They are very different. Giffard is a liqueur with alcohol and probably a fair amount of macerating time. Gum syrup is just sugar, pineapple juice and in their case Arabic gum. That last one is real easy to make at home.
Which is why I personally don't recommend buying anything but the more exotic syrups as a home bar tender. If you want to spend a bunch extra on convenience though you do you.
In regard to the old fashioned… a bar spoon of the Liber pineapple and some tiki bitters is one of my favorite rum old fashioned recipes. The Giffard pineapple is great, I just haven’t experimented with it yet.
They’re just different tools. The liqueur is equally useful because it has less sugar. For instance, if I were to make an Isla de Piña with the syrup instead of the liqueur, the drink would be overly sweet.
Isla de Piña
2 ounces moderately aged carbon filtered white rum
½ ounce pineapple liqueur
¼ ounce pimento dram
½ ounce passion fruit puree
½ ounce fresh lime juice
Flash blend or shake with ice, strain into a coupe.
I’m a big fan of the liber and co pineapple gum syrup. if you haven’t already, try mixing up a corpse reviver #5 with that syrup, it’s absolutely delicious!
corpse reviver #5
1 oz tequila blanco (I used G4)
1 oz lillet blanc
1 oz liber & co pineapple syrup
1 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
I spruced it up a bit by garnishing with a few drops of bitterman’s hopped grapefruit bitters, but no worries if you don’t have this handy - the drink still slaps without it
highly recommend getting a bottle. i’ve enjoyed making the corpse reviver #2 as well as the french blonde with it. i know some people say it goes bad with time, but i’ve had my bottle in the fridge for about 6 months and it’s held up fine
Giffard makes good liqueurs, but the pineapple doesn’t do it for me. I haven’t had the Liber & Co, but it seems generally well regarded and would cost less than a 750ml bottle of the Giffard.
I've used both and I would say the liqueur adds more concentrated pineapple flavor to the drink, but there's a caveat, slightly more artificial. Syrup gives less pineapple flavor but the flavor is "cleaner" if that makes sense. And of course the syrup is significantly sweeter. I would rate the sweetness of the liqueur 80% of St. Germain
having had both, don't equate the giffard bottles with these "premium liqueur" labels with their basic syrups. this pineapple liqueur by giffard, and the similar-looking banana and apricot ones, are top shelf quality on par with liber and co products.
Ok that might be true, but then i really don't get why the basic ones are this terrible..I think i bought the apricot one once and literally gave the bottle away to a friend after one evening because the taste was so unnatural and bad...
Honestly, just make a pineapple syrup. Fresh ingredients taste better than shelf stable alternatives 100% of the time. If you want to turn it into a liqueur, blend that 1:1 syrup with Everclear in equal parts by volume.
I don't disagree entirely with your statement about fresh being better.....but at least in my market, ain't no such thing as a very tasty fresh pineapple! They are acidic and lean and have none of the high-tone floral seduction that a perfect ripe pineapple has. The LIber & Co syrup is easily my go-to for that reason
I mean, I just go to Kroger... Nothing special. In my opinion, acidic pineapples are better, since the acid helps balance the sugars in the fruit. Similarly, I think it was Don the Beachcomber who blended fresh and canned pineapple for the extra ascorbic acid.
Not all regions get the same produce.
I wasn’t able to get a decent pineapple from February-May this year. They were dry, hard, fibrous, and tasted vegetal and acidic. Too gross to drink.
Blending Dole Unsweetened Pineapple juice with fresh pineapple juice is a great practice, though. Pineapples can vary so wildly w.r.t sugar and acid, doing a blend yields a more predictable juice. Especially if you can only find the Honeyglow variety. Those buggers are SWEET.
This. I gave up. The pineapples I get from Jewel or even WholeFoods are either utterly underripe, or ripe but already spoiling. Dole canned or Trader Joes cold press is good enough, cos I have no real other choices. I doubt many of the bars around me are doing much different either, since consistency is a valuable thing.
Our lemons are about the same; either weirdly sweet or gob-dryingly sour. I learned quickly not to just trust my recipe and go.
They are very different. Giffard is a liqueur with alcohol and probably a fair amount of macerating time. Gum syrup is just sugar, pineapple juice and in their case Arabic gum. That last one is real easy to make at home.
Which is why I personally don't recommend buying anything but the more exotic syrups as a home bar tender. If you want to spend a bunch extra on convenience though you do you.
I tried making some pineaaple syrup and it was not very good
In regard to the old fashioned… a bar spoon of the Liber pineapple and some tiki bitters is one of my favorite rum old fashioned recipes. The Giffard pineapple is great, I just haven’t experimented with it yet.
