I’d love to hear about new syrups and ingredients you’ve made! We have a Podcast! Midnight Local TH-cam: th-cam.com/users/midnightlocal Midnight Local Audio: bit.ly/MidnightLocal Twitch: bit.ly/2VsOi3d H2D2: bit.ly/YTH2D2 twitter: bit.ly/H2DTwit instagram: bit.ly/H2dIG Blog: bit.ly/H2DBlog Patreon: bit.ly/H2DPatreon Gear: amzn.to/2LeQCbW Making all of the Syrups: th-cam.com/video/qAPDn-MRGSU/w-d-xo.html I made and ranked 8 mojitos: th-cam.com/video/kxq2xuqVsf0/w-d-xo.html Mega Seed Extract from Rick and Morty: th-cam.com/video/nqhXiAD_r7A/w-d-xo.html
Tazo Tea makes a green tea with ginger and pear that they call Green Ginger. I use it to make a ginger pear demerara syrup. I just cold brew the tea for 6 hours, add double the volume of brown sugar to that, and make it hot. I think you'll find it scrumptilescent. I use it in a drink I improperly call a ginger pear marTEAni. I prefer it with gin, but I've also done a vodka version for accessibility. Ginger pear marTEAni 1.5 oz ginger pear infused vodka or gin 2 oz pear juice 1.5 oz Ginger pear syrup To make infused liquor Infuse 1 teabag for 8 hrs in 10 oz liquor Remove teabag To make syrup: Cold brew 1 teabag in 10 oz water for 6 hrs Remove teabag Mix 1 cup tea and 2 cups brown sugar in pot. Bring to boil while stirring. Sugar should be dissolved. If so, immediately remove from heat. If not, leave on heat and stir until combined. To make cocktail: Combine ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into glass.
In Persian cuisine we grind our saffron in a spice grinder before using it, it is more potent and you can save a LOT of saffron that way. Leaving the threads in can be nice when you want them to be visible like in a paella or when making candy, but for a syrup like this, I'd say grind it into a powder.
Indeed saffron syrup already exists in Middle Eastern, west Asian and Indian regional cuisines. I know in Persian cuisine they use it to make sherbat drinks and flavour sweets like bamieh, and in Arabic desserts I've had it in little cakes which also had rosewater. The Indians call it kesar and the syrup is used to flavour desserts like falooda (basically a milkshake but with all kinds of things added to it like chopped dried fruit and jelly noodles) and they have versions of the sharbat drink as well.
Not persian, instead my family grew up with sweet buns filled with candied fruits or raisins flavoured with saffron that we called Saffron Buns (they're from Cornwall in the UK). I think my gramma always used a mortar and pestle to crush the saffron. It ends up going into the water for the dough from there in her recipe
Interesting note on saffron: the flavor is much like cilantro’s soap effect, where there is a genetic component to how you experience the flavor, however its tied to 4 genes, one that impacts the scent, one that impacts the heat, one that impacts the floral, and one that impacts the earty notes
Am I the only one who wants a mixology book with all the experimental simples and experimental recipes, (pop culture recipes would be a bonus)? Probably called something like “with a twist”. Pretty please Greg and Meredith. We’ll throw in the cherries and olives.
I opened a tin of black cherries in syrup last week, once I’d used most of the cherries, I had the cherry flavoured syrup left over and decided to experiment, this worked out rather well. With the almond and the cherries giving a marzipan/amaretto like flavour there was a sort of godfather thing going on. 50ml Makers Mark (or any other bourbon) 5ml orgeat 10ml black cherry syrup. Stir in a tumbler with a large lump of ice. Garnish with a black cherry
To answer Greg’s question about whether there’s any capsaicin in pepper: I believe a chemical called piperine is responsible for the heat of pepper. NileRed talks a bit about it in his piperine extraction video, worth a watch.
*Sirens incoming, pull to a stop* This is the Semantics Police. Turmeric is not a root. It is, in fact, a type of underground stem called a rhizome. You have been surrounded. Come out with your delicious-looking syrups up.
The type of spicy compound in black pepper is called "Piperine" and it is distinct from Capsaicin. So a recipe with both Black Pepper and a Capsaicin pepper is not redundant, they both have something to add to the flavor.
In Iranian cuisine we usually use Saffron often with flavors like rose, lime, sour cherry, or orange. Playing on those flavors in the future, or perhaps with spices like cardamom and cinnamon would probably land you in a decent place most of the time. Something that plays with rice could be interesting too, like a saffron horchata. As always, loved your show!
You know what would be a nice follow-up to making syrups?! An episode on bitters! I found this channel, IDK, a couple months ago, and so of course I had to get angostura bitters. That said, I prefer the azteca bitters I got - chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne, and probably clove or nutmeg.... yeah, I want to get cocktail advice on that one. But let's expand the scope to how to show off very different types of bitters!
The Lime-Pepper combo makes sense to me. Reminds me of lemon pepper seasoning. Wonder what foods it could pair with. Apparently, did a quick google search (!could be wrong!), but some people can't taste saffron, or at the very least, have a minimal sense of taste for it.
