Rock Candy (TV's) vs. Simple syrup - Tiki Drinks and Food

LL Limbo Lizard Tiki Socialite Aboard the 'Leaky Tiki', Dallas Joined: Aug 24, 2006 Posts: 788	LL Limbo Lizard Posted posted on Thu, Dec 18, 2008 9:03 AM Thanks, 57 Chevy, for your research and a very informative post. It explains some things I'd wondered about, over the years. I've been making my own bar syrup since the late 70's, always in the 2:1 sugar to water ratio. I had forgotten where I got that recipe. But, since the 1972 TV Bartenders Guide was my bible, back then, I suspected it as the source. Sure enough, page 29, "Standard proportions for sugar syrup or simple syrup are two parts sugar to one part water." I've always heated the water, to help dissolve the sugar, but not in any systematic or measured way - just made sure not too hot or long, so it wouldn't caramelize. Sometimes, my syrup would form some crystals on the bottom, sometimes not. Never sure why. I didn't realize that the heating was actually changing the chemical composition (and taste profile). Now I know each batch was probably a little different, with different amounts of the sucrose inverted. I 'Googled' the subject, as you suggested, and, Oh, Lordy! Turns out that the making of variations of sugar syrup is a whole subject unto itself, especially on serious cooking or candy making boards. As you pointed out, the sugar/water ratio and the amount of inversion, due to heating, produces a different end result. Some of these folks carefully monitor their syrup's state of inversion, while heating, by checking the specific gravity with a hydrometer! Suddenly, "simple syrup" doesn't seem so simple, anymore. This opens a whole new world for the more AR mixologists, among us.

Thanks, 57 Chevy, for your research and a very informative post. It explains some things I'd wondered about, over the years.
I've been making my own bar syrup since the late 70's, always in the 2:1 sugar to water ratio. I had forgotten where I got that recipe. But, since the 1972 TV Bartenders Guide was my bible, back then, I suspected it as the source. Sure enough, page 29, "Standard proportions for sugar syrup or simple syrup are two parts sugar to one part water."
I've always heated the water, to help dissolve the sugar, but not in any systematic or measured way - just made sure not too hot or long, so it wouldn't caramelize. Sometimes, my syrup would form some crystals on the bottom, sometimes not. Never sure why. I didn't realize that the heating was actually changing the chemical composition (and taste profile). Now I know each batch was probably a little different, with different amounts of the sucrose inverted.
I 'Googled' the subject, as you suggested, and, Oh, Lordy! Turns out that the making of variations of sugar syrup is a whole subject unto itself, especially on serious cooking or candy making boards. As you pointed out, the sugar/water ratio and the amount of inversion, due to heating, produces a different end result. Some of these folks carefully monitor their syrup's state of inversion, while heating, by checking the specific gravity with a hydrometer!
Suddenly, "simple syrup" doesn't seem so simple, anymore. This opens a whole new world for the more AR mixologists, among us.

Post #424633 by Limbo Lizard on Thu, Dec 18, 2008 9:03 AM