- 450 grams Nature Nate’s 100% Raw & Unfiltered Honey (72 Brix, this may vary)
- 36 grams water
- Digital Scale
- Digital Refractometer
In order to make a 66.6 Brix honey syrup you will need to measure the Brix of the honey you are using with a digital refractometer, these can be pretty pricey but are worth it. The Modernist Pantry sells one for around $200. The alternative is that sometimes honey brands will let you know what the Brix is for the honey you are buying. After you have your honey use the digital refractometer and Brix the honey. Take the Brix reading from your honey, use Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Universal Syrup Calculator and calculate your honey syrup recipe. Warm up the water enough to be able to mix with the honey, add the water to the honey, and then stir to incorporate.
Everywhere I have worked uses honey incorrectly in cocktails. At Death & Co., they use agave nectar without dilution for one of their most ordered modern classics: Oaxaca Old Fashioned. I took this same principle and applied it to honey. Honey needs some dilution with water to be usable in cocktails. At 66.6 Brix, honey will have a more robust flavor and the amount used per cocktail will be less. 2:1 cane syrup comes in at 66.6 Brix, so why not do the same for honey? I was met with resistance about this idea every single time I presented a cocktail with honey, because at Death & Co. they use honey all willy nilly like everyone else, too watery thus the flavor of the honey becomes literally watered down. When I came up with a Japanese style old fashioned riff (Wavy Cap), I used a teaspoon of honey with 66.6 Brix. The honey not only popped on your tastebuds, but it added the right amount of sugar to balance the savory smoked sunchoke, earthy shochu, and bright strawberry flavors in the old fashioned. I suggest only using honey at 66.6 Brix for all cocktails (requiring honey) and you will have a better tasting cocktail.
While trying to figure out which honey would work best for the Wavy Cap, I went down the honey rabbit hole. Researching and tasting over and over until I tasted Mieli Thun Castagno – Italian chestnut honey, dark and spicy with all the flavors of fall. Some articles I came across described this honey as mysterious and nuanced and at first taste I definitely agreed. When I brought this honey up in conversation for a cocktail the idea was immediately shut down because of the “price point.” This is an expensive honey, relative to the price of clover honey which is more frequently used. There was always a slot in each section of our menu for a “lux” cocktail. These cocktails usually were in the $40+ range. This honey was the main ingredient in the old fashioned riff and the other ingredients I chose were based on letting this honey drive the flavor profile. Anyway, we went with a cheaper alternative, I think it was clover honey at 66.6 Brix. I strongly recommend using Nature Nate’s Honey for its flavor and consistency.