Thus despite the obvious irony, I have decided to do a two part post on simple syrup in order to showcase the versatility it can add to drinks. Today and next week I’ll show you how to make plain simple syrup as well as variations infused with different herbs, spices, and fruits, along with a few cocktail ideas to get you going. Once armed with this simple knowledge I promise you’ll never look at iced tea, lemonade, or a sweetened cocktail the same way ever again.

Basic simple syrup is simply sugar dissolved in water. The genius behind the idea is that you no longer have to spend 5 minutes stirring the lemonade pitcher to dissolve the sugar in cold water since it’s pre-dissolved and stays that way once made. How sweet and thick the syrup turns out depends on the ratio of sugar to water you use. While you can use any ratio you prefer, the preference for many bartenders and mixologists is 1 to 1.5 parts sugar to 1 part water. I prefer a sugar to water ratio of 1.5:1, as it gives me just enough sweetness without diluting my cocktail too much, and this is the basis for most of the flavored variations I make and the drink recipes which call for them.

Basic Simple Syrup
1.5 cups sugar
1 cup water

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring slowly until sugar is completely dissolved. Allow to cool, then pour into a clean bottle and refrigerate. Will keep for up to a month.

You can use any type of sugar you prefer–regular, organic, raw, whatever–keeping in mind that the unbleached sugars will produce a brown colored syrup. And although I prefer real sugar in my cocktails, you can even use artificial sweeteners like Splenda if you wish, though I’ve made some pretty nasty tasting Sangria using Splenda and I’ve decided not to make that same mistake twice.

Flavored syrups are just as easy to prepare as the basic version, and really add a unique component to cocktails. Below are a few recipes for infusing the flavors of herbs and spices.

Sage Simple Syrup (pictured above left)
1.5 cups sugar (I used unbleached organic sugar, hence the brown color)
1 cup water
20 fresh sage leaves (you adjust quantity depending on the intensity of flavor you’d like)

Combine the sugar, water, and sage in a saucepan over low heat, stirring slowly until sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, turn off heat and steep sage leaves for 20 minutes. Once cooled, strain into a jar, discard herbs, and store syrup in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Thyme Simple Syrup (pictured above right)
Follow exact same ratio and procedure as for sage simple syrup above, simply substituting thyme sprigs for sage leaves. Again the intensity of flavor is up to you.

Note: I used fresh herbs here because I had them on hand, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using dried herbs. In fact, when using dried herbs you can use much less as the flavor is more concentrated. When using dried herbs I generally like to use about 1/4 cup of dried herb for every quart (4 cups) of total syrup.

Li Hing Simple Syrup (flavored with a Hawaiian plum extract powder called “Li Hing,” which has a distinctive sweet, sour, and salty flavor–very umami–that can be found in certain Asian markets)
1.5 cups sugar (I used organic Hawaiian sugar here)
1 cup water
10 tsp Li Hing powder (again really up to your taste, though I’d be careful not to overdo it as this is quite a uniquely overpowering ingredient)

Combine everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved and syrup is rich red color–the powder will give off color but won’t completely dissolve. Turn off heat and set aside to cool, then strain syrup through a cheesecloth (to filter undissolved powder) into a bottle and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Simple enough, right? So let’s try a couple of cocktails now. The first cocktail is a Strawberry Sage Smash, which incorporates the sage simple syrup.

Strawberry Sage Smash
3 fresh strawberries, stems removed
2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, stems attached
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. strawberry liqueur (learn how to make your own here)
1 oz. sage simple syrup
1 oz. fresh lime juice
fresh ice

Tools: shaker, strainer, muddler, toothpick
Glass: double rocks

Take a strawberry and use the toothpick to poke a hole through the top where the stem used to be, about halfway through. Insert the sage leaves by their stem through the hole. This will be your garnish. Slice the remaining strawberries and place in cocktail shaker. Mash the strawberries with the muddler (you can also muddle a couple sage leaves with the strawberries if you want extra sage flavor, otherwise the syrup should take care of that part). Fill shaker with ice plus remaining ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into double rocks glass filled with ice and place strawberry garnish on rim of glass.

