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White Lion (David Embury's recipe)
Please don't judge this recipe until you have experienced this fruity Daiquiri made homemade "grenadine" (1 part freshly pressed pomegranate juice and...
26th June 2024 at 16:17
Embury does call for a 3:1 syrup, but that is not three times as sweet as a 1:1 syrup. For example, if a recipe states 10ml (1/3oz) of 2:1 rich sugar syrup, then the equivalent in 1:1 simple syrup is just 15ml (½oz), not 20ml, as you might expect. I have experimented with Embury’s 3:1 syrup, and it is too thick to pour out of a measure without leaving an unknown percentage in the jigger. It also tends to crystallise.
21st September 2024 at 11:04
Thanks, Simon. I've been thinking long and hard about this. My understanding is that 2:1 is 33% sweeter than 1:1 and 3:1 is 50% sweeter than 1:1, so you need a third less 2:1 than 1:1, hence 15ml of 1:1 is the same amount of sweetness as 10ml of 2:1.
If I understand this correctly, it means that when Embury calls for 1 part of his 3:1 simple syrup, ignoring the increased dilution, one needs to use 15ml of 1:1 simple syrup or 10ml of 2:1 or 7.5ml of 3:1. Is that correct?
If so, then Embury's classic 8 parts, 2 parts, 1 part (using his 3:1) would be 8, 2, 2 using 1:1, or 8, 2, 1.33 using 2:1.
If I understand this correctly, it means that when Embury calls for 1 part of his 3:1 simple syrup, ignoring the increased dilution, one needs to use 15ml of 1:1 simple syrup or 10ml of 2:1 or 7.5ml of 3:1. Is that correct?
If so, then Embury's classic 8 parts, 2 parts, 1 part (using his 3:1) would be 8, 2, 2 using 1:1, or 8, 2, 1.33 using 2:1.
Cocktail recipes usually state simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water) or strong simple syrup (2:1 sugar and water) but on page 101 of my copy of David Embury’s “Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” he says “I have found that a mixture of 3 cups of sugar to each cup of water yields a very satisfactory syrup.” So he’s really using 3 measures of simple syrup when he calls for 1 part of sugar syrup in his recipes. That’s not dry!