- Hi, welcome to the Cocktail Vlog.
Today is gonna be a little bit different,
and it feels really strange, actually.
I've got no ice, I've got no shakers.
I'm just gonna be doing simple syrups, cocktails syrups.
So I'll be utilizing some of these in recipes to come,
and I've also done a lot of recipes utilizing these syrups,
so I'll make sure I'll link to them
in the description below.
So first up, I'm gonna make
a really basic one, the simple syrup.
I know a lot of people probably already know how to make it,
so I'm gonna run through it very quickly.
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So there's a couple of methods that you can use
to make your simple syrup.
Method one is the easiest,
probably only recommend if you're gonna use it
on the day and you're just in a hurry to make some drinks.
So you can just bottle up with water and sugar,
give it a shake and let it dissolve,
preferably use warm water.
But today I'm gonna show you
how to make it on the stove top,
reason being is, it actually,
the heat does affect the simple syrup and the flavor of it.
Once it boils, it actually breaks down the sucrose
into different molecules, being fructose and glucose.
It's gonna be a very subtle difference,
but it's gonna turn it into a slightly sweeter sugar syrup.
But the main reason we do it on the stove top
is to simply extend its shelf life.
So let's get started on actually making it.
You want to weigh out your ingredients,
and that's a more accurate way of doing it.
So I thought I'd make it nice and easy
and I'm only gonna do little 250 mil batches,
considering this is for people making drinks at home.
It's just gonna make it a little bit easier 'cause,
for instance, when I make ginger syrup,
you're probably not gonna use a liter of ginger syrup
before it actually starts going moldy.
Start by weighing out equal measures
of your water and your sugar.
So for this example, I've weighed out 150 grams of water
and I'll add that straight into my pot.
Then turn on the heat.
Then 150 grams of sugar.
So you can obviously make your syrup
with different kinds of sugar.
If you want you can use a Demerara
if you're making tiki or tropical drinks.
It's a slightly different flavor,
but for a simple syrup, I'm keeping it simple
and just using white refined sugar.
(gentle instrumental music)
And then add that to the hot water
and just let it dissolve.
Just give it a bit of a stir,
and when it's almost to the boil
that sugar should be dissolved.
And take it off the heat once it's all dissolved.
It should be nice and clear.
And now you've let it cool for a little bit,
using a funnel just add it to your bottle.
So with those measurements,
that's made just under 250 mils.
So there you have a simple syrup.
Very simple, I know, but I just wanted to show you
the importance of actually weighing your ingredients,
putting it on the stove top,
to increase its shelf life.
So this here will last two to four weeks in the fridge
as long as you've got a cling top
or a screw jar or something like that.
It is a crucial ingredient to a lot of cocktails,
to like the majority of cocktails,
so it's important to get it right.
So next I'm gonna show you how to make a raspberry syrup,
which is also incredibly simple.
One pint of raspberries to the 250 mils
of that sugar syrup that I've made.
Just add it straight into a jar,
and I'm gonna just give it a really light muddle.
If berries are out of season or if you're on a budget
you can also use frozen raspberries.
I probably wouldn't do it in a bar,
but at home it works just as well.
So seal your jar, and store that in the fridge for 24 hours
and then we'll strain out those raspberries.
Okay, so now this has been sitting
in the fridge for 24 hours.
It's definitely extracted a lot of the juices
from those raspberries and it's intensified
and it smells and looks really delicious.
So, using a funnel and a strainer,
if you want, you can use like a cheesecloth or something.
You can see the color of that syrup looks delicious.
And try and squeeze out as much of that flavor as you can.
Now make sure you don't throw this away, either.
That's actually still, it's got a lot of seeds in it,
it'll be a little crunchy,
but it's got, it'll be super sweet,
really flavorsome still, and you can use it
on the top of a mojito,
you can use it on a bramble.
There's so many different ways you could use it,
but it is still gonna be really tasty
so there's no point throwing it out.
So there, the house-made raspberry syrup
that is super delicious, really bright,
and yeah, it's gonna work so well in cocktails.
The 1934 cosmo, the knickerbocker, and the clover club.
They're three very well-known cocktails
that this is gonna work wonders in.
Now, the shelf life on this is gonna be a little bit shorter
than your standard simple syrup,
because you'll notice that I didn't
actually cook the raspberries.
I'd probably give this one to two weeks,
but it's not gonna last long in the fridge.
So next up, I'm gonna show you how to make a mint syrup.
So this works with any kind of herb
that you'd like to utilize.
So, like making a sage syrup or thyme,
exactly the same method.
So rather than cooking it on the stove top,
which will extract different oils of those herbs,
I'm just gonna use fresh herbs
straight into a sugar syrup.
So I've cooked another batch of simple syrup.
Same again, one-to-one ratio that's weighed.
I'll transfer that into my mixing jug,
and just pick some fresh mint
and throw it straight in.
