Syrups

Sugar is used in nearly every mixed drink in one form or another, whether by itself or incorporated via a liqueur, etc. In the distant past, it would be combined in its solid form with spirits and water. Unfortunately, our granulated sugar doesn't dissolve very readily in cold spirits with very little water, so syrups are widely utilized.

I nearly exclusively use syrups over granulated sugar (with exceptions including a sugar cube for a champagne cocktail or a sugar rim coating in a brandy crusta). When I make drinks with clear spirits, I usually use simple syrup; with brown spirits, I often use demarara syrup; and grenadine and raspberry syrup find their way into many recipes. These latter demonstrate that you can flavor your syrup with anything you want: cf. Berber syrup. You can make syrups with whatever ratio of sugar to water you want, but if you go much higher than 2.5:1, the sugar will precipiate into crystals at the bottom of the container. Go any less than 1:1, and the mouthfeel is unpleasantly thin. That said, this is how I do it:

Simple syrup

1 cup granulated sugar
100 mL (seriously) water
Combine in a saucepan. Raise to a boil while stirring; boil for several seconds. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.

Demarara syrup

1 cup demarara sugar
1/2 cup water
Combine in a saucepan. Raise to a boil while stirring; boil for several seconds. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.

(Rasp)berry syrup
2 cups raspberries or other berries
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice.
1. Combine berries, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until berries begin to break down and release their juices, about 4 minutes.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer and skim off any foam that bubbles to top. Cook for 15 minutes.
3. Strain into bowl through cheesecloth-lined strainer, pressing on fruit to squeeze out juices. Return the liquid to the pan and add 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Yield: ~2.5 cups
(This recipe is courtesy of the NY Times.  You could cut the volumes in half to make a more manageable volume.)

Grenadine

1 (16 oz) bottle POM real pomogranite juice
1 cup sugar
In a saucepan, reduce pomogranite juice volume by half. Add sugar and stir over heat until dissolved. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.