Can I drink it? Rosemary simple syrup edition

June 30, 2018 1:56 PM

28 days ago I made a syrup with 1:1 sugar:water plus a bunch of rosemary. Used a little and forgot about it until today, and it had some sort of cloudy thing floating around the bottom. That's mold right? I can't tell if weird colony or just weird precipitate.

Hard to get a picture of but I tried.

posted by hishtafel to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

I'm sufficiently grossed out by the idea of drinking mold that I would not even consider doing anything with that except for pouring it down the drain. My experience of refrigerated sugar syrup is that it does indeed grow mold after a few weeks.
posted by chromium at 2:09 PM on June 30, 2018

The cloudy thing is definitely mold, or whatever thing it is that grows in 1:1 simple syrup. That always happens with mine after a few weeks.

For the next batch, I've heard you can extend the fridge lifespan by adding a bit of vodka. If you want really long lasting, you can use light corn syrup instead of the 1:1 simple, although you'd have to thin it out for easy use in drinks.
posted by mabelstreet at 2:13 PM on June 30, 2018

Stringy? 100% mold.
posted by quaking fajita at 2:15 PM on June 30, 2018

I wouldn't drink it. For future reference though, simple syrup freezes really well.
posted by snorkmaiden at 2:30 PM on June 30, 2018

Was it refrigerated?

A 'rich' simple syrup (2:1 instead of 1:1) has a longer shelf-life. In the fridge, 2:1 will last about six months; 1:1 will last no more than a month, even in a clean and sealed container in the fridge, before doing the thing you're currently observing.
posted by halation at 3:03 PM on June 30, 2018

Yeah, that's mold. Pitch it. Next time, maybe freeze portions in an ice cube tray for doling out over time.
posted by sldownard at 12:42 AM on July 1, 2018

Down the sink he went. Lesson learned, add vodka or freeze next time.
posted by hishtafel at 2:03 PM on July 1, 2018