Post #307649 by mbanu on Sun, May 20, 2007 12:27 PM

On 2007-05-20 08:30, DemeraraDrinker wrote:
OK, I need to resurrect this thread. I make my Mai Tais with cane syrup instead of Rock Candy Syrup. I don't want to buy a 1 liter bottle of Vic's RCS to only use 1/4 oz per drink.

The original difference between rock candy syrup and simple syrup was only in appearance. Rock candy syrup was simple syrup where a stray grain of undissolved sugar or something similar had snuck into the bottle and started the syrup crystallizing. Calling it rock candy syrup was kind of a clever way of turning a defect in house-made syrups into something cool and exotic. :)

Actually, you can ignore the rock candy syrup entirely if you use a milder orgeat.

The orgeat used in old tiki drinks was fairly concentrated. That's one of the reasons it needed to be cut with rock candy syrup, so the strong flavor wouldn't overwhelm the other ingredients. If you started out with a lighter flavored orgeat, you wouldn't need rock candy syrup.

[ Edited by: mbanu 2007-05-20 12:28 ]