Hi huge fan here who happens to be Moroccan and live in the states! I was sad when you talked about Saffron being big in Latin America because I don’t think its as big there as it is in MENA. It’s truly a big ingredient for middle eastern/south asian/north african cuisine. You can go to Persian markets and buy Saffron syrup pre made. I would also like to mention the Saffron ice cream that you can buy in LA which is in a league of its own!! Just want credit where credit is due, I really appreciate you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I've made both black pepper and cardamom syrups before I've used both in old fashioned variations and I've added the cardamom to a gimlet and the black pepper to a strawberry basil smash and a Daiquiri. Really flavorful great drinks
A pinch of safron to a whole pot of chicken soup elevates the whole thing to another level. Just make sure you use it at the end, when basically everything else is already cooked. Just a few minutes of cooking is enough. It will change the broth to a vibrant yellow and it is a game changer
I'll be honest, homemade syrups are the last part of my cocktail journey that I havent gone down. I have a fully stocked bar and always have mixers on hand, but syrups are something I have yet to play around with. So thank you so much for this video. I hope it gives me the motivation to recreate some of these.
Yeah, I always find it kind of weird that people tend to start with the modifiers instead of the sweetener. The sweetener is way easier to actually mess around with, especially since you can do little small batches (I personally make my test batches about 1 cup of sugar to a half cup of water)
Love seeing you get excited about a new drink. With how experienced you are, seeing you do a little dance over the turmeric is about as good of an endorsement as something can get. Can't wait to try myself!
I just got into making my own syrups and turning them into sodas, so this was really neat to see. My current favorites are florals like lavender and rose. I want to try all of these.
For black pepper, I recommend pairing it with strawberry. I've made a drink with that pairing in the past and it was delicious. It would probably also work really well with pink peppercorns strawberry. I made a cake once with pink peppercorn and strawberry buttercream.
Black pepper and strawberry is such an underutilized great pairing! I was first introduced to it when I made an icebox cake recipe from Alton Brown, now I try it when I can, even on toast with strawberry jam. So good
Saffron from my cooking experience is a very subtle spice/herb, like when you make a saffron rice for like a paella, you can smell the floral saffron and can see the yellow color but you don't really taste it that much. It gets kinda lost with the other spices you are incorporating into the rice. I think if you want a more potent, like mediterranean flavors I would use something like asofoetida resin, cumin or bay leaf. I think a Bay leaf syrup could work really well.
wintergreen berrys and gin! soak em for a day or two and strain, faint yellow hue. when you add lemon juice it turns pink! and it tastes like double buble bubble gum :)
I like to look at the herbal tea at my local Mexican grocery store for ideas. There's the normal stuff like hibiscus and chamomile of course, but also things like boldo and damiana. For around $3 for a box of herbal tea bags you're really not losing much if you try it and end up not liking it.
Saffron was the floral herb that powered my Mom's sabbath cooking. All the best dishes - Moghul Stewed Chicken, Paella of Chicken and Short Rib, Arroz con Pollo, Saffron Rice with Stewed plums, Saffron and Apricot Veal Stew, etc. were powered by Saffron. Such a beautiful, fresh, and fragrant flavoring. I am definitely gonna use that Mellow Yellow recipe and brew up Saffron Syrup ASAP!!
As a swede we do a lot of saffron stuff. It’s one of our main Yule flavours. A pretty common flavour pairing here is saffron with cognac. Like infusing some saffron in Cognac is pretty common, they bring out nice things in each-other. But we mainly do a lot of desserts where saffron is the main flavour. So a sweet saffron syrup used in drinks sounds interesting. Also I agree saffron is a very strong flavour. But hard to describe, floral in a deep weird way sort of like vanilla, but it doesn’t taste like vanilla.
This was such a good video! I love using my lavender and rose syups in gin drinks, so I'm excited about all the inspo in this video. Literally about to make rhubarb syrup. Please do a bitters episode like this eventually btw! Get weird with some fun bitters.
9:16 I typically muddle mojitos for the lime oils, not the mint. I use quartered limes instead of lime juice which I feel adds to the complexity but that’s just me. I also shake it so I agree that muddling the mint isn’t necessary
At the Royal Hawaiian they are famous for the "Pink Mai Tai" but we also have a twist in Hawaii that you may want to look into called the Li-Hing Margaritta. Li-Hing is basically dried plum originally from China that has become quite the staple in Hawaii. Comes in liquid form to be poured over Shave ice or added to a cocktail and can also be found in powdered form so you can rim the glass.
What a delight to realize i have everything i need in the house for a cardamom mojito!! and that syrup would probably be great in coffee.... loved this ep!!
I remember reading that saffron is one of those things you can taste or not taste depending on genetics. I'll see if i can find a source on that though.
I'm so curious if that's the case, because I genuinely can't taste it (and I know I have had good saffron). I really thought that it was just for making rice yellow.
So glad that the syrup sequel is finally here! I get that I COULD invent new ones on my own.. but, I prefer that you make them first so I know you lived long enough after consuming them to at least edit and upload a video about it.
Interestingly Carrots and Tumeric are about as unrelated as plants can be being from two seperate clades, the tumeric is however in the ginger family :)
Saffron tastes like a sweetened version of an old wool rug just in the best way possible. It's musky, sweet, kinda dusty. It's incredible but such a unique flavour.
Anyone else really like the intro. I love the music, while also putting a little preview of the drinks. I also love the sound at the end, it like you put down a glass weirdly, it straitened out.
