Post #756350 by PalmtreePat on Tue, Dec 22, 2015 8:48 PM

On 2015-12-22 10:10, HopeChest wrote:
Working in downtown SF and living near Berkeley I have loads of great locals where I can get pretty much everything I need and then some, and usually within walking distance.

Everything except passion fruit syrup.

Trying to find this stuff around here has been frustrating to the extreme. I've been trying for months and months - it's rarer than hen's teeth. I know I could order online but that is somehow much less satisfying than walking out of a store with it, kind of like record shopping.

Well, when it rains it pours, London buses, lightning strikes twice, etc.

Whilst buying my weekly large bottle of Small Hand orgeat I saw Ledger's FINALLY got the SH passion fruit in, so I happily grabbed one. On the way home I stopped at the Ranch 99 market for some limes and after my millionth sweep of the aisles finally located the bottle on the right. I KNEW they had to have some! This is why I was never able to find it before:

It's always been behind floor stock. You can just see the yellow cap behind the honey display and the boxes to the left of it.

I've not yet gotten into the Small Hand syrup but have put the Sarang Tawon syrup through its paces. It's from Indonesia and has no HFCS, only sugar. It's STRONG - really packs a punch and tends to dominate the drink. This rather surprised me. However, dial whatever the recipe calls for back by 1/4 oz. and it's lovely.

There's quite a price difference between the two (like, almost $10) so I'm almost hoping I don't like the SH version much...

That stuff on the right is my go-to for passion fruit syrup now that my local ralph's has dropped passion fruit pulp to make room for a second rack of...mamey pulp? WHO'S BUYING THAT UP AT SUCH A RATE THAT THEY NEED TWO FRIGGIN RACKS WORTH OF IT?

I'm not bitter I swear.

More to the point: I've found that it's veeeery rich and concentrated. Making Jim's Specials and Beachbum's Owns with it I found that cutting it 25%-50% with plain SS was the way to go. Used in the volume called for, it completely dominates most drinks and turns them into glorified passionfruit nectar.