So you have a bottle of simple syrup, also called sugar syrup, and it has a bottom covered in crystalized sugar. It happens. But must it happen? Or at least, as fast? No.

I was reading through the ingredients in something or other and saw “inverted sugar.” Being a curious sort, I went Googling. What I found was the recipe for inverted sugar. It is very similar to simple syrup. Where sugar has a sweetness rating of 100, simple syrup and inverted sugar have a rating of 130. And the process of making it is very similar. Both break the sugar apart in an effort to keep it in a liquid state, rather than a solid and a liquid. But, inverted sugar should last longer as a liquid than sugar syrup. To read it all, go here. To know the short simple answer, just keep reading.

Your normal simple syrup recipe is one part sugar to one part water, boiled and cooled and bottled.

Inverted sugar is basically, one cup of sugar, one cup of water, a few drops of lemon juice, boiled and then simmered (barely boiling) for 20 minutes, cooled and bottled. The lemon juice acts as a catalyst and will not effect the taste. This process should make your simple syrup, ahem, inverted sugar, not crystalize as quickly, if ever. Same taste, etc.

Try it!

p.s. You can do the same thing with honey to make a honey syrup that is far, far easier to mix than normal honey. Two things to be careful of with this. A) Honey boils over very quickly. Do not step away from this process or it will boil over and be a big mess! and 2) Make this stuff in a 50/50 mix and when your recipe calls for 1/2 ouce of honey, add 1 ounce of your mix. The extra 1/2 ounce of water should not make much difference. This is the way they do it at the Mai Kai!

Ms Swanky got me the larger cup version of this item for Christmas. It is made so that you can read the measurements from the top, rather than having to squat down and peek at it from the side. I later discovered they make a small version which is marked in 1/2 ounces. This is ideal for mixing drinks.

I highly recommend you click here and get yourself one.

Dr. Cocktail exorts those who make their own versions of cocktail elixirs this month. In October, Hukilau will have a mixology seminar headed by Beachbum Berry. At his side will be a few friends of mine whose drinks I have imbibed with pleasure: Pablus, Kuku Ahu and Basement Kahuna. Thes guys have the drive for perfection that has caused them to make their own liqueurs when the original stock has dried up.

Basement Kahuna is a drink detective. Months after being at the Mai Kai last, he hands me a drink at Coon Tiki and asks how it compared to their “Black Magic.” He had been deducing the formula in his lab and thought he found the correct concoction. I think he is right. He’s reproduced a few of their recipes and made some great ones of his own.

Pablus tends to make his drinks in gallons. Crates of fresh fruit from the groves and it all comes together. He is a great soldier in the quest for perfect Falernum, and has indeed made his own! It was he who put together the great Falernum tasting of Hukilau 2004. He even sings songs he has written about Falernum and cocktails with his band The Crazed Mugs.

In my bar I have a bottle of Pimento Liqueur made by JTD and have sampled that made by Ahu. He has made his own Passionfruit Syrup, Grenadine, Pimento Liqueur, and tried his hand at Falernum and any number of mixers. Ahu has a background as a chef and brings that huge knowledge to bare on the drink making.

These guys have a great wealth of mixing knowledge, talent and taste. There are only a handfull of us who spend the hours and dollars to make our way through all the recipes in Berry’s books. These guys are some of the best.

And besides the seminar, you can check out their work in my room at Hukilau on Thursday night as the Fraternal Order of Moai host their bar there. Look for the guys in the blue Fezes.

In the mean time you can catch me and Ahu enjoying the Kahiki’s head bartender’s drinks at the Hot Rod Hula Hop 2 this August in Columbus. If you live near me in Tennessee, you can maybe get invited to my luau this month where I and Basement Kahuna will make a lot of classic and new tiki cocktails for my guests. And as always, visit your local tiki bar and encourage the classics!