Plain Syrup
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| white sugar | 200 g |
| water | 200 g |
Equipment: small saucepan, kitchen scale, clean glass bottle with lid.
About this syrup
Every bar starts here. Sugar doesn’t dissolve well in cold drinks, so bartenders dissolve it in water first. Plain syrup is the neutral sweetener used to balance drinks whose fruit is naturally sweet or tart, such as melon, mango and apple, and to adjust any drink that needs “just a little more.”
It is also the teaching syrup for the book: once you understand plain syrup’s ratios, every flavored syrup makes sense.
How to make it
- Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan.
- Warm gently, stirring, just until the sugar fully dissolves. There’s no need to boil.
- Cool, bottle, label with the ratio and date, and refrigerate.
Yield and storage
- Makes about 320 ml.
- 1:1 keeps about 2 weeks refrigerated; 2:1 (rich) keeps about 1 month (both provisional).
- Discard if cloudy or if anything grows on it.
Understanding ratios
- 1:1 (standard): equal weights of sugar and water. The house plain syrup.
- 2:1 (rich): two parts sugar to one part water by weight. Sweeter, thicker, keeps longer; use about two-thirds as much.
- The book’s flavored syrups: spice and floral syrups use 150 g sugar per 120 ml infusion (between standard and rich); fruit syrups use 1 g sugar per 1 ml juice. They are not interchangeable with plain syrup without adjusting the amount.
- Weigh sugar, measure liquids. Sugar by weight is reliable; by volume it isn’t.
Tips and troubleshooting
- Crystals forming: the syrup was too rich or got stirred with a dirty spoon. Warm it gently to redissolve.
- No scale: 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water by volume is close to 1:1 by weight.
Different concepts of this syrup
1. Standard 1:1
The recipe above. The house standard.
2. Rich 2:1
400 g sugar to 200 g water. Silkier texture, longer keeping. Good for stirred drinks.
3. Nabat syrup
Dissolve Persian rock candy (nabat) in an equal weight of warm water. Plain or saffron nabat both work; the saffron version gives a pale-gold, gently scented syrup, the way many Iranians sweeten tea.
4. Demerara or brown sugar
Use demerara or light brown sugar at 1:1. Caramel and toffee notes for rum, brandy and whiskey drinks.
5. Cold-shake method
Shake equal weights of superfine sugar and room-temperature water in a sealed jar for 2–3 minutes until clear. No stove needed.
6. Beyond cocktails
- Sweeten iced tea, lemonade and sharbats.
- The base for any quick floral syrup: add rose, orange-blossom or bidmeshk water to taste.
Allergen note
No common allergens.
Development notes
- Status: ratios to standardize; measure the real yield of each ratio.
- Confirm doses in the new drinks after tasting.