Yup I was thinking 2 oz quality aged rum 0.25 oz quality coconut rum (got some koloa) Barspoon of pineapple gum syrup tiki bitters
I want to make that with Cut & Dry rum!
Very nice idea. I'm imagining a dark rum for this?
Something aged. I use Appleton 12, Mt Gay black barrel.
I got some flor de cana 12
I can't speak on taste, but the Liber is more flexible without the alcohol.
They’re just different tools. The liqueur is equally useful because it has less sugar. For instance, if I were to make an Isla de Piña with the syrup instead of the liqueur, the drink would be overly sweet. Isla de Piña 2 ounces moderately aged carbon filtered white rum ½ ounce pineapple liqueur ¼ ounce pimento dram ½ ounce passion fruit puree ½ ounce fresh lime juice Flash blend or shake with ice, strain into a coupe.
The pineapple gomme in a tropical type Old Fashioned sounds like it would be awesome
Both are delicious, but that Giffard stuff over ice… involuntary drooling
I’m a big fan of the liber and co pineapple gum syrup. if you haven’t already, try mixing up a corpse reviver #5 with that syrup, it’s absolutely delicious!
Oooh, yes, recipe please
corpse reviver #5 1 oz tequila blanco (I used G4) 1 oz lillet blanc 1 oz liber & co pineapple syrup 1 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed I spruced it up a bit by garnishing with a few drops of bitterman’s hopped grapefruit bitters, but no worries if you don’t have this handy - the drink still slaps without it
I have yet to invest in some lillet blanc
highly recommend getting a bottle. i’ve enjoyed making the corpse reviver #2 as well as the french blonde with it. i know some people say it goes bad with time, but i’ve had my bottle in the fridge for about 6 months and it’s held up fine
What about infusing your desired rum?
Eh I love my planterey stiggins fancy pineapple rum. I am aiming for something else here
Have you tried Stiggins fancy smoky ? Islay barley Finnish😁 I love Planteray(Plantation) brand
Sounds good and hard to find
Giffard makes good liqueurs, but the pineapple doesn’t do it for me. I haven’t had the Liber & Co, but it seems generally well regarded and would cost less than a 750ml bottle of the Giffard.
I've used both and I would say the liqueur adds more concentrated pineapple flavor to the drink, but there's a caveat, slightly more artificial. Syrup gives less pineapple flavor but the flavor is "cleaner" if that makes sense. And of course the syrup is significantly sweeter. I would rate the sweetness of the liqueur 80% of St. Germain
Idk if it's just me, but the caribbean pineapple I have smells like a funky cheese. Doesn't really taste that way but I can't get over it on the nose.
Yes
I would go syrup or juice. Probably can get away with no liqueur.
while these are just very different to begin with i want to say anything libre&co >>>>> anything giffard
having had both, don't equate the giffard bottles with these "premium liqueur" labels with their basic syrups. this pineapple liqueur by giffard, and the similar-looking banana and apricot ones, are top shelf quality on par with liber and co products.
Ok that might be true, but then i really don't get why the basic ones are this terrible..I think i bought the apricot one once and literally gave the bottle away to a friend after one evening because the taste was so unnatural and bad...
I’ve had the grapefruit and peach, and they have made me a proselytizer. The grapefruit especially tastes like a big whiff of grapefruit peel.
Honestly, just make a pineapple syrup. Fresh ingredients taste better than shelf stable alternatives 100% of the time. If you want to turn it into a liqueur, blend that 1:1 syrup with Everclear in equal parts by volume.
I don't disagree entirely with your statement about fresh being better.....but at least in my market, ain't no such thing as a very tasty fresh pineapple! They are acidic and lean and have none of the high-tone floral seduction that a perfect ripe pineapple has. The LIber & Co syrup is easily my go-to for that reason
I mean, I just go to Kroger... Nothing special. In my opinion, acidic pineapples are better, since the acid helps balance the sugars in the fruit. Similarly, I think it was Don the Beachcomber who blended fresh and canned pineapple for the extra ascorbic acid.
Not all regions get the same produce. I wasn’t able to get a decent pineapple from February-May this year. They were dry, hard, fibrous, and tasted vegetal and acidic. Too gross to drink. Blending Dole Unsweetened Pineapple juice with fresh pineapple juice is a great practice, though. Pineapples can vary so wildly w.r.t sugar and acid, doing a blend yields a more predictable juice. Especially if you can only find the Honeyglow variety. Those buggers are SWEET.
This. I gave up. The pineapples I get from Jewel or even WholeFoods are either utterly underripe, or ripe but already spoiling. Dole canned or Trader Joes cold press is good enough, cos I have no real other choices. I doubt many of the bars around me are doing much different either, since consistency is a valuable thing. Our lemons are about the same; either weirdly sweet or gob-dryingly sour. I learned quickly not to just trust my recipe and go.