Many cocktail recipes require the addition of sugar. Inexperienced “DIY” bartenders oftentimes add a spoonful of sugar and stir, creating a drink that is not fully mixed, not sweet enough and usually has sugar granules floating in the bottom.
This is due to the fact that sugar is just not that soluble in alcohol or in any cold liquid for that matter.
Because of that, most bars resort to using a homemade simple syrup which earns its name from its two simple ingredients:
- 1 part water
- 2 parts sugar
Note that above ratio is not set in stone, some people prefer 1 part water and 1 part sugar.
All you need to do is bring your water to a boil and then add in your sugar. Keep stirring until all of the sugar is full dissolved and you are left with a syrup. Remove the syrup from the heat and allow it to fully cool. Once it has cooled then you can store it in any sort of bottle that allows you to add it easily to drinks.
There you go, making homemade simple syrup is super easy, right?
For more info, check out this video below. It will also teach you how to make mint simple syrup, lemongrass simple syrup and ginger simple syrup:
