Simple Syrup is Simple

I love me some flavored syrups.  I'm a year-round iced coffee drinker. We already have the iced coffee part figured out: we brew a regular pot of coffee, let it cool to room temperature, and store it in a pitcher in the fridge.

Now for the sweetener. The Torani and Da Vinci syrups are very easy to make, especially the "classic" or "cane sugar". (Want simple syrup for your cocktails? It's the same thing. Shhh...)

These bottles run you about $8 at the grocery store or $5 at a specialty restaurant supply store. Making it at home? Costs about $0.60.

If you like, buy the syrup the first time and use this recipe for refills. I like the bottle because I like the pump (sold separately for about $5); alternatively you could just use a jar and measuring spoon. A single pump is a 1/4 oz = 1/2 tbsp or 1 1/2 tsp.

Here's the recipe:

Equal parts sugar and water. That easy. To fill the whole bottle, use 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water. Heat in a small soup pan to boiling and cook for a few seconds until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and let cool to room tempertaure. Use a funnel to pour into the bottle.

Cooking time? Less than 10 minutes.

If you want, you can make flavors with fruit peels, herbs, extracts, and more. Hearty additives like orange peel can be added at the beginning. More fragile additives like mint leaves can be added as the syrup is cooling. Pull out or strain any pieces before bottling. Note: the pieces can be their own happy product (see my post on candied orange peels.)

Result: yummy syrups for 10% of the retail cost and you save a bottle!