Cocktail Syrups | Cork Fork and Table |

Cocktail syrups are a fundamental part of many a great cocktail. Just like a great recipe having the best ingredients make the best cocktails. A little bit of care in your ingredients and your cocktails will go from mediocre to wow. 

Cocktails are by their nature a balancing act, there are four basic things to balance in any cocktail.  Spirit, sweet, sour, and dilution.  When achieving a perfect balance we also need to consider the flavor of the cocktail.   It is really easy to know a great cocktail, when consuming, the brain takes a pause, to focus on the palate.  Physically, what I notice is the drinker, after a sip, will stop, regard the glass, turn it slightly, and take another sip.  Then a look of satisfaction crosses the face, and a comment like “that is really good” or “this is dangerous” is uttered, almost involuntarily.     

Achieving a Balanced Cocktail  

Spirit, should be of good quality, I did not say expensive but well made.  All fruit should be fresh, not processed.  Cocktails that use a fresh  lime or lemon, not pre-made store bought lime juice will be better.  Use hand made cocktail syrups, these range from simple, to complex.  and then when mixing focus on dilution, cocktails need water, usually in the form of ice, but not so much as to be watered down.

Florida Strawberry Cocktail

Cocktail Syrups, Simple to Complex    

Simple syrup is the base of most all syrups, and used in too may cocktails to count.  Simple syrup is literally just equal parts sugar (I always use cane sugar) and water mixed by hand.  Really can’t be more simple, thus the name.   Premixing is important, as sugar breaks down annoyingly slowly in cold liquid, causing a dilution problem.  A great example is a Whiskey Sour.

Simple Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water

Put sugar in water, stir until combined. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Changing the sugar is a wonderful option to make new flavors of cocktail syrups.  A dark unrefined sugar such as demerara creates a rich syrup for whiskey based cocktails such as an old fashioned.  Same recipe as above just use demerara sugar over cane sugar, except we want a higher concentration of sugar to make a thick syrup. 

Demerara Syrup

2 cups Demerara Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water

Put sugar in water, stir until combined. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Honey is another fantastic simple syrup, I like to make what I call 3:2 Honey Syrup 3 adding 3 parts honey to 1 part water. Makes a rich and wonderful honey syrup. 

3:2 Honey Syrup

3/4 cup Wildflower Honey.  1/2 cup Filtered Water.  

put honey in water, stir until combined.  Makes about 1 1/4 cup.

Cocktail Syrups

Flavored Simple Syrups

You can flavor a simple syrup by putting things in it.  Creating more complex Cocktail Syrups.  What can you put in it, really anything you can eat.  Because it is uncooked, the shelf life of flavored cocktail syrups is much shorter, only days.  But for a party you can make a bunch and use it all.  Just add what ever you want to flavor it with, and let it sit.  Or put it in a blender,

Strawberry Syrup

1/2 cup of strawberries, washed and trimmed,  1 1/2 cups of simple syrup. 

Put in blender, blend until smooth. Refrigerate.

If simple syrup is just liquid and  sugar, why not skip the water?  Fruit Juice is perfectly fine, just need to allow for the sweetness of the juice.  Grenadine is the perfect example of juice based cocktail syrups.  If you like cocktails, grenadine, just like simple syrup, is an absolute must to have on hand at all times.

Grenadine

1 cup Pomegranate Juice.  1 cup Cane Sugar. 1/2 tsp Citric Acid. 1/2 tsp Orange Extract.

Put all in a blender, blend until smooth.  This makes a heavy grenadine that sink in drinks like a Tequila sunrise.  No citric acid? Only add 3/4 cup of cane sugar.    

In making juice based cocktail syrups, let your imagination go wild.

Heated & Gum Cocktail Syrups

By heating cocktail syrups a flavor can be infused more intensely.   There are two main methods to heat a syrup, stove top and immersion circulation (Sous Vide). I personally don’t make stove top syrups because they can make the favoring “jammy” or one dimensional, not delicate, deep and elegant.  If direct heat is all you have. low heat and time, be gentle.  I am fortunate that I have a immersion circulation heater.  This device allows  for some amazingly delicate syrups.  

Gum Arabic & Citric Acid

Two Ingredients 

There are two ingredients that make heated cocktail syrups sublime.  Gum Arabic and Citric Acid.  I realize that these are probably not laying about in the average kitchen.  Gum Arabic is readily available on Amazon, its not expensive, and a little goes a long way.  You don’t need the 16 ounce like I purchased, it was a mistake to get that much.  Citric Acid can be bought from Amazon or a local wine and cheese making shop.  Both are powders.  If you don’t have them it is okay, Gum Arabic adds a silkiness to cocktail syrups. and citric acid a light acidic bite to sweet fruit syrups.   

