Pineapple Syrup
Recipe A:
- 1 cup fresh or high quality bought pineapple juice
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 15ml Everclear or Overproof White Jamaican Rum (e.g. Hampden Rumfire)
Recipe B:
- 1 1/2 cup cubed (1.5-2cm) pineapple
- 2/3 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 15ml Everclear or Overproof White Jamaican Rum (e.g. Hampden Rumfire)
As with many syrups, there are several methods to prepare this Especially pineapple syrup often has combinations of flavours in different variations, grilled pineapple syrup, spiced pineapple syrup, etc., but we will leave those for another time.
But even the "simple" fruit syrup itself can be prepared differently with advantages and disadvantages. With a normal kitchen, I think the two recipes seen above are the best. The third option would be the typical infusion under heat in the finished simple syrup itself, as is often seen with herbs, tea and other fruits. But pineapple is even more sensitive to heat than some other fruits and changes flavor very quickly, you know that if you ever got tortured with a Pizza Hawaii. This type of infusion syrup in the warmed up pot has the consequence that the finished product will remind you of sweetened, warmed up pineapple, in the direction of jam. This can be great if desired, especially in stirred drinks with dark rum, this sometimes works even better than the "fresher" one presented here.
But back to our "standard" pineapple syrup, which actually does well in all recipes that ask for it.
Option A) couldn't be simpler. You use a juicer to juice one (or two, as long as they are equal amounts) filled cup of cubed pineapple and stir the fresh juice at room temperature for a long time (can take some) or at the lowest heat level on the stove with the same amount of cane sugar in it, as soon as the sugar is dissolved, you add for the shelf life (not a must) about 15ml of neutral alcohol/Everclear (>60%) or overproof white rum (e.g. Hampden Rumfire), filter it as usual and put in a clean bottle and label it. If you do not have a juicer, you can buy high quality (organic) pineapple juice (this should logically for a 500ml package cost at least as much as a whole pineapple would cost) and then follow the same steps as above.
Option B) is a bit more complex, but some bartenders swear by the more intense flavor it allegedly produces. For this you dice the pineapple into approx. 1.5-2cm sized (as small as possible) pieces and add 1 1/2 cups of it to a small pot, over this you add a 2/3 cup of cane sugar and stir everything well again and again, so that ideally all pineapple pieces are full of sugar from all sides. Let this sit for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, and wait for the sugar to draw the flavors and juice out of the pineapple. You should then see a syrupy mass at the bottom of the pot. Remove the pineapple chunks, add about half a cup of water and the same game as option A), stir it for a long time at room temperature or on the very lowest heat setting on the stove until the sugar is all dissolved and the water is well mixed in. Add about 15ml of neutral alcohol (>60%) or directly overproof white rum (e.g. Hampden Rumfire), filter as usual and put in a sanitized bottle and label it.
