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Simple syrup is nice to have on hand for the times when you feel like making a cocktail at home—but buying it from the store seems kind of wasteful when it’s nothing more than sugar and water. Making your own syrup on the stovetop has its own drawbacks, though (namely that you have to wait for it to heat up and cool back down, which delays that cocktail even further). Luckily, I have discovered a better, faster way to make your own simply syrup at home.
How to make simple syrup in less than a minute
To make a batch of simple syrup in less than a minute, all you need to do is:
Put a 1:1 mixture of sugar and water in a glass jar, and close the lid.Shake the mixture very vigorously for about 20-30 seconds.Once you’ve shaken the mixture to the point that the sugar has mostly dissolved, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes so everything can settle. If there are a few pesky granules left, you can always pop it in the microwave for a few seconds in order to dissolve the remaining sugar.
That’s all you have to do. Just mix, shake, and then, after a few minutes, add it to whatever drink you’re mixing up. If you’d like a no-heat option with a little zing, you can also make this ginger syrup, which combines fresh ginger juice with super fine sugar for a bright, spicy flavor that is better than anything you can buy at the store.
For other cocktail syrups, use a microwave
Although this no-heat method doesn’t quite work for making demerara syrup, you can easily make a batch using a microwave, which requires a lesser amount of heat and cuts down on the total cleanup. The microwave method also works for other cocktail syrups you might want to make, such as honey syrup.
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The advantage of these methods is that in addition to being quick and easy, they also allow you to make the exact amount you need, so you you won’t be saddled with leftover syrup that will end up shoved in the back of your fridge.