Immersion Circulator (Sous Vide) Syrups

When using an immersion circulator place all the ingredients in a zip lock or seal able plastic bag and be sure all of the air is removed.  This s very easy to do.  fill a sink or large bowl with water, and place the full bag in the liquid with the top about 3/4 sealed (1/4 open).  Slowly immerse the bag in the water, all the air will escape.  Just before submerging seal the bag entirely

I like to set the temperature to 138.0 F and cook for 2 hours.  This is warm enough to fully impart the flavor and not break the fruit or herb down to a jammy mush.  

The recipe is basically, make a simple syrup including 3 tsp Gum Arabic, and 1/2 tsp Citric acid.  Blend until smooth, about 5 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of fruit, or herbs, or both.  Cook. If you don’t have the gum, or citric, you can do without, it will be very good just not as silky as if you do.

Some Immersion Cocktail Syrups to Consider

Raspberry Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water. 3 tsp Gum Arabic, and 1/2 tsp Citric acid. 1/2 cup fresh raspberries.

Put sugar, gum arabic and citric acid in water, blend for 5 minutes until smooth, pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Add raspberries, remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 138.  Strain fruit from syrup carefully with a fine mesh sieve. Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Pineapple Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water. 3 tsp Gum Arabic, and 1/2 tsp Citric acid. 1/2 cup fresh pineapple chunks.

Put sugar, gum arabic and citric acid in water, blend for 5 minutes until smooth, pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Add pineapple remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 138.  Strain fruit from syrup carefully with a fine mesh sieve. Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Blackberry Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water. 3 tsp Gum Arabic, and 1/2 tsp Citric acid. 1/2 cup fresh blackberries.

Put sugar, gum arabic and citric acid in water, blend for 5 minutes until smooth, pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Add blackberries, remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 138.  Strain fruit from syrup carefully with a fine mesh sieve. Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Cinnamon Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water. 3 tsp Gum Arabic. 10-12 whole cinnamon sticks.

Put sugar, gum arabic, in water blend for 5 minutes until smooth, pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Add cinnamon. remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 146.  Strain herb from syrup carefully with a fine mesh sieve. Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate. 

Rosemary Syrup

1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water. 3 tsp Gum Arabic. 3-4 large rosemary sprigs.

Put sugar, gum arabic in water blend for 5 minutes until smooth, pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Add rosemary. remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 138.  Strain herb from syrup carefully with a fine mesh sieve. Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate.

Demerara Gum Syrup

This is a classic syrup from the 1800’s and is absolutely ideal in whiskey drinks such as an Old Fashioned.  Same as the sired version but the gum arabic needs to be cooked slowly.

2 cups Demerara Sugar. 1 cup Filtered Water, 3 tsp gum arabic.

Put sugar, gum arabic in water, blend until combined about 5 minutes stir until combined. pour in a zip lock or salable bag.  Remove air form bag. Cook in immersion circulator for 2 hours at 146.  Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups, refrigerate.

Print Recipe

Basic Immersion Cocktail Syrup

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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By Rick Britt – Serves: 1.5 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 2 hours

Basic cocktail syrup which is made in an immersion circulator (Sous Vide)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Fresh Fruit and/or Herbs of Choice.
• 1 cup Granulated Cane Sugar.
• 1 cup Filtered Water.
• 3 tsp Gum Arabic,
• 1/2 tsp Citric Acid.

Instructions

1

Place water in a blender

2

Add sugar, gum arabic, citric acid.

3

Blend for 5 minutes until combined and smooth.

4

Pour in a zip lock or salable bag. 

5

Add fruit and/or herbs.

6

remove air form bag.

7

Cook in immersion circulator for 2 ours at 138 ofr fruit, or 146 for dry ingredients such ans cinnamon. 

8

Strain carefully with a fine mesh sieve.

9

Store in a 16 ounce jar or bottle. 

10

Refrigerate. 

Really great cocktails are about balance, skill, and quality.  If you think about it that is parable for life, and certainly for cooking.  About 6 months ago my beautiful wife, daughter, and I went to Manhattan, and ended up at a high-end bar called “Death & Co”.   I fell in love, this was cocktail heaven. 

My wife purchased their second recipe book for me called the “Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions” when we got home.  I learned I knew almost nothing about making a fantastic cocktail.  The great news is it is not very hard to make great ones.  I just needed an honest guide and practice.  One caveat about this book; it is written by skilled bartenders for skilled bartenders.  They have ingredients we mere mortals may never make, but it is very informative.