When you start looking into cocktails you can make at home, one ingredient you’ll see pop up over and over again is simple syrup. This home bar essential is something that’s needed for a wide variety of drinks, and although it is possible to purchase pre-made simple syrup from certain stores, it’s much cheaper and easier to make your own at home.
If you’re not much of a chef, though, there’s no need to worry. Making simple syrup is as simple as the name suggests, and with a bit of advance planning you can make it before hosting or making drinks and have it ready to go whenever you need it. Once you understand the principle of making simple syrup, you can use it to add sweetness to both your cocktails and your non-alcoholic drinks.
How to make simple syrup
At its most basic, simple syrup is just a mixture of sugar and water. In most versions, it is made with equal parts of sugar and water by weight or by volume, which are heated together and stirred until they are combined into a thick, clear liquid.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of granulated white sugar
You add both ingredients into a pan, then heat it on the stove, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. It’s okay if the mixture comes to a boil for a bit, but you don’t want it boiling for ages as then it will turn into caramel.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved, leave the mixture to cool completely. Once it is cooled, you can pour it into a swing-top bottle using a funnel so it’s ready to use whenever you need it.
You should keep your simple syrup in the fridge to prevent it from going off, and it will generally last for around two weeks. If you leave it too long and it goes cloudy or you see anything growing in there, it’s time to throw it out and make another batch.
One tip to help simple syrup last for longer is to add a shot of clear alcohol like vodka or Everclear to the mixture once it’s cool. This raises the abv of the mixture slightly and helps to make it last a bit longer, but it’s not essential.
Once you know this basic recipe, you can also start creating flavored syrups for use in your cocktails and other drinks.
What is simple syrup used for in cocktails?
Simple syrup acts as a sweetener for cocktails. It is used most often in place of sugar, because if you add granulated sugar to a cocktail then it won’t fully dissolve, giving the drink an unpleasant gritty texture. By suspending the sugar in water, it’s much easier to mix it into other liquids.
You’ll find simple syrup used in drinks like the Gin Gimlet, where it is matched with gin and lime juice to add balance and sweetness, or in the Daiquiri, where it is paired with rum and lime juice for the same reason.
It’s common to see simple syrup paired up with citrus juices, as this combination brings sweetness and sharpness which goes great with many spirits. If you look at drinks in the sour family, like a Pisco Sour or an Amaretto Sour, you’ll find simple syrup paired with lemon, egg white, and spirit for a classic combination that works with almost any spirit you care to try.
What is a good substitute for simple syrup?
If you would prefer to stay away from using processed sugar in your drinks, you can try using agave syrup instead, or substitute in honey. However, the level of sweetness of these products can vary, so make sure to taste your cocktail well as you mix. It’s a good idea to start with a very small amount of sweetner, then gradually add more to taste — remember that you can always add in more, but you can’t take it out!
If you are working with honey, you may want to make this into a syrup as well to make it easier to pour and to mix. To do this, just mix equal parts of honey and water and heat as before, then store in the fridge.
If you haven’t prepared simple syrup in advance and you just need a small amount for a drink you want to make immediately, then one hack is to throw some sugar and water into a glass and heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Give it a good stir and you can add this straight to your cocktail. This works in a pinch but isn’t ideal as the level of sweetness may be off and adding hot syrup to a shaker can make the ice melt too fast, so it’s best to make it in advance if you can.
There are some cocktails which do use granulated sugar, like the Caipirinha or some versions of the Mojito, but in this case the sugar is muddled with lime juice — meaning the lime is ground into the base of the shaker using a special tool called a muddler which helps to dissolve the sugar. Unless a recipe specifically tells you to use granulated sugar, you should stick to using simple syrup for the best results.