I made a watermelon syrup that I really love with equal parts by weight of watermelon chunks and sugar in a container with lots of shaking. I'm almost blown away how much it tastes of watermelon. I also have a hibiscus syrup that I made as a 2:1 simple, but I pre-measured the water and let some dried hibiscus leaves steep in it overnight before making the syrup.
I don't drink, but I love mixing stuff together. One recipe I found was for a spicy watermelon aqua fresca. I had to make syrup with HOT SAUCE. (I used Frank's because that's the one I always have) Then, you juice a watermelon (smush it through a sieve), mix that with coconut water, and add the syrup until it tastes right. I also added a bit of kosher salt, as I like salted watermelon. It was damn delicious and very weird. It might be time to make it again as we're heading into the hot weather season.
@@skaboopydoopthedoop8711 hard to pin down. Very much a watermelon flavor, just a little salt kind of wakes it up a bit, and enough hot sauce to accent but not overwhelm. I just keep adding until it tickles my brain. Lol And of course what is perfect to me might be too sweet or not spicy enough for someone else.
Cardamom and coffee are the way to go. Make a white russian, but use cardamom syrup, black coffee, and possibly a sweeter alcohol like rum and a splash of cream. I call it "The white turkish" and it will be the best WR you've ever tried. The dude approves.
Hawthorn blossoms are everywhere atm, I recommend anyone to make a syrup with them! As a cordial it tastes very honey like, so good. I used it in a tom colins
I just happened to already have Saffron syrup on-hand so I’m really excited to try that drink! Also, I’m from Minnesota so not all midwesterners are immune to saffron’s charms😂
Your how to make syrups video inspired me to mess around with fruit and herb combos and I've basically been doing what you just did with them. Fruit syrup and a little seltzer and I've got a soda that tastes way better than anything I can get in the store AND I can control how strong/sweet it is depending on my mood or what I'm eating with it.
The last part of this video really amused me because just today Tasting History (alt title Drinking History when it comes to beverages) did a history of the Mai Tai episode and I actually knew what Greg was talking about
Greg, thank you so much for this video! Every now and then I'll comment I'd love to see more non alcoholic stuff because I'm a big fan of that, too. For a syrup I made on my own (Since I also still use your Dune Spice Soda, even now) I made a "Dragon's Fire" soda from dragon fruit, blueberrys (to give it more flavor) and some red pepper flakes and cinnamon to give a bit of a kick. It wasn't bad, it was kinda like those Habanero Strawberry sodas that were popular a few years ago. If I make it again and you're interested, I'll send you the recipe
speaking of really neat infusions with peppercorns, I made a really good szechuan peppercorn infused london dry gin a while ago that was incredibly fun to play with
Thats wild. Black Pepper soda water out of a Glencairn lol I love the content you push on this channel. The slowmo, the side shots, just overall an amazing show. Keep it coming dude!
One of my favorite drinks is actually a Pear/Cardamom soda from France. Lightly sweet, big pear flavour and a hint of the cardamom in the background, it's like, $7 a bottle, but it's great for a celebration or holiday.
Fun fact! I work at a Brooklyn Persian restaurant called Eyval and we do a saffron infused liquor in a martini as one of our signature drinks and it’s such a fun drink ~
cardamom mojito is my favourite drink. i had it on a festival last year and they made it with Kokmok which is a german herbal cardamom spirit, and ginger ale instead of soda water. it is insanely good. you can easily sub out the kokmok for cardamom syrup or in my case i made cardamom infused rum that i let sit for a week. it has the freshness of mojito but that comforting round note of cardamom and the ginger ale just brings it together with hints of ginger. highly recomend this sorry for possible typo's english is not my first language
Travelling through Thailand I had a cocktail with tamarind and lemongrass syrup and it was SO delicious! Absolutely nothing like anything I'd tasted in a cocktail before. Would recommend!!!
Video-idea: What about shrubs? What kinds are there and how can you use it in cocktails? And a tip: asian stores usually have lots of sodas based on different fruits like tamarind that are more unusual. At least for a Dutchie
It's not often that looking at alcoholic drinks makes me thirsty, but that macadamia nut mai tai has my mouth watering, and me thinking. Thanks for your work, guys!
Love your stuff. I make my own syrups now. I keep home made Simple, Ginger, Honey, and Demerara. I've been doing 1:1 but will now move to 2:1. Been thinking of doing my own Orgeat. Definitely a money saver and really let's you make a drink your own.
Mmmmm... MAN I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL! Going to try some of these - especially the Saffron (have to try that!!!). We make our own honey-ginger syrup (sometimes adding in some dried Kaffir Lime leaves)... We're former Soviet pipples and some of our "traditional flavourings" were to infuse wodka in small jars - black peppercorns, ginger, Allspice (whole), lemon peel, lime leaves, Turmeric, etc. You add just a shot to the wodka you're drinking and BAM! it's awesome. Everyone had a shelf full of different jars full of these concoctions LOL There's a Georgian (Caucasus Georgia) soda called "Tarkhun" that's Tarragon flavoured (and bright green). You really might be able to do some interesting things with your mixology! (Tarkhun is available in any Russian/Ukrainian store)
I made spruce tip syrup this year. it's pretty cool. I bet you would like it. it's got a legit pineey, sprucey taste, no tannins, and a cool citrus finish.
