Tea lover or not, you’ve probably heard of simple syrup. Just mix sugar and hot water and you’ve got a basic, unflavored sweetener. But did you know it’s just as simple to make flavorful infused syrups at home? Using your favorite blend, you can use your custom Moody simple syrup to enhance all kinds of beverages! Today, we’ll learn the basics to making the perfect simple syrup for every application and how you can use your favorite blend to make a custom syrup. Keep reading for several of our favorite uses for your new Moody simple syrup!
Simple Syrup Basics
As the name implies, simple syrup (also know as sugar syrup) is the easiest and least expensive liquid sweetener. Mixing granulated sugar and hot water yields an unflavored syrup that blends easily in all kinds of beverages. This is especially helpful for iced drinks, where plain sugar wouldn’t dissolve. For this reason simple syrups are great for not just tea, but coffee, cocktails, lemonades, and sodas. Simple syrups are also easily flavored, so you can make your own flavored syrups!
Simple syrups are also great because they’re super cheap. You can buy bottles in the store, but when you see how easy it is to make there’s no reason not to make it yourself. Plus, making at home costs under a dollar. Even if you’re adding something to flavor your syrup, you don’t need much!
Ratios
Using different ratios a sugar to water will give you different consistencies. The most common is a 1:1 ratio, meaning equal parts water and sugar. It’s less sweet than it’s counterparts and can be used to lightly sweeten drinks. This ratio is ideal for flavored syrups and is typically what is used in cocktails and mocktails. You can also use a 2:1 ratio, which will give you a thicker consistency often called rich syrup. Rich syrup is obviously sweeter, so be careful when using this one. Recipes typically refer to 1:1 syrup, so if you use a rich syrup start with ¾ of what the recipe calls for.
Since the ratios stay the same, you can make as large or small of a batch as you want! We typically use one cup of water and one cup of sugar, which will give you about a cup of syrup. For rich syrup we would use one cup of water and 2 cups of sugar to get about 1½ cups. Either way, feel free to make larger or smaller batches if you’d prefer!
For more info and an unflavored simple syrup recipe, check out this recipe.
Moody Simple Syrups
You can choose any Moody blend to make a syrup, but we do have a few personal recommendations.
Lemonade based drinks – we love sweetening with Rosemary Lemonade, or Minty Fresh for a caffeine free option.
Chai based drinks – we love Red Moon Rooibos Chai for anytime chai lattes, but Kumaon Let’s Go is a great chai to enhance any black tea.
Spritzers and simple carbonated beverages – we think Killin It Green and Berry Focused are great for bright and fruity flavors.
Hot toddy type cocktails – Chamomile Medley and AmmuniTea are great for healing vibes.
Moody Simple Syrup
Use your favorite Moody blend to make a customized simple syrup perfect for adding to your tea or to handcrafted beverages!
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1-2 tbsp your favorite Moody blend
Brew one cup of your chosen blend using 1-2 tbsp of tea to your preference. We recommend starting with 1 for black teas, 1½ for green teas, and 2 for tisanes and white teas. Brew to ideal time and temp for your blend.
Remove the leaves and add the tea to a small saucepan. Bring this up to a gentle boil.
Once boiling, add the sugar to the water, and stir continuously until all sugar is dissolved.
Once dissolved completely, reduce the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. For rich syrups with more sugar, the lessen the simmering time.
Remove the syrup from the heat and allow to cool completely. Once cooled bottle and use in your favorite drink recipes!
Store any excess in the fridge for up to a week. If you want to keep it longer, add a little vodka. About a tablespoon should be enough for a batch of this size.
If you’re subbing simple syrup for sugar in a drink recipe, the general rule is to use 1/4 ounce syrup for 1 teaspoon of sugar, but adjust to your liking!
So now that you know how to make your very own Moody simple syrup with your favorite tea, which one are you going to make first? Let us know your favorite Moody syrups and the creations you made with them!