court Street Grocers, Stinky Bklyn and Blue Apron Foods or online at royalroseny.com