Made home made maracha cherries a couple of years ago. 2 parts turbinado sugar, 1 part kirchwasser, pickling salt and a little allspice and nutmeg. Simmered and then bottled up and let pickle in the cherry brandy syrup for a month. Texture turned out amazing, but the syrup had wildly over extracted the resins from the allspice and left everything with a cougH syrup finish.
After seeing some of your other syrup episodes I looked to give it a try. My favorite so far has been the following: 200g pineapple 200g mango 1 chopped dried ghost pepper 400g of white sugar -Toss this all in a sealed container and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two - after a couple days throw it into a wide pot or a sauce pan and add just enough water and heat to dissolve the sugar - strain and store This one goes great on its own or with other fruit syrups (1:3 ratio) like Maine blueberry or lychee.
this is a cool video that really fits a category you dont sea too often it'd be cool to see you try different syrups out occasionally that arent your bog standard, things like lemongrass, hibiscus, tonka bean syrups are all fun ones ive tried or had out, but itd be cool seeing some strange spices and syrups as well as maybe weird sugars used as syrups, things like treacle, condensed milk, coconut sugar etc all have potential in my eyes
Oooh cardamom mojito makes a lot of intuitive sense. I like to joke that if you took beach sand and scented it with menthol you could trick someone into thinking it was ground cardamom at a glance lol. It has a minty-ness association, is what I’m trying to say.
Greg you might enjoy making some black pepper sweet buns. Before cinnamon was brought to Europe peppercorns were the go-to spice for sweet and savory foods
RE: Lavender Simple I actually had a drink that used Lavender Simple that I enjoyed. It was called the “Princess of Shadows” and was a drink created based on Fire Emblem.
Recently my mum cooked some quinces and accidentally put too much sugar in them creating a lovely quince flavoured syrup. My first thought when tasting it was how a cocktail could be built around it
I need to just make turmeric syrup at some point. I've been avoiding making more syrups because of storage space but it is just a flavor I like too much and is pretty unique.
I tried some really interesting cocktails in Porland (ME) recently that used house-made vegetal syrups, my favorte was a green bell pepper syrup that really made for some interesting cocktails. Would be cool to do an episode on interesting/experimental vegetal syrups. Probably a lot to experiment with - carrot, bell pepper, broccolli, sqaush... :)
I've never made my own drink but I might have to try that macademia mai tai, or something with that black pepper syrup because I LOVE non-sweet flavorings in things we typically think of as sweet. Or at least I personally think "sweet" when I think of cocktails.
I’d love to hear about new syrups and ingredients you’ve made!
We have a Podcast!
Midnight Local TH-cam: th-cam.com/users/midnightlocal
Midnight Local Audio: bit.ly/MidnightLocal
Twitch: bit.ly/2VsOi3d
H2D2: bit.ly/YTH2D2
twitter: bit.ly/H2DTwit
instagram: bit.ly/H2dIG
Blog: bit.ly/H2DBlog
Patreon: bit.ly/H2DPatreon
Gear: amzn.to/2LeQCbW
Making all of the Syrups: th-cam.com/video/qAPDn-MRGSU/w-d-xo.html
I made and ranked 8 mojitos: th-cam.com/video/kxq2xuqVsf0/w-d-xo.html
Mega Seed Extract from Rick and Morty: th-cam.com/video/nqhXiAD_r7A/w-d-xo.html
Hey, why didn't you do a sugar pine syrup or the pecan syrup? I'd love to see another Ranger Greg episode!
Try your cardamom in a dark and stormy!
Tazo Tea makes a green tea with ginger and pear that they call Green Ginger. I use it to make a ginger pear demerara syrup. I just cold brew the tea for 6 hours, add double the volume of brown sugar to that, and make it hot. I think you'll find it scrumptilescent. I use it in a drink I improperly call a ginger pear marTEAni. I prefer it with gin, but I've also done a vodka version for accessibility.
Ginger pear marTEAni
1.5 oz ginger pear infused vodka or gin
2 oz pear juice
1.5 oz Ginger pear syrup
To make infused liquor
Infuse 1 teabag for 8 hrs in 10 oz liquor
Remove teabag
To make syrup:
Cold brew 1 teabag in 10 oz water for 6 hrs
Remove teabag
Mix 1 cup tea and 2 cups brown sugar in pot. Bring to boil while stirring. Sugar should be dissolved. If so, immediately remove from heat. If not, leave on heat and stir until combined.
To make cocktail:
Combine ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into glass.
how does one invent an ingredient? don’t the ingredients already exist. you invent the recipe
Speaking of Orgeat variants, why not Pistachio?
Love the human instinct to do a little dance when you get the good flavor
That instinct also becomes more noticeable when intoxicated
Monkey moment
Love how you phrased this as if you aren't a human, and are an anthropologist observing human behavior.
I call it happy wiggles...
Neuron activation.
In Persian cuisine we grind our saffron in a spice grinder before using it, it is more potent and you can save a LOT of saffron that way.
Leaving the threads in can be nice when you want them to be visible like in a paella or when making candy, but for a syrup like this, I'd say grind it into a powder.
Indeed saffron syrup already exists in Middle Eastern, west Asian and Indian regional cuisines. I know in Persian cuisine they use it to make sherbat drinks and flavour sweets like bamieh, and in Arabic desserts I've had it in little cakes which also had rosewater. The Indians call it kesar and the syrup is used to flavour desserts like falooda (basically a milkshake but with all kinds of things added to it like chopped dried fruit and jelly noodles) and they have versions of the sharbat drink as well.
