Hi Community,
what kind of sugar cane sirup (beside Monin) are you using for cocktails and are there differences in the taste? Do you have any recommendations?
Greetings
Patrick
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Maison Meneau. Best you can get in Europe.
The passion fruit syrup and also the Orgeat are outstanding
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I make my own cane syrup. Easy to make and you get to choose your own sugar. Also i use bottled or filtered water. It seems not to last that long as the one you buy in bottles ⌠but to me this is proof, that the bottled one is NOT just sugar and water 
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Got a recipe?
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Iâve got St. James, and I am satisfied. Canât compare really with others, though.
The Meneau Orgeat is also recommend, for Grenadine I would recommend Darbo, as others sometimes use additional fruit in their recipes.
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Water and Cane Sugar of your choice (i do like La Peruche). Measure by weight same amount of water for a 1:1 (simple syrup), double the amount of sugar for a 2:1 (rich simple) and so on. Depends a bit on the type of cocktail you are making. In stirred drinks a richer syrup imroves the mouthfeel.
Also i do like Gomme Syrup, where you add Gummi arabikum for improved texture.
In all cases: heat until sugar is dissolved and stop heat to avoid evaporation and change of ratio.
I keep sugar syrups in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Syrups with fruit shorter: for example pineapple about 1 week but strawberry only 2 days as they degenerate in flavour at different rates.
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I keep them forever as long as it is 2:1 Syrup. Plain Syrup and spice syrups like cinnamon donât go bad.
Even my Passion fruit syrup does hardly go bad, as the 2:1 mixture is simmered down to even more.
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Yep, thatâs right ⌠2:1 is pretty long lasting. I try to use my 1:1 simple within 2-3 weeks
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La Mauny and Dormoy, or Neisson when (more like IF) itâs available.
@Serge: no matter how careful you are youâre going to contaminate your homemade sirup. Modern food processing factories have a sterile environment you canât really replicate at home. Also the higher the sugar content the lower the available water is for microorganisms. As a result your 1:1 goes bad in 2-3 weeks; on the other hand I just found a half empty bottle of Dormoy in a cupboard that was (Iâm pretty sure) opened 2 years ago and itâs good as new.
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When thinking about branded syrups we have to question ourselves:
âWhat is most important to this brand?â.
Spoiler
Itâs money.
They have to make sure the product has a high profit margin and doesnât go bad before it leaves the shelves. To achieve this brands will often work with additives, preservatives and artificial flavouring; in contrast to fresh products which hasten the expiration.
When making your syrups at home you have full control of the freshness and quality of the ingredients that go in. This may look daunting, but is essently no different than baking a cake. Additionally tasting fresh syrups and branded syrups side-by-side is a true epiphany in the sense that some syrups have the same in common as a fish and a bird. Theyâre both animals, but thatâs it. So I think itâs safe to assume that homemade syrups are superior in quality than storebought syrups.
To start your own syrups, we have to split them in two categories:
-
Simple Syrup
Serge has already provided an excellent overview of what 1/1 and 2/1 entails, as well as how to make the syrup.
I like to add that experimenting with different sugars will yield different results. Famous tiki bar Lost Lake used a 50/50 blend of cane sugar and turbinado, which yields a rich and round syrup recently repopularised by Garret Richard from Sunken Harbor Club. -
Infused Simple Syrup
Simple syrup can be infused with nearly anything. Infusing with fruits will drastically increase the degeneration. Infusing with something else such as herbs, nuts, roots⌠wonât really impact the expiration. Recipies for infused syrups are quite diverse and usually require some bar tools. When making infused syrups, keep a 2/1 syrup in mind [1], as advised by Martin Cate from Smugglerâs Cove.
Qua preservation there are several techniques that will make your product last longer:
- [1] Using a higher sugar content
- Fortifying your syrup with a shot of 40%+ liquor, such as vodka (but (overproof) rum or cognac works as well). Generally 10 ml to 200ml of syrup.
- Regularly agitating the infused syrup to reintegrate sediment
Simple syrup will last near-indefinitely. Even when recrystalisation happens, you can reheat to recover the syrup. Fruit-infused syrups are more tricky and will last for atleast two weeks. Other-infused syrups will last atleast a month. Above anything else: taste regularly and small batching is key.
Here is a picture of the passionfruitsyrup I made today:
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Guys, no idea of you tried it but diluting the sugar syrup with rum increases shelf life to almost infinity.
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Ok, so what about the quality of the used sugar? For example I want to try Rapadura whole cane sugar.
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