Best Syrup brand discussion

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these brands? Which do you prefer?

Monin
Torani
Davincigourmet

I am mostly interested in the Passion Fruit and Orgeat flavors.
(but feel free to discuss other flavors)

I heard a disadvantage of Monin Orgeat is that you have to use less then a recipe calls for because it is strong.
I heard the Monin Passion Fruit syrup is the proper strength for recipes.
Another advantage of Monin is that you cal also purchace a 1/4th oz pump.

Which brand do you recommend?

On 2005-08-10 19:50, hypr wrote:

Which brand do you recommend?

Trader Vic's. Period.

On 2005-08-10 19:54, Doctor Z wrote:

On 2005-08-10 19:50, hypr wrote:

Which brand do you recommend?

Trader Vic's. Period.

the hat and i second that!

I did not list trader vics :) Because i do not want to pay like 15$ shipping for it

Perhaps I should have labeled this thread as best non Trader Vic brand syrup.

On 2005-08-10 19:50, hypr wrote:
I heard a disadvantage of Monin Orgeat is that you have to use less then a recipe calls for because it is strong.

Since you are concerned about costs, wouldn't this be an advantage?

Would there be any reason why somebody picks Torani over Monin and vice versa..

On 2005-08-10 19:59, tikicleen wrote:

On 2005-08-10 19:54, Doctor Z wrote:

On 2005-08-10 19:50, hypr wrote:

Which brand do you recommend?

Trader Vic's. Period.

the hat and i second that!

Thirded. At least for the passion fruit and orgeat, definitely Vic's. After that I would take Monin over Torani and DaVinci. Torani and DaVinci are coffee syrups. Vic's are for cocktails.

Vic's and Monin Passion Fruit are the only ones with actual passion fruit in them- Torani is just flavoring. I find the Monin to be be too strong in a drink and prefer the Vic's here. There are several Monin lovers on this board, however- I think one of them is in the holy land right now.

I usually use Torani for Orgeat, but I like the Vic's as well. Vic's Ko-Ko Kreme is the only bad one from them- better to stick with Coco Lopez. Lopez is the only one I've founsd where coconut is listed as the first ingedient.

Personally I prefer the Monin Passion Fruit Syrup.

Try it in the Reverb Crash...outstanding.

On 2005-08-11 07:15, martiki wrote:
I usually use Torani for Orgeat, but I like the Vic's as well.

martiki: Do you prefer the Torani Orgeat over the Monin brand?
Is the flavor in the Torani Orgeat weaker then the Monin?

martiki & Kon-Hemsby:thanks for the nod in my direction...I've been back for a week, and let me get back on the subject:
I'm a strong advocate of the Monin brand, but have tried others.
Orgeat - the Monin is very strong and complex, a little similar to Trader Vic's. Torani has that "fake candy" flavor, and I wouldn't use it by itself. However, in a Mai Tai, I have found that just using Monin or TV Orgeat leaves the drink lacking a certain amount of the "fake candy" hint that I experienced whenever I ordered a Mai Tai in Trader Vic's, so I made a little bottle that has Monin mixed with some Torani just for use in Mai Tais.

Passion Fruit - The Monin is sweeter than Trader Vic's, but not drastically. I havn't made a side by side comparison, so I might be wrong. I like the taste of Monin better. the Reverb Crash, btw, was developed using Monin syrups, becasue that was what was available to me at the holly land.
I wouldn't use Torani passion fruit (or DaVinci), becasue they don't have fruit content, IIRC.

BTW - pay no more than $6 per bottle of Monin. Otherwise, you're getting ripped off.

Hope this helps,
Ran

[ Edited by: kick_the_reverb 2005-08-11 13:56 ]

[i]I heard a disadvantage of Monin Orgeat is that you have to use less then a recipe calls for because it is strong.

That means it's authentic. :wink: that's the reason why the original mai tai recipe called for a blend of half orgeat and half simple syrup instead of all orgeat.

I found a great article on syrups at http://www.spiritone.com/~nabil/syrup.html
Aaron's Flavored Syrup Page

He also gives reviews of some flavors:
The Best! Buy these! Yum!
Monin Almond (Orgeat)
Unexpectedly yummy!

He talks about the life of syrups:
Torani is an "extract" style syrup, while Monin is more like a "concentrate" or "juice". Unfortunately Monin flavors don't seem to be as stable as Torani in storage. The average Torani syrup is probably still OK after 2 years, the average Monin about 6 months.

Does anybody have Monin thats more than 6 months old?