Not persian, instead my family grew up with sweet buns filled with candied fruits or raisins flavoured with saffron that we called Saffron Buns (they're from Cornwall in the UK). I think my gramma always used a mortar and pestle to crush the saffron. It ends up going into the water for the dough from there in her recipe
My mother in law is Persian and she makes an amazing saffron ice cream!
Interesting note on saffron: the flavor is much like cilantro’s soap effect, where there is a genetic component to how you experience the flavor, however its tied to 4 genes, one that impacts the scent, one that impacts the heat, one that impacts the floral, and one that impacts the earty notes
Am I the only one who wants a mixology book with all the experimental simples and experimental recipes, (pop culture recipes would be a bonus)? Probably called something like “with a twist”. Pretty please Greg and Meredith. We’ll throw in the cherries and olives.
WE REQUIRE THIS, imma throw literally all the money at that.
That is such a good name for it as well. I tip my hat to you, well done.
Greg’s Drinking Guide With A Twist!
Yes please.
Bruh, just start with basic Cherry/Strawberry/Simple/Heavy Simple and then go from there. XD
I opened a tin of black cherries in syrup last week, once I’d used most of the cherries, I had the cherry flavoured syrup left over and decided to experiment, this worked out rather well.
With the almond and the cherries giving a marzipan/amaretto like flavour there was a sort of godfather thing going on.
50ml Makers Mark (or any other bourbon)
5ml orgeat
10ml black cherry syrup.
Stir in a tumbler with a large lump of ice.
Garnish with a black cherry
That sounds goddamn delish.
That sounds delightful! I’ll definitely be trying this
To answer Greg’s question about whether there’s any capsaicin in pepper: I believe a chemical called piperine is responsible for the heat of pepper. NileRed talks a bit about it in his piperine extraction video, worth a watch.
NileRed ftw!
They're both vanniloids!
I didn't know they're vanilloids! I'll have to read up on piperine, which I _always_ mispronounce with an m before the second p.
piperine, chavicine, and a few other things, yeh
It's the major precursor for PCP and can be a precursor to MDMA, but they usually use safrole from sassafras root for that.
*Sirens incoming, pull to a stop* This is the Semantics Police. Turmeric is not a root. It is, in fact, a type of underground stem called a rhizome. You have been surrounded. Come out with your delicious-looking syrups up.
The type of spicy compound in black pepper is called "Piperine" and it is distinct from Capsaicin. So a recipe with both Black Pepper and a Capsaicin pepper is not redundant, they both have something to add to the flavor.
For the black pepper margarita, maybe do a regal shake with a strip of orange peel to get the orange notes without adding sweetness
I was thinking orange bitters, but maybe that?
In Iranian cuisine we usually use Saffron often with flavors like rose, lime, sour cherry, or orange. Playing on those flavors in the future, or perhaps with spices like cardamom and cinnamon would probably land you in a decent place most of the time. Something that plays with rice could be interesting too, like a saffron horchata.
As always, loved your show!
As a Pakistani, I was thinking rose, cardamom or cherry, too! It would be so good!
You know what would be a nice follow-up to making syrups?!
An episode on bitters!
I found this channel, IDK, a couple months ago, and so of course I had to get angostura bitters. That said, I prefer the azteca bitters I got - chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne, and probably clove or nutmeg.... yeah, I want to get cocktail advice on that one. But let's expand the scope to how to show off very different types of bitters!
Yeah! Greg got a fancy box of bitters, but so far has only used one in a geek drink that I remember. Would be really cool to see all of them explored.
The Lime-Pepper combo makes sense to me. Reminds me of lemon pepper seasoning. Wonder what foods it could pair with.
Apparently, did a quick google search (!could be wrong!), but some people can't taste saffron, or at the very least, have a minimal sense of taste for it.
I would totally buy sodas from Greg and Meredith's soda company. Please make it.
Hi huge fan here who happens to be Moroccan and live in the states! I was sad when you talked about Saffron being big in Latin America because I don’t think its as big there as it is in MENA. It’s truly a big ingredient for middle eastern/south asian/north african cuisine. You can go to Persian markets and buy Saffron syrup pre made. I would also like to mention the Saffron ice cream that you can buy in LA which is in a league of its own!! Just want credit where credit is due, I really appreciate you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Saffron ice cream ah such a simple yet delicious treat, just vanilla ice cream saffron syrup and rose water
I've made both black pepper and cardamom syrups before I've used both in old fashioned variations and I've added the cardamom to a gimlet and the black pepper to a strawberry basil smash and a Daiquiri. Really flavorful great drinks
yea i was thinking about the black pepper in an old fashion, seems to be a god pairing with whiskey
Saffron and cointreau and soda is my xmas drink. Saffron is used heavy during that season here in sweden, mostly in buns.
I have a honey-based black pepper and vanilla bean syrup I use for one of my drinks.
That stuff is awesome
A pinch of safron to a whole pot of chicken soup elevates the whole thing to another level. Just make sure you use it at the end, when basically everything else is already cooked. Just a few minutes of cooking is enough. It will change the broth to a vibrant yellow and it is a game changer
I'll be honest, homemade syrups are the last part of my cocktail journey that I havent gone down. I have a fully stocked bar and always have mixers on hand, but syrups are something I have yet to play around with. So thank you so much for this video. I hope it gives me the motivation to recreate some of these.
