Transcript: Simple Syrup (Alberta Essential)

Cocktails on the Fly
Episode: “Simple Syrup”

Alberta Straub: Hi, Welcome to Cocktail’s on the Fly. I am your flighty hostess, Alberta Straub. And I want to teach you how to make one of the simplest most essential things in the bar. Something you will use with almost ever cocktail, no matter what.
If you’re squeezing fresh citrus in, if you go to the store and buy already squeezed citrus, you need to know how to make simple syrup. Simple syrup is simple, there are a million different recipes on the web. You can make it this way; you can make it that way. We are going to make it the simple, simple way.
Its going to be one part sugar to two parts water, that’s all you have to do. What to do? Let’s see what is this? It’s a Pyrex container, what does it say? 2 cups water, the waters hot pour it into a bowl. Ok perfect. Next thing you do, you add your sugar.
So lets see, if I add two parts water, that means I want one part sugar. This is not an exact science because everywhere you look for a recipe there is different variations, it’s very simple.
That’s why they call it simple syrup. Now just pour it into your hot water, stir. I’m stirring; I’m stirring, stirring, stirring. There we go okay, lets stir it. And you just want to stir until it’s clear.
There are a number of different variations you can make on this simple syrup. It doesn’t have to be just simply water and sugar. You can make yourself nice ginger syrup, which is very tasty. I like to make ginger cardamom syrup. With a little pepper in there which is nice.
Or I make nice bitter syrup with some citrus and grape fruit peels to add a little bitterness. For example if you have a drink with some fresh fruit in it, perhaps some berries or watermelon, something that would typically create a sweet drink.
You can sweeten it with this bitter syrup that I make, which I will teach you to make later if you keep watching my show. That adds a nice bitter dynamic, or the ginger syrup.
You just keep stirring it until it’s clear, here we are clear. There you have it a perfect sweetener. Keep it in the refrigerator; it keeps for about two weeks. Throw it away after two weeks because it does go bad, there are no preservatives in here.
So you just add it when ever your making drinks at home, you want to make a lemon drop, you want to make a aviation, Mojito or something like this. You just balance out go one to one part. Any kind of citrus you have go one part the citrus and one part simple syrup and you’re ready to go.
There you go simple syrup, is simple, ready to go, it’s easy, you saw me do it. No problems there. Bam! You’re done simple syrup! It’s a bar essential.
In Flighty Announcements, Simple Syrup:
1. Truly simple
2. 1 cup sugar to 2 cups hot water
3. Stir until clear, then chill
4. Use one to one with citrus juice