This next cocktail is one of my favorites which I created last year for pre-election Obama fundraisers and post-election victory parties, called the Baroque Obama. It’s flavored with Li Hing, but this time I modified the cocktail to use Li Hing simple syrup instead of the previous version that used just the powder. I won’t go into the inspiration and thought process behind this cocktail, as all that and more can be found here in a previous post. Here’s the Baroque Obama with a minor change you can believe in.

Baroque Obama
2 oz. Starr African rum
1 oz. American gin (ie. Aviation)
1 oz. fresh organic lime juice
1/2 oz. Li Hing simple syrup
1 splash Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
fresh ice

Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: cocktail

Place all ingredients in shaker and shake vigorously; strain into chilled cocktail glass and enjoy!

This concludes part 1 of the simple syrup seminar. Next week I’ll come back with a few fruit flavored simple syrups that are just as simple to make, along with a couple of cocktails you can toss them in. Cheers!

Come back every Wednesday for Paystyle’s weekly Happy Hour column.

Photography by Vanessa Bahmani

There’s more than one way to make a liqueur. A common way is to simply fill a container with flavoring ingredients and a liquor of choice, along with sugar, and allow the materials to merry in a cool dark place for weeks. Well, this time I decided to try a different route, mainly as a means of experimenting, as described below.

Materials you need:
- 2 glass jars
- Enough fresh strawberries to fill one jar, taking into account that several will be eaten before they make it into the jar.
- 100 proof or higher Vodka
- 2 TBLS sugar for now (up to 6 more for the coming weeks)

Before you start make sure your strawberries are rinsed clean and have their stems cut off, as purity is the key to good liqueurs and infusions. Take a toothpick and poke the flesh of each strawberry in several locations. Fill one of the jars with strawberries. Add the 2 TBLS sugar and fill the jar with the vodka. Tighten the lid and shake it around to dissolve and evenly distribute the sugar. Set the jar in a cool place away from light for a week.

It should look like this when you begin:

In a few days you’ll notice the strawberries have given off lots of color, and will continue to do so:

After one week, open the jar and strain just the liquid into the other empty jar. Make sure not to lose any strawberries, as you’ll still need them. Place another TBLS or two of sugar into the jar with the strawberries. Close both jars and return them to their “waiting room.” The sugar that has been added will continue to pull the liquid out of the strawberries. Repeat this process (straining the liquid, adding sugar to strawberries) for another couple of weeks.

Once you’ve strained the liquid from the strawberries for the final time, you can enjoy your liqueur or allow it to age even further. The aging process mellows out the sweetness and smooths out the flavor. The strawberries will have lost much of their volume by this time, and you can enjoy them as is, or let loose your culinary imagination to see what you come up with. I like making a sauce out of them to top waffles and pancakes, or adding them to a sangria.

There’s so much flexibility around liqueurs and infusions that more important than the exact ingredients are the techniques. You can essentially swap out strawberries for other berries or fruits and the vodka for your liquor of choice. I preferred vodka here because of its neutral flavor, which would enable it to totally embrace the flavor of the strawberries.

As I mentioned earlier, purity is key, and that applies to your liquor as well. The vodka I used was a triple distilled 100 proof Smirnoff–something not too pricey but good quality nonetheless. The reason I went with a 100 proof was simple preference. Liqueurs are often very sweet because they’re used as mixers, and so I wanted something high enough in proof that could still retain some kick in a cocktail. But the choice is basically yours.

My batch is still in my cupboard biding its time. In a couple weeks when it’s done I’ll return with the final product and show you a new cocktail I’ll be creating with it.

Come back every Wednesday for Paystyle’s weekly Happy Hour column.