What is Rock Candy Syrup and does it even matter?

Рет қаралды 6,088

Күн бұрын

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Today we dive deep into the world of Rock Candy Syrup. What is it? And does it even matter? Out of all of the subject matters I've looked out this one has been the most complicated. I had to film this video 3 different times over 2 months because I kept finding out more.
Rock Candy started out as a byproduct of rock candy making, where the leftovers that did not crystalize were sold as Rock Candy. Over time the rock candy syrup was adulterated and changed. Initially, it was sold a a replacement for sugar which would lead one to assume that it was as concentrated as possible. How this evolved to a bar staple is unknown to me, but most likely it was one of the only (if not the only) sugar syrup you'd find on the shelves in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The Trader Vic Rock Candy syrup of 2lbs sugar to 2 cups water comes from The Book of Rum Cookery and Helluva Man's Cookbook. Both books from the 1970s and 30 years after he made the first Mai Tai. The first copyright for Trader Vic's Rock Candy Syrup was from 1948, meaning he either purchased or made his own before then.
I think the biggest takeaway should be that the terms we use today were irrelevant 80 years ago. Simple syrup, sugar syrup, and rock candy syrup all mean a sugar + water solution. It wasn't until the modern era where we started defining simple syrup as 1:1 and rich simple as 2:1.
I'm sure with more time and research more could be uncovered about Rock Candy syurp, but I am done with it.
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📃 Episode Chapters 📃
00:00 Introduction
00:17 It all comes back to the Mai Tai
03:08 What is Rock Candy Syrup and it's History
07:00 Trader Vic's "Official" Rock Candy Syrup Recipe
08:26 New Rock Candy Syrup
📖 Recipe 📖
Trader Vic's Rock Candy Syrup
2 lbs sugar
1 cups water
#TraderVic #RockCandy #RockCandySyrup

Пікірлер: 61

@HeyBoz-04 2 ай бұрын

Trader Vic reminds me of my grandma. She rarely gave out recipes, and when she felt cornered and have to give one, it was never exactly what she did and it changed over time since her baking was never the same from one bake to the next.

@mmwosu 2 ай бұрын

My grandma (my dad’s mom) was the same way. Phenomenal cook, never wrote anything down. After my mom and dad had been married awhile, my mom began to realize the problem with preserving her recipes for the future, because all of her measurements came down to “about this much”. My mom’s solution was to go through the painstaking process of standing next to my grandma when she cooked, and finding the right measuring spoon to actually put a volume on the measurements she would make from experience in the palm of her hand. This is the process by which my grandma’s cooking lived on, even imperfectly, after her passing. Even though they did their best to put these recipes to paper, some of them still didn’t come out the same, and we all know it’s because the secret ingredient, without a doubt, was her…

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Vic prob gets more criticism for the inconsistency than he deserves. Don the Beachcomber revised recipes, sometimes significantly if we look at drinks like the Zombie. But Vic shared every popular recipe except for the Navy Grog and he did so over the course of decades. So these inconsistencies are easy to find across several books and 30 years. Where do don’t have any first hand info from DTB. But the main take away we should all have is that we all take this stuff way more seriously than anyone did in those times.

@carsonhc305 2 ай бұрын

I like rich (2 to 1) simple syrup because sugar is a preservative and it stays fresh in the fridge for a long time.

@abludwig 2 ай бұрын

I do agree that we can do whatever we want with our cocktails and adjust them to our taste. However, one reason I like both food and cocktail recipe books, is so I can recreate drinks or food that was from else’s taste. If I follow a meticulously created recipe in tropical standard for instance, and then change the ratios, I’m wasting an opportunity I could have had tasting a drink from sunken harbor right in my house. A lot cheaper than flying to Brooklyn! Thanks for the fun videos

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Good point! And I agree. But the point I didn't explicity make in regards to the Mai Tai that ties into "use what you like" is that there is not a single ingredient from 1944 that you can find today to recreate that original recipe. Every component is different. When it comes to something contemporary like TS, you can find the exact ingredients. And I'm right there with you, I want to make exactly as I'd get one in Brooklyn.

