Simple syrup effectively and efficiently brings out a cocktail's full potential. It is an enhancer that strengthens a cocktail's flavor creates depth, or adds new flavors that complement the drink. Customizing and infusing simple syrups by brewing herbs and fruits into the syrup can bring a new element to a cocktail. The challenge is creating the best combination that makes your patrons happy and want more.
Traditionally, simple syrup is equal parts water and sugar, brewed over the stove and stored for later. However, cocktails should be balanced; simple syrup is not the main component. Ultimately, you can create more value in a cocktail by diluting your simple syrups without sacrificing taste, and it leaves some room to experiment with infusing different herbs and spices. If you try infusing fruits with a traditional 1:1 ratio, then the ratio would become imbalanced due to the natural sugars in fruit added to the sugar used. That simple syrup would become overpowering and overly sweetened and not highlight the particular fruit taste. Using less sugar will fix that ratio and provide new opportunities to brew those infusions and focus on the fruit. See my basic simple syrup recipe below and how I use that recipe as a jumping-off point for two of my favorite infused simple syrups.
Ingredients:
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
For infused syrups, see the examples below
Method:
- Gently boil the water at medium - high heat over the stove
- Add and stir the sugar until uniform and let it brew for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until it starts to slightly brown.
- Remove from the saucepan and pour into a nonreactive bottle and let cool completely
- Store in the fridge or use for a cocktail later
Lemon Lavender Simple Syrup
The Ted Lasso Lemon Lavender Mojito is one of my favorite and most popular cocktails on Backyard Bachelor. Inspired by the show, it was essential to infuse lavender and lemon zest through the syrup to make this cocktail light and refreshing. By gently brewing 1-2 tablespoons of lavender with 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, I created pink-ish hue simple syrup (1:2 sugar to water ratio) and continue to brew for a couple of extra minutes.
You can watch the full video here.
Ginger & Lemon Simple Syrup
Infused simple syrups should be complimentary to your cocktail and your syrup. Having a ginger infused simple syrup is perfect for whiskey cocktails such as the Whiskey Ginger Highball, Penicillin Cocktail, etc.
Alternatively, this simple syrup is a good substitute for sugar-saturated mixers like Ginger Soda/ Ginger. Simply add an ounce of simple syrup and club soda and you can get a better cocktail.
Rhubarb Simple Syrup
Lastly, seasonal ingredients like rhubarb can bring out new cocktails. Alleviating the bitter taste from rhubarb can be tamed by building a simple. Most importantly, it has a great profile and can be used from mojitos to margaritas.
Infused simple syrups create value! Simple syrups can help in creating new cocktails or finding ways to build and develop a classic cocktail. Bring out those ideas and see what you can come up with these recipes or make your own! Let me know what you come up with!