Keep some whole leaves, I'll tear some leaves as well.
So you could imagine if you actually put this
on the stove top and heated it,
this mint would wilt down and yeah,
it just extracts different flavors.
It adds some bitterness to it,
which you probably don't want.
You want that fresh aromatic.
And from there, transfer it straight into the bottle.
It's probably not gonna go in too well.
Yeah, it's working, sort of, (chuckles) badly.
Hm hm hm.
So there you have a mint syrup.
So you can give this a light shake,
store it in the fridge.
I'd recommend using this fresh,
so I'd give it up to a week,
but these herbs are gonna wilt quite a bit
and not look as nice.
This is gonna work well with like a mojito,
a whisky smash, a mint julep,
and it's just a way to influence the drink
and add mint and herby notes to it
if you don't have fresh mint on hand.
Like, say if you're going for a picnic
or you're going to a friend's place for a few drinks,
then this is a nice, easy solution
so you can whip up a few cocktails without the hassle.
So next up I'm gonna show you how to make a ginger syrup.
This works really well in dark and stormies, mules,
maybe adding a little bit of a spicy twist
on a mojito as well.
So today I'm using young ginger.
You can have old ginger as well.
The difference between the two
is this is quite, quite pungent, very fragrant,
whereas the old ginger has more spice to it,
but this is just easier to juice.
There's many different ways to make this ginger syrup.
If you've got a juicer, your life's made a lot easier.
I'm gonna use a slightly different method,
because I'm assuming most people probably have
a blender or a stick blender at home.
It's just a little bit more fiddly
if you don't have a juicer.
So, using a spoon, peel off the skin of the ginger.
So you can definitely tell the difference
between the young and old ginger.
This is like, really, really juicy,
aromatics is super pungent.
Now once it's peeled,
slice it up and throw it straight into your blender.
Now, because ginger is quite fibrous,
it is fairly hard to blend.
It's gonna make it a lot easier
if you just add just a tiny bit of water,
and then give it a quick blitz.
(blender whirring)
So I've got one-to-one sugar syrup in the pot right now,
so it's just bringing up to the boil.
Now I've got the blended, blended ginger.
Just add that straight in.
So this is actually 50 grams.
So 50 grams of ginger to 250 mils
of the one-to-one sugar syrup.
There's still a little bit of ginger left in there.
As I said, this is not the cleanest way to do it.
If you've got a juicer, it's gonna work so much better,
but this is just a method to use at home.
So all the sugar's dissolved.
We're getting this really pungent smell of ginger.
It does smell like it's gonna be quite spicy.
It's gonna be nice, but obviously
if you prefer your cocktails spicier,
then just whack a whole lot more ginger in there.
Okay, so now you want to strain out all those bits.
If you want to, you could use
just a conical strainer or a tea strainer.
I'm just gonna use this little muslin bag
that I have lying around.
Try not to burn my hands.
So if you're using a muslin bag like I am,
you could actually probably just leave this
sitting in there and let it steep and get more flavors.
So using the bag and the funnel,
I'm just gonna squeeze out every last drop of that flavor.
Personally, I'd probably go a little bit higher,
and then it's gonna be a lot more punchy
and a lot more spicy.
That also depends on the type of ginger that you use.
Using your funnel, adding that straight into the bottle.
Okay, so the next syrup I'm gonna show you
how to make is a honey syrup.
Very simple, just watered-down honey, really.
The reason we do this, is because if you try
and put honey into a cold drink,
it kinda just coagulates and it won't mix
into the drink nicely.
So just that tiny bit of water
will make mixing much, much easier.
So I'm gonna be making a three-to-one syrup.
So I wanna be three parts of honey to one part water.
100 mils, just over three ounces.
So now I wanna add just over 30 mils
or one ounce of hot water.
Doesn't have to be boiling.
Then just give it a stir.
It should still have quite a thick viscosity.
It's still somewhat honey-like as far as texture goes.
Mm, that works well.
So as you can see, it's got a lot thinner texture to it,
pours nice and easily.
It'll mix really well into a cocktail.
Speaking of which, you could make a bee's knees,
gold rush, penicillin, penicillin being my favorite.
Still haven't uploaded to the channel,
which is what I'm gonna utilize this for.
So a penicillin utilizes honey syrup
as well as fresh ginger.
So if you wanted to you could actually just combine the two,
or use a little bit of each.
So there you have your honey syrup.
So there you have five different styles
of cocktail syrups that you can use.
I'll make sure in the description below
that I share links to those particular cocktails
that utilize these ingredients.
And I know you're probably all asking
where's the orgeat and where's the grenadine,
but I thought those recipes deserved a video of their own.
So, if you haven't subscribed, you're gonna have to now,
and I'll post it very soon.
Thanks for watching, make you sure you like and subscribe,
and I'll see you soon for another cocktail video, cheers.
(gentle music)