Chocolate Macadamia Syrup

This is the syrup behind our Chocolate Macadamia drinks — a real infused syrup, not a chocolate-flavoring-plus-nut-flavoring blend. The technique borrows directly from orgeat, the almond syrup behind classic tiki drinks: toast the nuts, crush them, steep them directly in the hot syrup, then strain and press hard to pull the oil (and the flavor that rides on it) out of the solids and into the liquid you actually drink.

The Syrup

Toast 1/3 cup raw macadamia nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden — macadamias are so fat-rich they go from perfectly toasted to burnt quickly, so don’t walk away. Once cool, pulse or crush them into a coarse meal.

Whisk 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, and 2 tbsp cocoa powder together in a saucepan before turning on the heat (cocoa clumps in hot liquid otherwise), then bring to a simmer and stir in the crushed macadamias. Simmer 5 minutes, then take it off the heat, cover, and let the nuts steep in the hot syrup for 15 minutes — this steep is what actually infuses the macadamia flavor into the syrup. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined fine-mesh strainer, pressing the solids hard to squeeze out every bit of the infused liquid. Stir in a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, then let it cool completely.

Store the finished syrup in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It makes roughly 12 drinks’ worth at 2 tbsp per serving.

This batch (12 servings)$2.49 total

Per 2 tbsp serving~$0.21

Typical store-bought pump bottle, per serving$0.45-$0.60

Assumptions: raw macadamia nuts at typical grocery/bulk-bin pricing (~$16/lb — pricier than any other nut syrup on this site, which is why this one runs higher than our $0.09/serving flavor syrups), plus cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla extract at typical grocery/bulk pricing. A store-bought comparison assumes chocolate-macadamia isn’t a syrup most grocery shelves stock at all — when it is available, it’s usually a specialty/gourmet bottle running noticeably above a classic vanilla or caramel syrup.

Storage & Shelf Life

• Keeps about 2 weeks in a sealed jar in the fridge, same as this site’s other cooked sugar syrups — the nut solids are strained out, so there’s no dairy or fresh fruit shortening the shelf life.
• Give it a shake before using — a little of the fine nut meal that gets through the strainer can settle at the bottom; that’s normal and just adds texture.
• Double the batch if you go through these drinks quickly — everything scales evenly (2/3 cup macadamias, 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, and so on).

Swaps & Notes

• This is a real infused syrup, not a “chocolate and nut flavor” syrup. No macadamia extract or chocolate flavoring is used anywhere in this recipe — the flavor comes entirely from actually toasting, crushing, and steeping real macadamia nuts, plus real unsweetened cocoa.
• Don’t toss the pressed nut solids. They still carry plenty of toasted-macadamia flavor even after pressing — stir a spoonful into oatmeal or yogurt instead of discarding them.
• No food processor? A rolling pin (or the flat side of a chef’s knife) and a cutting board work fine to crush the toasted nuts into a coarse meal — it doesn’t need to be fine.
• Cocoa clumping on you? Make sure the cocoa is fully whisked into the cold water and sugar before the pan goes on the heat — that’s the step that prevents it, not stirring harder once it’s already hot.
• Want macadamia without the chocolate? See Macadamia Syrup — same toast-and-steep technique, no cocoa, built for pairings like caramel that don’t want chocolate competing underneath.

What to Make With This

2 tbsp of this syrup, stirred into hot espresso before adding steamed milk, is the Chocolate Macadamia Latte. Blended with ice it’s the Chocolate Macadamia Frappé, and combined with cold brew concentrate and a nitrogen charge it’s the Chocolate Macadamia Nitro Cold Brew. Paired 1 tbsp each with our Mocha Sauce, it’s the Chocolate Macadamia Mocha.

Recipe Card Summary

Chocolate Macadamia Syrup

• 1/3 cup raw macadamia nuts (toasted, crushed), 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, salt, vanilla
• Makes ~12 servings (2 tbsp each) · Prep: 10 min · Total: 40 min (includes toasting, a 15-min steep, and cooling)
• Cost: ~$2.49/batch, ~$0.21/serving

FAQ

Is this the same as a “white chocolate macadamia” flavor?

No — this is a real chocolate (cocoa) and macadamia syrup, closer to a chocolate-nut praline flavor than the vanilla-forward white-chocolate-macadamia cookie flavor. There’s no white chocolate anywhere in this recipe.

Why toast and steep the nuts instead of just using macadamia extract?

Macadamia extract isn’t a common grocery-shelf item the way vanilla or almond extract is, and when it is available it’s often blended/imitation flavoring rather than a true extract. Toasting and steeping real nuts (the orgeat method) gets a genuinely real macadamia flavor without needing a specialty extract bottle at all.

Why does this cost more per serving than your other syrups?

Macadamia nuts are one of the most expensive nuts by weight at the grocery store — roughly double or more what pistachios or hazelnuts cost per pound. Even a small 1/3 cup drives this syrup’s per-serving cost above the site’s usual $0.09-0.11 flavor-syrup range, though it’s still a fraction of what a bottled equivalent (where it exists at all) would run.