You'll be glad you did. Syrups are so easy and add so much.
Yeah, I always find it kind of weird that people tend to start with the modifiers instead of the sweetener. The sweetener is way easier to actually mess around with, especially since you can do little small batches (I personally make my test batches about 1 cup of sugar to a half cup of water)
Love seeing you get excited about a new drink. With how experienced you are, seeing you do a little dance over the turmeric is about as good of an endorsement as something can get. Can't wait to try myself!
Three seconds in and Greg is already stimming. This is gonna be a good one.
I just got into making my own syrups and turning them into sodas, so this was really neat to see. My current favorites are florals like lavender and rose. I want to try all of these.
For black pepper, I recommend pairing it with strawberry. I've made a drink with that pairing in the past and it was delicious. It would probably also work really well with pink peppercorns strawberry. I made a cake once with pink peppercorn and strawberry buttercream.
Black pepper and strawberry is such an underutilized great pairing! I was first introduced to it when I made an icebox cake recipe from Alton Brown, now I try it when I can, even on toast with strawberry jam. So good
Black pepper and cantaloupe is another awesome combination.
Saffron from my cooking experience is a very subtle spice/herb, like when you make a saffron rice for like a paella, you can smell the floral saffron and can see the yellow color but you don't really taste it that much. It gets kinda lost with the other spices you are incorporating into the rice. I think if you want a more potent, like mediterranean flavors I would use something like asofoetida resin, cumin or bay leaf. I think a Bay leaf syrup could work really well.
If I forget to put it in my korma, though, I can tell.
Having Meridith's head pop up in the fore ground brings MST3K vibes. I feel like that would be a hilarious episode if it was ever done.
wintergreen berrys and gin! soak em for a day or two and strain, faint yellow hue.
when you add lemon juice it turns pink! and it tastes like double buble bubble gum :)
I like to look at the herbal tea at my local Mexican grocery store for ideas. There's the normal stuff like hibiscus and chamomile of course, but also things like boldo and damiana. For around $3 for a box of herbal tea bags you're really not losing much if you try it and end up not liking it.
Saffron was the floral herb that powered my Mom's sabbath cooking. All the best dishes - Moghul Stewed Chicken, Paella of Chicken and Short Rib, Arroz con Pollo, Saffron Rice with Stewed plums, Saffron and Apricot Veal Stew, etc. were powered by Saffron. Such a beautiful, fresh, and fragrant flavoring. I am definitely gonna use that Mellow Yellow recipe and brew up Saffron Syrup ASAP!!
I got some cardamom extract for Christmas (Burlap and Barrel) and have been using it in place of bitters in my old fashioneds it's AWESOME!
As a swede we do a lot of saffron stuff. It’s one of our main Yule flavours. A pretty common flavour pairing here is saffron with cognac. Like infusing some saffron in Cognac is pretty common, they bring out nice things in each-other.
But we mainly do a lot of desserts where saffron is the main flavour. So a sweet saffron syrup used in drinks sounds interesting.
Also I agree saffron is a very strong flavour.
But hard to describe, floral in a deep weird way sort of like vanilla, but it doesn’t taste like vanilla.
The compound in Black Pepper that is 'spicy' is a different one than other peppers. It's called piperine.
This was such a good video! I love using my lavender and rose syups in gin drinks, so I'm excited about all the inspo in this video. Literally about to make rhubarb syrup.
Please do a bitters episode like this eventually btw! Get weird with some fun bitters.
9:16 I typically muddle mojitos for the lime oils, not the mint. I use quartered limes instead of lime juice which I feel adds to the complexity but that’s just me.
I also shake it so I agree that muddling the mint isn’t necessary
At the Royal Hawaiian they are famous for the "Pink Mai Tai" but we also have a twist in Hawaii that you may want to look into called the Li-Hing Margaritta. Li-Hing is basically dried plum originally from China that has become quite the staple in Hawaii. Comes in liquid form to be poured over Shave ice or added to a cocktail and can also be found in powdered form so you can rim the glass.
Meredith is right on the money.....Saffron is very subtle!
That Mai Tai sounds amazing. Given the association of macadamias with Hawaii, you could just call it a Big Island Mai Tai.
What a delight to realize i have everything i need in the house for a cardamom mojito!! and that syrup would probably be great in coffee.... loved this ep!!
I always like making cucumber syrups. Sometimes with mint. It makes good soda, and plays nice with gin.
I remember reading that saffron is one of those things you can taste or not taste depending on genetics. I'll see if i can find a source on that though.
I'm so curious if that's the case, because I genuinely can't taste it (and I know I have had good saffron). I really thought that it was just for making rice yellow.
That Ruby Rodd reference after Greg's "bzzz!" sound absolutely killed me for a good few minutes!
So glad that the syrup sequel is finally here!
I get that I COULD invent new ones on my own.. but, I prefer that you make them first so I know you lived long enough after consuming them to at least edit and upload a video about it.
Interestingly Carrots and Tumeric are about as unrelated as plants can be being from two seperate clades, the tumeric is however in the ginger family :)
Saffron tastes like a sweetened version of an old wool rug just in the best way possible.
It's musky, sweet, kinda dusty. It's incredible but such a unique flavour.
Another one you should try is avocado pit orgeat. It's super cheap since you're basically making it from garbage, but surprisingly nutty and smooth.
