You know how every Indian home has those small things that suddenly become a ritual ?
For me, it’s flavored drinks. Not the fancy cocktails or café stuff, just the simple syrups and concentrates that make life a bit sweeter.
Like, summer in my house is incomplete without that one bottle of rose syrup. My mom will mix it in chilled milk, and somehow, it tastes like childhood. One sip and I’m back in our old balcony, sweaty from playing cricket, and she’s calling me to “come drink this and cool down.
” Nowadays, things are totally different. Everyone is busy in their Life, noone has time to squeeze lemons or boil sugar at home.”
I see my friends just buy syrups online—everything from mango to blueberry, even those fancy caramel ones for coffee. Last week, I saw my cousin adding hazelnut syrup to her cold coffee. She looked so proud, like she had just opened a café in her kitchen. We teased her but honestly, it did taste better than the café coffee we usually pay ₹200 for.
I’ve also started stocking a few concentrates at home. Not only for drinks, but sometimes I mix a spoon into plain soda when guests come over. Saves me the embarrassment of saying,
“Sorry, only water is there.” You know how relatives are—if you give something sweet and colorful, they immediately think you’ve put effort. No one needs to know it was just two seconds of mixing.
What I love is the variety. Back in the day it was just rose or orange.
Now?
Peach iced tea, green apple, strawberry, even those masala-flavored ones. My younger brother experiments with them all. One day he made pani puri with jaljeera concentrate and added a dash of lemon syrup. Sounds strange, but somehow it worked. That’s the fun part—you get to play around.
The good thing is, it’s so easy now to get these things. Earlier, my mom used to hunt in local markets for one particular brand. But now we just buy syrups online. Delivery comes in two-three days, neatly packed, and you suddenly feel like your kitchen has become a mini-store. My dad jokes that we have more bottles of syrup than bottles of pickle. He’s not wrong.
Sometimes, it’s not even about taste. It’s about mood. A hot day, a glass of chilled lemon concentrate, friends drop in late evening, I just add a bit of cola syrup to soda and serve with chips. Simple, no stress, but everyone’s happy.
I guess that’s the thing about syrups and flavor concentrates. They’re not a big deal, but they quietly become part of your lifestyle. A little sweetness in the middle of chaos. And honestly, we all need that, don’t we?
Aap Ka Bazar is another one I adore—it’s a type of store that you can completely trust.
