Today, I’m here to recommend an inexpensive kit for making your own simple syrup and, in the process, give you a never-before-published cocktail recipe. That’s not a typical topic for iPhone J.D., but I have three good reasons for doing so. First, the kit I’m discussing is made by Studio Neat, a company well known in the iPhone and iPad community. The Canopy, which I reviewed in 2018, is a great cover for an Apple Magic Keyboard that turns into a stand to prop up your iPad when you are typing. The Glif, which I reviewed in 2017, is a fantastic device for attaching your iPhone to a tripod for taking pictures and video, and when paired with Studio Neat’s Hand Grip makes it much easier to hold an iPhone relatively steady for a long period of time while you are taking a video. And the Material Dock, which I reviewed in 2016, is a nice dock to keep on a nightstand to charge your Apple Watch and other devices overnight. The second reason it makes sense for me to discuss Studio Neat’s Simple Syrup Kit is that iPhone J.D. comes to you from New Orleans, the birthplace and spiritual home of the cocktail. And third, all of us have now made it halfway through 2020, which means that we all deserve a good drink.
Simple syrup is a key ingredient in many cocktails, including my favorite cocktail, the Old Fashioned. The version I make was passed on to me by my father and to him by his father, and I believe it to be the best version of this classic cocktail. (The recipe is below.) I’d never thought about making my own simple syrup for that recipe. For as long as I can remember, I’ve mostly used the version sold by Pat O’Brien’s (a famous bar in New Orleans) which sells for about $5.00 a bottle. But my wife and kids surprised me with the Studio Neat Simple Syrup Kit for Father’s Day this year, and it’s been great fun to use.
Included in this $25 kit are five items. a bottle, a funnel, a pour spout, a cap, and a dry erase marker.
The star of the kit is the bottle. It has lines printed on the side which makes it super easy to add the correct amount of the two ingredients: sugar and water.
Put the funnel on top of the bottle, and then add the two ingredients up to the designated lines. First, you add the sugar. You can use any type of sugar that you want, and Studio Neat encourages you to try different sugar types for slightly different tastes. My wife was a pastry chef before she went to law school, so it won’t surprise you that we have many different types of sugar in my house. In this next picture, I’m using organic sugar, which is why it has more of a blond color instead of the extreme white of refined sugar.
Next, add the water to the wavy water line. Given where the lines are located, you might think that you are adding less water than sugar, but these lines are designed to give you a 1:1 ratio. (The water fills up some of the area where the sugar is located.) Studio Neat notes that you can adjust these ratios to taste, such as using half as much water to get a richer simple syrup.
With the two ingredients added, you remove the funnel, add the pour spout and cap, and shake until the sugar is dissolved. Using the dry erase marker, you can add the date to the side. (Store the mixture in a refrigerator and it will last one to three months.)
I was surprised that all you need to do next is shake. I always assumed that you would have to heat the ingredients on a stove to make a simple syrup, but this method works well.
Studio Neat created a fun stop-motion animation video to illustrate the process that I just described:
So now you have your simple syrup. What do you do with it? The kit comes with a recipe for Whiskey Sour, so I tried that out first. Although the recipe is super easy, when you combine a fresh lemon with whiskey and this simple syrup, the result was great, one of the best versions of the Whiskey Sour that I’ve ever had.
The pour spout is particularly good in this kit, and Studio Neat brags about it on its website: “The pour spout allows for a clean, slow pour. The problem with most bottles is the spout gets all gummed up and crusty over time. We searched far and wide to find a pour spout that avoids this problem.” The spout made it easy to pour just the right amount in a nice, slow, fashion.
Last weekend, I used the homemade simple syrup to make an Old Fashioned. It was fantastic. Sitting on a rocking chair on my back porch with my wife, enjoying cocktails and trading stories, is a fantastic way to pass the time.
Did the cocktails taste different using homemade simple syrup instead of a store-bought brand? In my mind they did, but I’ll concede that might just be because everything seems to taste better when you make it yourself. It was definitely easier to use than a standard bottle of simple syrup because of the fantastic pour spot, which gives you a slow and steady pour. With a standard bottle, the simple syrup will sometimes come out too fast, and then you have ruined the drink. It is also nice to know that I never need to worry about running out of simple syrup in my house. Sugar and water are always available in my house, so I can always make more whenever I need it. Additionally, using simple syrup that I made myself was fun.
