For the Sake of Baristas and Bartenders Everywhere, Stop Dumping Sugar Packets Into Your Cold Drinks (2024)

FAQs

What is the theory of simple syrup? ›

The theory behind them remains the same though—a form of sugar dissolved in water in order to better integrate into cold drinks. Rich simple syrup: Common in many recipes where sweetness is needed without excessive dilution, rich simple syrup ups the ratio to two parts sugar dissolved in one part water.

Simple syrup disperses sweetness evenly throughout beverages of any temperature, making it a key component of many iced drinks and co*cktails (like sparkling beet lemonade or a whiskey sour).

A traditional simple syrup would consist of one part sugar and one part water (i.e. 1 cup of each). A rich simple syrup has double the amount of sugar, meaning 2 parts sugar and 1 part water (i.e. 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water).

Simple Syrup, also known as “sugar syrup” (and sometimes “sugary syrup”) is a syrup made from dissolving white granulated sugar into an equal amount of water. Yep, that's all! (I told you it was “simple”!) Simple Syrup is (by far) the most common sweetener used by bartenders for co*cktails.

is sugar dissolved in water, used to sweeten co*cktails because loaf or granulated sugar dilutes poorly in spirits. It was first called “simple” by pharmacists to differentiate it from compounded syrups, made with medicinal plants. It is also the base of flavored syrups.

By definition, simple syrup is called that because of its most common ratio, a simple one-to-one recipe: one part sugar to one part water. Heavy syrup or rich simple syrup has a lower ratio of water to sugar, and the light version includes more water than sugar.

If you're looking for a simple syrup substitute, there are three favorites you probably have right in your home: honey, maple syrup and agave. For honey or agave, add warm water to them, to help turn the mix to syrup. You can also use a sweet, juicy fruit, like an orange.

One teaspoon of granulated white sugar equals about 1.5 teaspoons of simple syrup. If your recipe calls for a teaspoon of simple syrup, you might want to drop in only about two-thirds of a teaspoon of the granulated variety. You can always add more sugar, but you can't take it back out.

Simple carbohydrates aren't as filling, so people want to eat more of them. They can cause your blood sugar to spike and crash, making you feel ill. Because simple carbs raise your blood sugar quickly, they can lead to overall higher levels of blood sugar. Consistent high blood sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes.

While some people may refer to simple syrup as gum syrup, true gum syrup contains an emulsifier known as gum arabic, a natural gum made from the sap of two types of the acacia tree. The taste of gomme (the French word for gum) syrup is neutral, just like regular simple syrup, but it does take a little longer to make.

Does rich simple syrup last longer? ›

Simple syrup made this way have a shelf life of 1-2 weeks in a fridge. Rich syrup, however have a shelf life of months (sometimes more than half a year) if kept in a fridge. You can extend shelf life of simple syrup by a couple of weeks by adding one or two tablespoons of vodka after the syrup is prepared.

The bar cart's hardest working bottle, simple syrup might be the most-used ingredient when it comes to making co*cktails. It rounds out the sharp acid in citrus-based drinks like a Whiskey Sour, adds depth and body to a French 75, and even plays a critical role in a Long Island Iced Tea.

It comes in handy whenever you need an easy way to impart sweetness and smooth flavor to whatever you might be pouring or serving up. Its use allows for greater consistency of taste and greater speed in drink making than using granulated sugar or sugar cubes in your recipes.

Once in the fridge, it should stay good for 2-4 weeks depending on whether it's flavored or not.

Cane Syrup

Typically, bartenders will source organic cane sugar in its crystallized form, and the results taste similar to a simple syrup. But anyone who has made cane syrup from actual cane juice will tell you it will transform your co*cktails.

Inverted sugar syrup, also called invert syrup, invert sugar, simple syrup, sugar syrup, sugar water, bar syrup, syrup USP, or sucrose inversion, is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, that is made by hydrolytic saccharification of the disaccharide sucrose.

As a sugar syrup is cooked, water boils away, the sugar concentration increases, and the temperature rises. The highest temperature that the sugar syrup reaches tells you what the syrup will be like when it cools. In fact, that's how each of the temperature stages discussed below is named.

Principle: Syrups are sweetened, viscous, concentrated solutions of sucrose or, other sugars in water or any other suitable aqueous vehicles. These are further classified into 2 classes. Simple flavor syrups: Do not contain any medicament or drug.

Rich simple syrup: One common simple syrup variation is rich simple syrup. Instead of the traditional one part sugar to one part water, it calls for two parts sugar to one part water (2:1). The process of making it is exactly the same.