Post #680415 by AceExplorer on Sun, Jun 2, 2013 6:58 AM

I add Everclear for this purpose - it's considered less likely to add any flavor from whatever brand of silver rum you use. I also avoid vodka for the same reason - many vodkas still impart flavors. Everclear (which is a high purity grain alcohol) is considered by most I've talked to as least likely to impart anything more than a minor alcohol taste into whatever you're trying to preserve.

I had this conversation with Jeff Berry one year at The Hukilau when I cornered him with my list of questions... His suggestion was silver rum OR straight grain alcohol, and I opted for the Everclear for lack-of-flavor reasons. It's worked well for me, although I'm not exactly settled on what ratio of Everclear is required for best effectiveness. Too little doesn't work well and too much gives syrups an additional (undesired) alcohol taste which can impact the balance of a drink.

I've been making cold-process sugar syrup by blending it to death. I need to revisit the whole cold-process versus heated (invert sugar) thing again in the future. I find that cocktail recipes are often very unclear about what their definition of "simple syrup" or "rock candy syrup" is.