I’m fully on the DIY drink mix bandwagon (malto + fructose), but I do find that the bottle prepp is annoying. The powder has a tendency to go flying and become sticky, and the mix can be difficult to dissolve in water.
But, from what I understand a rich simple syrup (2:1 mix of plain sugar and water) is shelf stable. Has anyone tried doing something similar with malto/fructose, to create a shelf stable syrup/gel that should be more easily dissolved into a bottle of water? Is this a stupid idea where I’ll risk drinking mold? The idea would be to store the syrup in room temperature due to a lack of space in the fridge.
I keep it in syrup form. I warm it up in the microwave before I use it to prevent it from caking too much. I recommend mixing the syrup in large glass jars because you can put the jar in boiling water to dissolve the sugar quickly. I’ve never tried canning it but it should be very shelf stable if you do that.
The syrup is about as thick as commercial gel and I can drink it like a gel.
Yes its a stupid idea, table sugar is already shelf stable. I keep a tub of sugar with a scoop in it. Add the required number of sugar to my bottle, top up with water, shake and I’m ready to go in seconds.
I make simple syrup for, um, other purposes, and I’d strongly recommend refrigerating it. Since you’ll be re-making the syrup so frequently, it’s difficult to make sure your container is sterile each time, and if your container isn’t sterile, you’ve created a pretty ideal growth medium for all sort of interesting microorganisms.
I haven’t tried making the syrup from anything but table sugar, but I’m inspired to try it now! I’ll let you know how it goes. Honey, malto, salt…mmmmm.
I’ve done something half-way, where I re-use 1/2 gallon juice bottles, and mix them up at the maximum concentration I would want, and keep these in the refrigerator. I then fill up my water bottles from that, and can dillute it with water if for that ride I want less sugar.
This keeps the mixing simple, as I don’t need to heat it, and gives me a cold drink when it is hot.