When I realized the heat and humidity was literally melting the sugar stocks on my pantry shelves this week, I had to come up with a way to use two kilos of gooey sugar in a hurry. It was already a mushy brick and would have run all over the floor in another week I suspect given the muggy forecast. The easy solution was to make a giant vat of simple syrup that will keep in the fridge tightly sealed for months.
Of course simple syrup really is just that. Equal volumes of sugar and water melted together over moderate heat then parked in bottles for your favourite cocktails or coffees. I always have a ‘plain’ bottle at the ready for drinks but it’s handy all over general cookery too. It takes four minutes to construct so there’s no excuse for buying commercial versions whether for cosmos, lattes, or fizzy soda making efforts. The only trick – and the great experiment – is in the flavouring.
Whacky flavours are plentiful thanks to newfangled coffee culture but I usually start with garden standbys like mint and lemon. Got a spare pomegranate? Make your own grenadine. Fancy cardamom or cinnamon? They’ll steep perfectly well. A vanilla base is slightly more tricky than just adding extract (you caramelize the sugar briefly before adding the water) but otherwise your taste imagination is the limit. And don’t discount savoury additions like lavender, rosemary, or even chile. The sugary base can bring many of those rougher flavours back to centre.
A few high points from years making bottles of the stuff are in order:
- Sterilize any bottles you use with boiling hot water and/or a mild bleach solution beforehand, especially if they contained a previous batch (see next). If you use a pump style dispenser, that needs sterilizing between batches too. I use re-purposed 750ml bottles with screw-top lids. As charming and rustic as wine bottles might be, corks don’t make the best closures unless you shove them all the way down the neck and then you’d need a corkscrew every time you wanted a dose of sweet flavour. I prefer plastic ‘speed pour’ bar spouts when dispensing since they’re easily sterilized and you can get a dozen for a buck in any grocery on the planet. Or just ask your favourite bartender to loan you a few.
- As tempting as that convenient counter space next to the espresso machine might be, keep syrup in the fridge. Sugar water is a perfect lab culture for all manner of nasty beasties, especially in hot climates, but a tight lid and the cold box should stop most of that microscopic zoo in its tracks.
- For the most potency, it’s better to add volatile flavourings after you’ve removed the syrup from heat when it has cooled slightly. Crush or muddle as needed to release flavour but try to avoid lots of particles floating around with fresh herbs (see next). The exception here is with soft fruits like berries. They should be simmered briefly with the sugar and water then strained completely. Go easy on the amount of fruits that contain pectin as you can quickly turn from syrup into jam. Add more water and less sugar to account for their natural sweetness and so you don’t have to spread your syrup on toast with a butter knife.
- When using fresh leafy herbs like mint, you should strain any out with a very fine mesh after they’ve given up their infusion over the first few days. Longer term storage will sometimes present the chance for that green goodness to decay – not a good taste or colour at all. If you’re going to guzzle the whole bottle down inside a few day’s worth of mojitos, you don’t need to bother straining.
- If you’re careful with a vegetable peeler and get only the outermost layer of pith-free zest from citrus it can stay in the syrup bottle safely for much longer. The juice and zest of just one lemon will charge a full 750ml bottle with plenty of character in just a few days but keeps adding potency for weeks.
- Some flavours can intensify too much during steeping and should be removed soon after infusion. Fresh ginger root is a prime example. Taste test your concoctions over time after making them and stop any flavours in overdrive with straining when necessary.
- If you make several flavours, a drop or two of food colouring can keep you from grabbing basil instead of peppermint in a sleepy or drunken stupor. And of course they look fun too.
So there’s your project for the afternoon. Melt some sugar into water, shove it in a bottle, and flavour it with any whimsy you fancy. I’m going to go make fizzy soda with the six bottles I just stirred together out of my pantry sugar emergency.