I had some great Macadamia gelato in Sicily. They also had (which was also great) macadamia and pistachio nut gelato.
I'm half Iranian and I _adore_ saffron. It's one of my favourite spices. The thought of a saffron lemonade honestly has me pretty excited. 😅☺
Anyone else really like the intro. I love the music, while also putting a little preview of the drinks. I also love the sound at the end, it like you put down a glass weirdly, it straitened out.
2:12 😍😍 A pretty Mere appears! Also a cool behind the scenes shot! Also *LOOKIT THE LIQUOR!*
I made a watermelon syrup that I really love with equal parts by weight of watermelon chunks and sugar in a container with lots of shaking. I'm almost blown away how much it tastes of watermelon. I also have a hibiscus syrup that I made as a 2:1 simple, but I pre-measured the water and let some dried hibiscus leaves steep in it overnight before making the syrup.
Recently found out about clarifying cocktails..would love a HTD episode about The Science of Clarified Cocktails :)
I don't drink, but I love mixing stuff together. One recipe I found was for a spicy watermelon aqua fresca. I had to make syrup with HOT SAUCE. (I used Frank's because that's the one I always have) Then, you juice a watermelon (smush it through a sieve), mix that with coconut water, and add the syrup until it tastes right. I also added a bit of kosher salt, as I like salted watermelon. It was damn delicious and very weird. It might be time to make it again as we're heading into the hot weather season.
What is the ‘right’ taste like?
@@skaboopydoopthedoop8711 hard to pin down. Very much a watermelon flavor, just a little salt kind of wakes it up a bit, and enough hot sauce to accent but not overwhelm. I just keep adding until it tickles my brain. Lol And of course what is perfect to me might be too sweet or not spicy enough for someone else.
That sounds very interesting but delicious
Cardamom and coffee are the way to go. Make a white russian, but use cardamom syrup, black coffee, and possibly a sweeter alcohol like rum and a splash of cream.
I call it "The white turkish" and it will be the best WR you've ever tried. The dude approves.
Lavender and Gin are the bomb! Awesome content as usual Greg!
I like to make lavender-infused gin! That way I don't have to add simple syrup (since I don't like sweet cocktails)
Hawthorn blossoms are everywhere atm, I recommend anyone to make a syrup with them! As a cordial it tastes very honey like, so good. I used it in a tom colins
The Monkeypod mai tai uses macadamia orgeat and a passion fruit foam on top. It's quite tasty too.
I just happened to already have Saffron syrup on-hand so I’m really excited to try that drink! Also, I’m from Minnesota so not all midwesterners are immune to saffron’s charms😂
Your how to make syrups video inspired me to mess around with fruit and herb combos and I've basically been doing what you just did with them. Fruit syrup and a little seltzer and I've got a soda that tastes way better than anything I can get in the store AND I can control how strong/sweet it is depending on my mood or what I'm eating with it.
The last part of this video really amused me because just today Tasting History (alt title Drinking History when it comes to beverages) did a history of the Mai Tai episode and I actually knew what Greg was talking about
Basil syrup is amazing for gin drinks. I was inspired to do it by the basil julep.
Greg, thank you so much for this video! Every now and then I'll comment I'd love to see more non alcoholic stuff because I'm a big fan of that, too.
For a syrup I made on my own (Since I also still use your Dune Spice Soda, even now) I made a "Dragon's Fire" soda from dragon fruit, blueberrys (to give it more flavor) and some red pepper flakes and cinnamon to give a bit of a kick. It wasn't bad, it was kinda like those Habanero Strawberry sodas that were popular a few years ago. If I make it again and you're interested, I'll send you the recipe
My favorite unusual syrup/cocktail combo was a Chamomile Gin Fizz I came up with a few years ago for a springtime party!
speaking of really neat infusions with peppercorns, I made a really good szechuan peppercorn infused london dry gin a while ago that was incredibly fun to play with
Thats wild. Black Pepper soda water out of a Glencairn lol I love the content you push on this channel. The slowmo, the side shots, just overall an amazing show. Keep it coming dude!
I recently had a saffron syrup in a latte, ad it was one of the best coffees i've ever had
One of my favorite drinks is actually a Pear/Cardamom soda from France. Lightly sweet, big pear flavour and a hint of the cardamom in the background, it's like, $7 a bottle, but it's great for a celebration or holiday.
Fun fact! I work at a Brooklyn Persian restaurant called Eyval and we do a saffron infused liquor in a martini as one of our signature drinks and it’s such a fun drink ~
The first flavored syrup I made was marsala chai, it was delicious.
cardamom mojito is my favourite drink. i had it on a festival last year and they made it with Kokmok which is a german herbal cardamom spirit, and ginger ale instead of soda water. it is insanely good. you can easily sub out the kokmok for cardamom syrup or in my case i made cardamom infused rum that i let sit for a week.
it has the freshness of mojito but that comforting round note of cardamom and the ginger ale just brings it together with hints of ginger. highly recomend this
sorry for possible typo's english is not my first language
My dyslectic little peanut brain read cardamom as condom and i have never been more repulsed by a drink concept.
Travelling through Thailand I had a cocktail with tamarind and lemongrass syrup and it was SO delicious! Absolutely nothing like anything I'd tasted in a cocktail before. Would recommend!!!
