8_10

This article and commentary changes everything. My new found knowledge is serving me well!

For me, 1-1 syrups win, hands down. If you are interested in why I have this opinion, read on -- sorry for the length.

Dilution with 1-1 syrups is minimal. If you use an ounce of syrup in a cocktail, (usually it's less) you are only adding 1/3 of an ounce of extra water. My admittedly limited practical experiments with side-by-side blind tastings of the same drink made with 1-1 and 2-1 syrups resulted in the two being indistinguishable by everyone I asked to try them. Maybe there are super tasters that can tell the difference, but most mere mortals can't. Also, if you are using 2-1 syrups in the cocktails where you actually want the increased dilution for some reason, adding chilled water is just an extra annoying step.

I suppose there might be some recipes that are riding the bleeding edge of dilution where the difference might be noticeable, but those are probably few and far between, and you can usually take the water out elsewhere. Anything with orange juice comes to mind, but the solution there is to acid adjust the OJ and let the extra water come out of the lime/lemon juice you don't have to use to balance the sweetness.

The real reason though is that heat is your enemy. Heating to make 2-1 syrups actually changes the sugar, and with it the flavor. Plus, 2-1 syrups aren't really shelf stable and will crash out eventually, requiring reheating to put them back into solution, further degrading the sugar.

Low/no heat syrups just taste better, IMO, particularly fruit syrups. Syrups made with 'juicy' fruits, like most berries, stone fruits, etc., can be made with no heat at all, just like oleo saccharum. Macerate the fruit and mix with sugar. Let sit for a day or so on the counter or in the fridge while the sugar pulls the juices and fruit sugars out of the fruit. Strain/filter the solids out and dilute to 50 Brix. The result is a much more intense and brighter syrup than anything heated will be. Plus you can use the solids as a spread for toast. If you try to heat these syrups enough to make them 2-1 you will cook the flavor right out of them.

Some fruits need heat for a good extraction, but adding any kind of heat at all to fruit syrups risks activating the pectin and making jelly. Cranberries will start to gel up even at 140F in a sous vide cooker, as I have repeatedly proven :-/ (They are safe at 120F). Same for rhubarb. Some fruits require a bit higher temperature for good extraction, but never above 140F. Grenadine needs some heat to get the pomegranate molasses to fully incorporate, and I make a syrup with Chinese plums, licorice and hawthorn that needs heat to speed up the rehydration of the dried fruits. Even hard ingredient extractions, like cinnamon and coconut, work better at low heat. The cinnamon flavors extracted at 140F are much more nuanced than the monotone 'red hot candy' flavor that you get at high heat. Low and slow, just like BBQ, is the ticket.

The only syrup that I make using high heat is ginger. Using pressed ginger juice or low heat extraction for ginger syrup produces a flavor that is much too sharp compared to the sweetness of the syrup, which ends up overwhelming the cocktail. The pronounced change in flavor that heating causes actually works better to create a balanced ginger syrup, IMO.

Hopefully I have convinced you that 'flavored' syrups are better with minimal heating, so 50 Brix -- but why not make your 'regular' syrups, like simple, turbinado, honey, agave, and maple at 67 Brix? For me it's just easier for all my syrups to have the same sweetness. When I'm working up a cocktail recipe, one of the first things I do is balance the sweetness. Once that is set, if I want to use the sweetener to add a flavor, I don't want the extra hassle of changing the amount required. Their shelf life is comparable, and if refrigerated, measured in months. I just don't see the advantage of 2-1 syrups.

Instead of rich syrup I use gum syrup which seems to have a similar sweetness effect but with less sugar.

I’m wondering if using invert sugar syrup would be worthwhile. It’s easy to make from table sugar and is, like rich simple, about 30% sweeter than 1:1 syrup. It can also double for use with in baking, confectionery, and ice cream/sorbet making

I meant “concerned” with…

Simple simple syrup question: if using white sugar, is there any difference in the result whether you use granulated, super- fine granulated, or confectioners (powdered) sugar? Not condense with the brick etc., just whether cosmetically ( ie clarity) or taste-wise you notice any difference. Thanks!

As always, late to the party. 2:1 or 1:1, they will never vary by weight. If you measure by volume, then temperature will make a big difference.