Here’s what your bar cart is wishing for this holiday season: infused syrups from a new local label called Wilks & Wilson. Among the company’s six core syrups, tipplers can taste familiar flavors like gomme (a simple sugar-based syrup), raspberry, grenadine, ginger, lime and mint, as well as some more unusual offerings such as orgeat – an almond-tinged concoction.
Handcrafted using organic ingredients, the syrups are ideal for pre-Prohibition drinks and craft cocktails. The syrups also lend themselves nicely to use in non-alcoholic beverages, coffee and desserts.
“We wanted to provide top-quality products for making cocktails,” says Greg Wilson, who co-founded the company with Zach Wilks, co-owner of the Ball & Biscuit bar in downtown Indianapolis. “Some of the ingredients we introduced had all but disappeared from bar menus.”
A tonic syrup and seasonal spiced persimmon syrup are in the works.
Wilks & Wilson elixirs are behind the bar at a growing list of local hotspots, including the Ball & Biscuit, Bluebeard, St. Elmo, and Harry and Izzy’s. Want to try them at home? The syrups are sold at Goose the Market, Vine & Table, New Day Meadery and the Pantry by Brad Gates, where a five-ounce bottle retails for $6; a 375-milliliter bottle for $12.99.