PREP TIME 10 min
An ingredient so often called for in cocktail making is a simple syrup, which is typically stirred into tart cocktails to sweeten the flavor. This cocktail ingredient staple is easy to come by in-store or online but is even easier to make at home, and a simple syrup recipe should be in your home bartender arsenal. You can even make more than one portion and store it in the refrigerator for when the urge for making cocktails arises.
Heat the water in a small pan over gentle heat
Add the sugar and heat gently for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved
Cool to room temperature before using in cocktails
Transfer the remaining syrup into a glass jar using a funnel, and store in the refrigerator for up to a month
Simple syrup is a slightly viscous, clear syrup made from dissolving sugar in water to become a liquid sweetener. You can barely call it a skill to master; a homemade simple syrup is so easy to make, taking no more than 5 minutes of your time and only using two ingredients—sugar and water.
Simple syrup is one of the main components in so many cocktails. It typically blends well with aged American spirits like Bourbon Cocktails but is also always found shaken into other drinks like daiquiris, no matter what the flavor. Because a simple syrup sugar is liquid and smooth, it allows the sweetness to blend evenly into your drink, giving your cocktail a smooth, sweet, and silky texture.
Making more syrup than you require for just one cocktail makes sense as it means that you always have some at hand when you’re in the mood to mix up cocktails for friends.
All you need to do once you have made up a batch is cool it properly and pour it into a clean glass bottle or jar; a Mason jar would be ideal. Pop it in the refrigerator for up to a month (you’ll use it up before then we promise!).
Top tip: Another brilliant option to store your simple syrup is to freeze it; pour into ice cube trays or a silicone mold, freeze overnight then pop out into a Ziploc bag or container to store in the freezer until ready to use. These will thaw in minutes on a hot balmy day!
Now that you have mastered the art of a homemade simple syrup, you can adapt it by adding other flavors. The options are endless—soon you will be making all sorts of fruity or herby syrup infusions to add to your home cocktail bar.
Using other sugars can also change things up for your simple syrup recipe. Try using brown sugar to make a treacle, amber-colored, syrup, which is delicious in a Whiskey Sour to enrich the caramel tones of the spirit.
One can easily make a non-sugar-based simple syrup using sweeteners like monk fruit or 100% pure maple syrup. You would make this just like the regular recipe and store it in the same way too. If you need to make a syrup to suit a diabetic diet, use a diabetic-friendly sweetener, but adjust the quantity of the sweetener a little as it does tend to taste sweeter.
