Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Simple Syrup Things in Life

This is a picture of the simple syrup I used in my mojito. I've also been feeding it to my hummingbirds. I like it when I can justify things, like spending time and money to make simple syrup by pretending like it's for the good of nature. Really this is just some seriously sugary stuff. 

I've been into these old Ball jars lately. I've made terrariums in some of them. This one I'm using for my simple syrup. I feel like one of the Baldwin sisters on The Waltons sharing "the recipe."

So here's my recipe for simple syrup:
Add equal parts sugar and water in a pan and heat until boiling. For the batch shown I used four cups of sugar and four cups of water. Some people will add more water, but I think the point of this stuff is to be super sweet, and it's not like you can't just add some extra water or soda when you make the actual drink. That's it. I've heard stories of people screwing this up. I can't figure out how you could mess up simple syrup.

3 comments:

  1. I don't understand how your could screw up simple syrup, unless it boiled over or something. Was it when they when to mix it with a drink?

    Other than Mojitos what does simple syrup go into?

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  2. I think one thing you need to do as you're boiling it is stir it practically the whole time. That's how you could screw it up.

    Simple syrup goes in a lot of old timey cocktails and I'll probably make and post some of them on this site in the future. I think expensive presweetened high fructose corn syrup drink mixes have probably taken the place of simple syrup in a lot of drinks.

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  3. We make it in the microwave which I realize now is such a bastardization. Matt turned us onto using it with Templeton Rye (which I'd kill for right now), but I know it's a base for a million drinks. The Esquire bartending/entertaining book is chock full of pre-80s drinks that call for it. I'd love to see you explore this more - maybe in combo with glass jar cocktail glasses?

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