@TheMooseOnTheLeft 2 ай бұрын

These videos taking pot shots at the "hard rules" of tiki perfection are some of my favorites of yours. May not be worth a full video, but after I recently became the lucky owner of a commercial speed blender, I've been thinking a lot about "speed mix on high, no more than 5 seconds". I used to own a version of the hamilton beach you have on the bar, and my new one is a jet engine in comparison. Drinks come out foamier/creamier than they ever did on my old one, and more than 5 seconds on the new one can easily over dilute a drink. I feel like the 5 second rule was meant for the high power commercial blenders, and that I would sometimes make drinks that weren't mixed and diluted enough on my old one just because I was trying to follow a recipe from a book.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Thank you! I've had a "dilution test" on my list of things to try with the Hamilton Beach. I truthfully don't think going over 5 seconds is that meaningful for most drink mixers. But there are tons of variables. I have a vintage No 30 where many people have the 33 which looks identical but has a smaller motor. Also the type of blade matters, so there's no way to have a solid answer unless we're all using the brand new Hamilton Beach models. Not to mention ice, when historic recipes call for shaved Ice but I use nugget ice which is not the same.

@TheMooseOnTheLeft 2 ай бұрын

@@makeanddrink "...there's no way to have a solid answer..." You said it. The first few days with the new one I had to recalibrate how much ice I was using. I think "until the mixing tin frosts over" is a way better metric across machine and ice inconsistancies. Edit: and yeah I had the smaller 33

@SuperStarr817 2 ай бұрын

I always make 2:1 simple syrup by weight since it preserves itself longer and it means I dilute my drink less. Anytime I see rich, normal, or rock candy, I just use that same syrup and adjust slightly.

@ryanhayden3465 2 ай бұрын

Man been waiting for this one for a while now

@stephaneauplain5254 2 ай бұрын

Great video once again! A side note about "orgeat". It's a french name and in french we keep the "T" silent 😉

@maitaioneon 2 ай бұрын

LOL so many good jabs in here. I love it!

@Sea_Dog7 2 ай бұрын

Great video very informative. I prefer Kevin Crossman's Ultimate Mai Tai recipe using Demarara Syrup instead of simple syrup. Very tasty, cheers.

@JohnKelly2 2 ай бұрын

I make all of my syrups 2:1 so it will last longer. And I use a Demerara in everything, even daiquiris, because its delicious.

@brianherman503 2 ай бұрын

I do the same, but I noticed it makes light colored drinks ugly, so I started keeping a little white sugar simple around for when I want something to look nice

@phelanbower9957 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for your research and informative passion.

@odiec5567 2 ай бұрын

My rich simple is now rock candy since the entire bottle has crystallized. Now that I think about it, maybe I can just add Mai Tai ingredients directly in to make a giant cocktail...

@LeBlancKnives 2 ай бұрын

Great history lesson. I had wondered this very question when you mentioned it in a previous episode. As always, thanks for the fascinating and great content!

@therustybartender 2 ай бұрын

Great history I love watching your videos as learn heaps of stuff I never knew with each episode.

@kevinmc7692 2 ай бұрын

Awesome analysis- you had me laughing out loud!

@satellitescreenprintinginc3404 2 ай бұрын

Great Job!

@sergisamongas 2 ай бұрын

I often use Agave syrup instead of 2:1 and it works well.

@Speciarii 2 ай бұрын

Thank you! Much needed explanation. Cheers 🍹

@mmwosu 2 ай бұрын

Just STOMPING on people’s toes with this one, love it! 😆🤣👍

@mr_sausagefairy 2 ай бұрын

Your videos are (without a doubt) the best cocktail videos out there on youtube - and i've seen a lot of cocktail channels. It's such a shame that the KZfaq algorithm hasn't figured this out yet. I can barely find your channel when I type "make and drink" into Google. I will support you on patreon or elsewhere from now on. Such well-researched, high-quality produced and informative content simply needs to be supported. Greetings from Germany

@mr_sausagefairy 2 ай бұрын

Done ;) I'm a KZfaq Member now. BTW your newest video was (again) a pleasure to watch....*writing this while sipping on your Pearl diver 2.0 cocktail* ...*sip*... ahhh ;) (it's a holiday in Germany tomorrow - so don't judge me).

@Sunscorpio 2 ай бұрын

Exactly!! So many good points. I could see Donn & Vic as the type to constantly “tweak” and experiment with drinks. And feel like their Mai Tai’s were an evolving concept. With new modifications as needed. Unless we were there we will never know the exact taste!

@RobBalazs 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for this! Interesting

@ultimatemaitai 2 ай бұрын

Truly epic.

@blindlemonlipschitz912 2 ай бұрын

Hate to admit it, but I do the same as you. Somtimes adding a little vanilla to the syrup. I like heavy almond, and combining the orgeat takes a step out. Helps when I have a rush of people to get through. Never had a single complaint yet.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Turns out vanilla has a little historical accuracy as well since Trader Vic’s was using a rock candy syrup with vanillin.