Richardson Old Fashioned
As promised above, here is the Old Fashioned recipe that has been in my family for three generations — and in a few years when my kids are old enough, I suspect that it will be a fourth-generation recipe. This version of the Old Fashioned is big on flavor and is on the sweet side. (When I’m in the mood for a somewhat similar but less sweet drink, I make a Sazerac.)
• Ingredients
An orange and a lemon
Simple Syrup — see above
Bourbon Whiskey. For this recipe, I prefer to use Jack Daniels Old No. 7, the traditional back label version.
Maraschino cherries
Sugar
Water
Ice.
An old fashioned glass.
• Instructions
Add 1.5 teaspoons of sugar to an old fashioned glass. (Some folks call this a rocks glass.) Next, add three dashes of Angostura bitters. (Yes, I realize that Peychaud’s bitters are from New Orleans, and that’s what I would use in a Sazerac, but I prefer the taste of the Angostura bitters for this drink.) I’m generous with those three dashes; if you are more timid with your dashes, increase that to about five or six. Next, add a very small amount of water, about a fluid ounce or less. Mix those three ingredients very well in the glass using a spoon.
Next, add 3-4 ounces of bourbon whiskey. For me, that means I fill up my shot glass (technically, a double shot glass) almost to the top, twice. Next, add almost an ounce of simple syrup. Mix with your spoon.
Next comes the fruit. Cut an orange in half (top to bottom). Now cut a wedge from the half of the orange. Depending upon the size of your orange, your wedge should be big enough that you get about five wedges per half of an orange. Squeeze that orange wedge into the drink to add some fresh orange juice, and then drop the wedge into the drink. Now do the exact same thing with a lemon — squeeze the wedge and then drop it into the drink. Next, take your jar of Maraschino cherries and get about one teaspoon of juice from the jar, and add that to the drink. Mix with your spoon.
Next, add enough ice to bring the drink close to the top of the glass. I often prefer crushed ice to keep the drink extremely cold while drinking it; a cold cocktail on a hot New Orleans day is refreshing. Crushed ice does melt more quickly, but there is enough flavor and sweetness in this drink that it remains delicious even as the ice melts. However, I also frequently make this drink with regular ice cubes, preferably store-bought (which looks better in the glass) but the ones that your freezer makes will also work. And sometimes I use a single large cube made using a Tovolo Inch Large King Craft Ice Mold. Using a single large ice cube is pretty and gives the drink a fun look, although it is not quite as cold.
Finally, add a single Maraschino cherry.
• The more the better
One Old Fashioned is good, but having a second one and sharing with friends is even better. I will typically make a number of these drinks at one time because it doesn’t take much more time to make two to four of these than it does to make one of these, and that way you don’t have to wait to serve a second round. When you are making drinks to save for a little later, just stop right before you get to the ice stage. Then, when you are ready to serve another one, add the ice and you are ready to go.
If I am having a larger number of people over and I know I will be serving a number of these cocktails over a period of time, I’ll follow the above instructions but I’ll pour the ingredients for six to ten drinks into a single pitcher instead of individual glasses and I’ll stop just before the fruit stage. That way, the bourbon, water, sugar, and bitters are already prepared when someone is ready for a drink. From time to time, I’ll stir the ingredients in the pitcher using a wooden spoon. When it is time to make a drink, I’ll stir again, and then pour that mixture from the pitcher into an old fashioned glass. At that point, all I need to do is cut and add the orange and lemon wedges and the cherry + juice and some ice. Using this method, the person gets fresh cut wedges in their drink, and by only having to do the last few steps, I can make each new drink in under a minute.
Conclusion
No matter what cocktail you use it for, the Studio Neat Simple Syrup Kit is fun and easy to use. It makes the process of creating a cocktail even more enjoyable. If I had known how much I would enjoy this product, I would have purchased it for myself a long time ago.
Click here to get the Simple Syrup Kit from Studio Neat ($25).