Does anybody have Monin thats more than 6 months old?

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Not in our house :wink:!!

On 2005-08-12 15:23, hypr wrote:
He talks about the life of syrups:
Torani is an "extract" style syrup, while Monin is more like a "concentrate" or "juice". Unfortunately Monin flavors don't seem to be as stable as Torani in storage. The average Torani syrup is probably still OK after 2 years, the average Monin about 6 months.

Does anybody have Monin thats more than 6 months old?

Yeah, I keep Monin on the shelf for 1+ years with no problem. You sometimes get sediment, and a good shake cures that.

Trader vics, hands down. I second the "coffee" remark. Vic's were created with tropical drinks in mind. To me, its worth the postage.

The new Trader Vic's passion fruit in the plastic bottle is horrible! It is nothing like the glass bottle, they have ruined it! I am now going to monin, as it the last one made with real passion fruit, and I have had their other syrups, I also use their pommegranite instead of grenadine, which is much better.

On 2007-08-04 23:30, The Ragin' Rarotongan wrote:
The new Trader Vic's passion fruit in the plastic bottle is horrible! It is nothing like the glass bottle, they have ruined it!

Try Aunty Lilikoi Passion Fruit Syrup, if you like the heavenly taste of Kauai.

TV seems to be becoming nothing more than a name for corporate exploitation. That's why I don't even bother with any TV products, although there are respected luminaries here at TC who swear by them. Obviously, the quality has existed in the past, but it seems to be disappearing by attrition.

Remember the old (Marriott) Roy Rogers restaurants when they first came out. Roy Rogers actually endorsed them, which he would only do if he really meant it. Quality was important to him. After the King of the Cowboys passed on and Marriott had declining interest in its restaurant franchises it sold its RR interests to Hardees. Hardees tried to change the restaurants and the RR name to Hardees, but the public rebelled. Hardees changed them back to RR, but it was too late. They had ruined them. Now there are still a few Roy Rogers restaurants around, but they're awful. Nothing like they were originally (which wasn't that complicated in the first place).

Every time I turn around, I get the impression that the people running the TV enterprises are just out to make a buck, sacrificing quality whenever it suits them, riding on the TV name and reputation. Your assessment of the change in TV Passion Fruit Syrup seems to support that theory.

I make my own Orgeat and my own supersaturated, highly unstable Rock Candy syrup as well as few syrups that have no counterparts in stores.

The homemade syrups usually (unless they get ruined or otherwise degraded in the making) have the best flavor and character, which is passed on to the drinks where they're employed. When I have time and the mood strikes, I'll make them from scratch. Mostly, I don't have the time, so I have "emergency" recipes using pre-processed ingredients.

For example, I like to grind up my own blanched almonds to make almond milk over a two day period, but it's a pain in the ass and takes so much time. I make an Emergency Orgeat using store-bought almond milk that takes me ten minutes to make. Not as good as the two-day orgeat ordeal, but still better than store-bought syrup.

I sometimes make my own Passion Fruit syrup, but here in the National Capital Area the actual fresh fruits cost ±$3 each (!!!), so I generally use Goya's Passion Fruit pulp instead. If you aren't into making your own stuff, maybe you should give Aunty Lilikoi a try.

I haven't messed around too much making syrups yet, but last week I made that cinnamon infused rock candy syrup that you need for Don's mix in the 1934 Don the Beachcomber's Zombie Punch recipe and it turned out awsome! In fact it was so good I used some on the pancakes I made the next morning. I will have to get your recipe for orgeat, sounds interesting.

Aaron

My dad's orgeat and passion fruit are (in my opinion) superb.

He recently spoke at the San Diego Tiki Oasis about his line of beverage mixes and syrups.

His web site can be viewed here: http://www.roskininc.com

Tiki Designs

I spoke to Bob about a year ago and he said they were only selling to restaurants, hotels, distributors, etc., but not to individuals (unless I wanted to buy a bunch of it). Has that changed? If so how do I purchase Roskin products.

[ Edited by: alohacurrent 2007-08-24 11:14 ]

Yeah, Bob Esmino and Ray Barrientos spoke at Jeff Berry's seminar at Tiki Oasis 7. Bob said that after being frustrated at not being able to find decent syrups for drinks, he decided to make his own. And from what he was talking about, they should be available to the public either now or very soon. And they have a couple new syrups that they are working on as well. I'm very interested in using some of these syrups.

Hey Tiki Designs, can you elaborate more on this for us?

You can contact Bob Esmino through his company web site: http://www.roskininc.com