@blindlemonlipschitz912 2 ай бұрын

@@makeanddrink apparently cheap dekuyper curacao does too, while everyone raises a fist at anything less than Pierre ferrand lol

@arcanum3000 2 ай бұрын

I'd be curious to know the brix measurement of leftover-from-making-rock-candy rock candy syrup and how it compares to various modern simple syrup ratios.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Yeah I’d be interested to know what or if there is a drop in the brix in the syrup from making rock candy. But not all syrups used to make rock candy are the same, plus it would depend on how long you let that rock candy grow. Ultimately it would be interesting to know but not helpful to understanding what that original rock candy syrup would have been.

@arcanum3000 2 ай бұрын

@@makeanddrink What I read about it is that the original syrup was specifically what's left over after no more sugar will crystalize out into rock candy. That would make sense if the original rock candy syrup is a byproduct of candy making (you wouldn't dispose of your candy making material until you can't make any more candy with it). It should also result in a pretty consistent sugar concentration in the resulting syrup: Regardless of how much sugar you start with, I'd expect the crystallization to always stop at roughly the same point.

@MartinDoudoroffLLC 2 ай бұрын

Good one.

@mattmathai 2 ай бұрын

I use cane sugar syrup. It goes well w/ the aged rhum agricole I use in the rum blend

@Stephen_Curtin 2 ай бұрын

I came across Vic's Helluva Man Cookbook a few months ago and when I saw the recipe for rock candy syrup I thought it was interesting, but I had no idea that it wasn't widely known.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Strangely not widely known or at least not widely shared online. Through all of the rock candy syrup discussion I’ve come across, no one had mentioned it. The Helluva Man’s as well as the Rum Cookery book are two of the ones least cited or harder to find.

@HyperspaceCowboy 2 ай бұрын

Ha! This is you at your finest!! You’ve done the hard work, you’ve checked your sources, you’re making a great point and it’s hilarious! You should be known as Derek the MythBuster from here on out :-) Loving it :-) (With a T… 😂)

@DefconMaster 2 ай бұрын

Yeah I never understood the point of it in addition to the orgeat. It's so much easier to just make the orgeat 2:1, and it last longer too! Plus if you sub out 1/4-1/2 of the white sugar for demerara sugar you get rich demerara orgeat, which makes a killer Mai Tai!

@jarrod-smith 2 ай бұрын

Joke's on you, I don't even own a pitchfork. I do feel like the modern Trader Vic's bottle should at least match his traditional recipe though. Good explanations.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Just a torch wielder? I’d bet that the high fructose corn syrup version was 50 ish Brix, still not sure when they started selling that version.

@johnolmos8670 2 ай бұрын

I’ve heard some Tikiheads say that the rock candy syrup is there because Orgeat back then didn’t have the same sugar content it had today and was more grainy and dry. The cocktail would need more sugar so Vic had to add Rich simple syrup

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

I doubt that. No one has been able to say what that bottle of Garnier orgeat tasted like and the only picture of a historic bottle found is from the 1960s or 70s. Unless someone has a bottle we can crack open, we won’t know. My hypothesis (founded in nothing really) is that it was probably sweet and had a lot of almond extract and floral notes. So using a full 1/2 oz might have been too much. It had no alcohol, so it had to be sweet or it would go bad too quickly. There’s also evidence from all of the 1800s recipes that it comes out to a 1:1 or 2:1 comparable sweetness.

@EtruskenRaider 2 ай бұрын

I increasingly get the impression that the Mai Tai is as much a vibe as a strict recipe. It’s much closer to an Old Fashioned in that it’s a vehicle for a specific spirit: Aged Jamaican Rum. So hitting the right tone depends on the rum used and the level of sweet/tart will depend on the limes you have available, the sugar contents of the orgeat and curaçao.

@Timan123 2 ай бұрын

I never really got the need for simple syrup or rock candy syrup in the mai tai, just use more orgeat. Also curacao is somewhat sweet too. I know it's original.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Probably never really a need and just how Vic originally constructed the drink. Hard to say if using more Orgeat in that recipe would have helped or hurt the drink since we can’t taste that Orgeat.

@curtisbannerman2934 2 ай бұрын

So what's the difference between rock candy syrup and simple syrup?...🤷🏾‍♂️

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

Made a whole video on that. Just scroll up and click on that white triangle button.

@Joshdr99 2 ай бұрын

What if rock candy syrup was a sugar solution you could buy to make rock candy and it wasn't the byproduct after? Doesn't matter to me though. After making the Mai Tai recipe on the Appleton Estate website I quit adding sugar syrup to my Mai Tais.

@makeanddrink 2 ай бұрын

The evidence says it’s was a byproduct and I’ve not seen anything that says it was to be used to make your own rock candy. But as noted, they eventually sold it with glucose and other additives to prevent crystallization so those would never produce any rock candy.