Simple syrup
Sweetener
Simple syrup is the most basic sweetener a bar or pastry kitchen makes: nothing but sugar dissolved in water. Because the sugar is already in solution, it blends instantly into cold drinks, batters and glazes without the graininess of undissolved granules — which is why it is the default sweetener of the cocktail bar, the base of sorbets and granitas, and the brush-on syrup that moistens and sweetens sponge cakes.
Picking a good onedrag
Water-clear, still, cleanly sweetCloudy, fizzing, sour
Cold and in useEveryday bestThe working bottle, capped and kept in the fridge, not the cupboard. Cocktails, iced coffee, a brush-on soak for sponge, or steeped with mint.
Hold it to the lightTinted or cloudy from the first day by what was steeped in it - mint, ginger, zest
Smell it off a clean spoonThe faintest whisper of cooked sugar if it was heated, or the flavour it was steeped with
Tip it and watch it runSlow and glossy, coating the spoon - a rich 2:1 or gomme syrup, so use about half as much
The cap and the bottleBubbles from the shake that made it or from the last pour, gone again in a minute