Cane Syrup
Cane syrup, sirop de canne in the French Caribbean, is a sugar-cane syrup about as strong as our 2:1 rich syrup: some bottles are cane juice filtered and reduced, others cane sugar dissolved in water. It is the sweetener in the Ti’ Punch, beside rhum agricole and lime. We keep the home version, unrefined cane sugar with water at 2:1 by weight, a month in the fridge.
Quick Facts
We keep it in the fridge after opening, with the neck of the bottle clean; sugar crust around the cap is the usual failure point.
None of the 14 listed allergens.
About Cane Syrup
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Deep cane sweetness with a faint grassy, almost sap-like edge: closer to the raw plant than any white sugar syrup.
Sirop de canne comes in two kinds
In Martinique and Guadeloupe the syrup on the table for a Ti’ Punch is sirop de canne. Some bottles start from the cane itself: Clément's is pressed cane juice, filtered and reduced to a light brown syrup. Others are cane sugar dissolved in water, as Dillon's is, from a Martinique refinery with about 880g of sugar in a litre. That is the strength of our 2:1 rich syrup; reduced-juice bottles are as thick, though their makers rarely print a sugar figure.
Cane syrup and the syrups it is compared with
Sirop de canne, cane juice
- Made from
- Pressed cane juice, filtered and reduced
- Sugar per litre
- Not published; thick, like a 2:1 syrup
- Keeps once opened
- Several months refrigerated
Sirop de sucre de canne
- Made from
- Cane sugar and water
- Sugar per litre
- About 880g (Dillon)
- Keeps once opened
- Several months refrigerated
Home cane syrup
- Made from
- Unrefined cane sugar, 2:1 by weight
- Sugar per litre
- About 890g
- Keeps once opened
- One month refrigerated
Simple syrup
- Made from
- White sugar, 1:1 by weight
- Sugar per litre
- About 615g
- Keeps once opened
- Two weeks refrigerated
| Syrup | Made from | Sugar per litre | Keeps once opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sirop de canne, cane juice | Pressed cane juice, filtered and reduced | Not published; thick, like a 2:1 syrup | Several months refrigerated |
| Sirop de sucre de canne | Cane sugar and water | About 880g (Dillon) | Several months refrigerated |
| Home cane syrup | Unrefined cane sugar, 2:1 by weight | About 890g | One month refrigerated |
| Simple syrup | White sugar, 1:1 by weight | About 615g | Two weeks refrigerated |
The Ti’ Punch is where it matters
The Ti’ Punch is rhum, lime and syrup with nothing else to hide behind, so the syrup shows. Cane syrup sits with the grassy cane note of rhum agricole, where white simple syrup leaves the drink thinner and wetter. Our recipe starts at 10ml and leaves the rest to the drinker.
At home it is a 2:1 syrup of unrefined sugar
Two parts unrefined cane sugar to one of water, weighed and warmed until clear, gives a syrup of the right strength with a light caramel, though not the fresh-cane taste of a reduced-juice bottle. Refrigerated, we keep it a month, like rich syrup and demerara syrup. We keep shop-bought bottles longer once opened, several months refrigerated; in both cases keep the neck clean, because a sugar crust around the cap is where they spoil.
Using Cane Syrup
Usage
The Ti’ Punch takes 10ml as a starting point, and each drinker sets their own sweetness from there. In any recipe written for simple syrup, use two thirds as much, as with rich syrup.
House Recipe
Ingredients
- 400g unrefined cane sugar
- 200g water (200ml)
Method
- Warm the water, add the sugar and stir over a low heat until clear, without boiling.
- Cool, bottle and label with the ratio and the date.
- Wipe the neck clean before capping, and refrigerate.
Food safety
Sugar crust around the cap is where these bottles fail, so keep the neck clean. Throw it out at any cloudiness, fizz or mould.
Pro Tip
In a Ti’ Punch, put the syrup and the lime in first and let the drinker press and stir to taste before the rhum goes in. The sweetness is theirs to set, and 10ml is where to begin rather than where to end.
Top Tips
- Read the label. A bottle that says sirop de sucre de canne is dissolved cane sugar; one made from cane juice says so.
- Pour two thirds of a simple-syrup measure. It is about as strong as a 2:1 rich syrup.
- Wipe the neck before capping. A sugar crust around the cap is where these bottles fail.
- For a home version, weigh 400g of unrefined cane sugar to 200g of water and keep it off the boil.
Possible Substitutions
- Demerara Syrup: darker and more toffee-led, the same weight
More to explore
Common Questions
What is cane syrup?
Is cane sugar syrup the same as cane syrup?
How do I make cane syrup at home?
How much cane syrup should I use in place of simple syrup?
Is cane syrup the same as golden syrup?
How long does cane syrup keep once opened?
Made with Cane Syrup
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Updated 17 October 2026