Sweet Week: Starting Simple...Syrup, That Is

Published Jan. 14, 2010 at 11:07 p.m.

In the spirit of getting back to "bar basics" this month, I am going to take this next week to talk about drink sweeteners, those bar essentials that make our cocktails, just that much, better. I'll get to gomme and other syrups, nectars, and bar mixes, but today let's talk about the most important of sweets.

Simple syrup is sort of complicated, and by that I mean that there is not one "true" recipe for it. There is the option of whether to mix the sugar and water at 2:1 or 1:1 and whether to dissolve the sugar by boiling or shaking (which you will only want to do with 1:1). Then there is your choice of sugar and for that the two most popular choices are the standard white cane sugar or the raw demerara sugar. This is all before the option of whether or not you want to add any flavor to the syrup and turn a drink like a Champagne Cocktail into a vanilla delight.

While there are all of those options available, this is as easy as it gets for adding a sweet side to cocktails.

Read more about simple syrup...

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