Video-idea: What about shrubs? What kinds are there and how can you use it in cocktails?
And a tip: asian stores usually have lots of sodas based on different fruits like tamarind that are more unusual. At least for a Dutchie
The black pepper syrup would go really well in a French 75. Place near me does one of those and I was pleasantly surprised!
It's not often that looking at alcoholic drinks makes me thirsty, but that macadamia nut mai tai has my mouth watering, and me thinking.
Thanks for your work, guys!
Cucumber, lime and black pepper is great together. That would be a fantastic soda.
Saffron is used a bit here in Norway, baking yellow saffron buns around easter time and for Santa Lucia.
I'd be interested in a theme drink using the pepper syrup and smoking it. call it a forest fire or something.
Love your stuff. I make my own syrups now. I keep home made Simple, Ginger, Honey, and Demerara. I've been doing 1:1 but will now move to 2:1. Been thinking of doing my own Orgeat. Definitely a money saver and really let's you make a drink your own.
Making the black pepper syrup tonight, I can see that working in so many drinks. I would like to try it with long pepper though.
Mmmmm... MAN I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL! Going to try some of these - especially the Saffron (have to try that!!!). We make our own honey-ginger syrup (sometimes adding in some dried Kaffir Lime leaves)... We're former Soviet pipples and some of our "traditional flavourings" were to infuse wodka in small jars - black peppercorns, ginger, Allspice (whole), lemon peel, lime leaves, Turmeric, etc. You add just a shot to the wodka you're drinking and BAM! it's awesome. Everyone had a shelf full of different jars full of these concoctions LOL There's a Georgian (Caucasus Georgia) soda called "Tarkhun" that's Tarragon flavoured (and bright green). You really might be able to do some interesting things with your mixology! (Tarkhun is available in any Russian/Ukrainian store)
I made spruce tip syrup this year. it's pretty cool. I bet you would like it. it's got a legit pineey, sprucey taste, no tannins, and a cool citrus finish.
Made home made maracha cherries a couple of years ago. 2 parts turbinado sugar, 1 part kirchwasser, pickling salt and a little allspice and nutmeg. Simmered and then bottled up and let pickle in the cherry brandy syrup for a month. Texture turned out amazing, but the syrup had wildly over extracted the resins from the allspice and left everything with a cougH syrup finish.
After seeing some of your other syrup episodes I looked to give it a try. My favorite so far has been the following:
200g pineapple
200g mango
1 chopped dried ghost pepper
400g of white sugar
-Toss this all in a sealed container and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two
- after a couple days throw it into a wide pot or a sauce pan and add just enough water and heat to dissolve the sugar
- strain and store
This one goes great on its own or with other fruit syrups (1:3 ratio) like Maine blueberry or lychee.
this is a cool video that really fits a category you dont sea too often it'd be cool to see you try different syrups out occasionally that arent your bog standard, things like lemongrass, hibiscus, tonka bean syrups are all fun ones ive tried or had out, but itd be cool seeing some strange spices and syrups as well as maybe weird sugars used as syrups, things like treacle, condensed milk, coconut sugar etc all have potential in my eyes
Love too see more of this in an after party or just more
Oooh cardamom mojito makes a lot of intuitive sense. I like to joke that if you took beach sand and scented it with menthol you could trick someone into thinking it was ground cardamom at a glance lol. It has a minty-ness association, is what I’m trying to say.
Turmeric is one of my favourite spices, so happy to see it being used for more interesting things!
I made a rooibos tea demarrara syrup once, and it had this crazy tobacco flavor that worked really well in an old fashioned.
Greg you might enjoy making some black pepper sweet buns. Before cinnamon was brought to Europe peppercorns were the go-to spice for sweet and savory foods
RE: Lavender Simple
I actually had a drink that used Lavender Simple that I enjoyed. It was called the “Princess of Shadows” and was a drink created based on Fire Emblem.
That name reminds me of Camilla from Fates so much, I don't really know why.
On POINT with the Donovan. Mellow Yellow is the best name possible.
Love to see this kinda of experimentation, it is always a blast!
Recently my mum cooked some quinces and accidentally put too much sugar in them creating a lovely quince flavoured syrup. My first thought when tasting it was how a cocktail could be built around it
The 5th element reference made me chuckle. That Mojito was SUPER GREEN! :D
I need to just make turmeric syrup at some point. I've been avoiding making more syrups because of storage space but it is just a flavor I like too much and is pretty unique.
I would have loved to see you make an ube simple syrup. It has a mild flavor but will turn your drinks a beautiful purple color as well.
Greg bring back the classic slow-motion shake!!! It was FINALLY with the Carbonated Daiquiri👀
( you were running the close up camera yourself)
if this man made a bar, everyone would flock to it, I don't even drink yet I watch this man's vids, good job greg
Are we on the Mad Scientist Arc?
cuz if so then I'm all here for it!
I tried some really interesting cocktails in Porland (ME) recently that used house-made vegetal syrups, my favorte was a green bell pepper syrup that really made for some interesting cocktails. Would be cool to do an episode on interesting/experimental vegetal syrups. Probably a lot to experiment with - carrot, bell pepper, broccolli, sqaush... :)
I've never made my own drink but I might have to try that macademia mai tai, or something with that black pepper syrup because I LOVE non-sweet flavorings in things we typically think of as sweet. Or at least I personally think "sweet" when I think of cocktails.