Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Hello Friends!

Just wanted to drop a little note in here and say I’ll be away for the next couple days—I’m flying out to Seattle for an event & it’s my first time visiting the West Coast! Very exciting!

So let’s see…what do I know about Seattle? It rains a lot…setting for “Fraiser”…people throw fish around and catch them in newspapers…home of Nirvana…people wear flannel…space needle…Real World was there when that guy slapped that girl and threw her teddy bear into the Puget Sound.

I’m very cultured as you can tell.

One thing I know I’ve heard so much about Seattle is they have great coffee, and I’m not talking Starbucks, people. I myself am not particularly keen on coffee unless it’s extra light and sweet with a side of cankles and heart disease, so I generally avoid. But here’s a way I can enjoy Seattle’s finest—the classic Coffee Cocktail. Scratch that—this cocktail appears to have no coffee in it whatsoever and therefore is only marginally related to this blogpost. Ah, well, still sounds yummy and will have to do. Here’s the recipe courtesy of About.com Cocktails.

Cheers!

Coffee Cocktail

1 oz. Cognac or Brandy
1 oz. Ruby Port
1 small egg
½ tsp sugar
Fresh grated nutmeg for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice & shake the bejesus out of it. Strain (if you’re an over-achiever like Morgenthaler, double strain) into a port or sour glass. Dust the top with freshly grated nutmeg and enjoy!

Simple Syrup-or is it?

Simple syrup is just about the extent of my experience with making homemade cocktail ingredients. I completely agree with many cocktail bloggers out there who believe that the addition of homemade ingredients like fresh sour mix, grenadine, orgeat, and tonic water make a quality cocktail truly superior. I’m fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to sample the spectacular results of others’ hard work at home. For me, however, making cocktail ingredients at home is an issue because:

1. I’m busy.
2. If I’m not busy, I’m lazy.

The one ingredient that’s been “simple” enough for me to whip up at home myself is Simple Syrup. I mean, why would you ever buy a bottle of premade Simple Syrup? That’s about as crazy as buying bottled water…oh wait.

Anyway, embarrassingly enough, it has come to my attention that I might have managed to screw up Simple Syrup. My mother would be proud. How can this be? Well, I’ve always done a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water for my Simple Syrup, but there are a lot of people out there telling me I’m doing it wrong. I figured I’d bring this matter on to the blog and ask everyone’s opinion—what is the right way to make Simple Syrup?

Bobby Flay has said 1:1, and then Natalie, the Liquid Muse, called him out on it. Paul Clarke provides a 2:1 recipe on Cocktail Chronicles, but Stevi Deter of Two at the Most uses a 1:1 simple syrup in her Pisco Sours. Jeffrey Morgenthaler is on the 1:1 side, while Darcy O’Neil of Art of Drink is all about 2:1 simple syrup in his homemade Sour Mix. Stop the madness! Who’s doing it right and who’s doing it wrong? Or could it be it’s just a matter of taste? Please, share your thoughts in the comments!