Mixers

Demerara Syrup

Demerara syrup is demerara sugar and water at our house 2:1 by weight: 400g of demerara with 200g of water, kept a month in the fridge. The partly refined cane sugar brings a caramel note and a little colour, which is why the Rum Punch, the Toronto and the Queen's Park Swizzle ask for it. The Jungle Bird is the one exception, mixed 1:1 as the IBA specifies.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

OriginHomemade from demerara sugar

Flavour Strengthmedium bold

SeasonYear-round

Our keeping timeHome-made at our house 2:1: one month refrigerated.

Storage

Store syrup refrigerated in a sealed container. Shake before use if separation occurs.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Demerara Syrup

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

CaramelMolassesBrown sugarWarm sweetness

Tasting Notes

Deep caramel sweetness with light molasses bitterness and a rich, rounded mouthfeel. Less sharp than white sugar syrup.

Demerara sugar, two to one

Demerara is cane sugar from which only part of the molasses has been spun off, leaving amber crystals that are still 97 to 99% sucrose. Dissolved at our house 2:1, it is as sweet as a white rich syrup; the difference is the caramel note and the colour. The dry sugar itself has a page of its own, for the drinks that take it as crystals.

Our recipes use one ratio, with one stated exception

Every demerara line in our recipes is 2:1 except the Jungle Bird, which keeps the IBA's equal weights. The table sets the house syrup beside that exception and beside white rich syrup.

Demerara syrup at 2:1, at 1:1 and against white rich syrup

Demerara syrup, house

Sugar to water, by weight: 2:1
Sugar in 10ml: About 9g
Keeps, refrigerated: One month
Our recipes: Rum Punch, Toronto, Improved Whiskey Cocktail and five more

Demerara syrup, 1:1

Sugar to water, by weight: 1:1
Sugar in 10ml: About 6g
Keeps, refrigerated: Two weeks
Our recipes: Jungle Bird only, as the IBA specifies

Rich syrup

Sugar to water, by weight: 2:1, white sugar
Sugar in 10ml: About 9g
Keeps, refrigerated: One month
Our recipes: Amaretto Sour, Banana Calling

Syrup	Sugar to water, by weight	Sugar in 10ml	Keeps, refrigerated	Our recipes
Demerara syrup, house	2:1	About 9g	One month	Rum Punch, Toronto, Improved Whiskey Cocktail and five more
Demerara syrup, 1:1	1:1	About 6g	Two weeks	Jungle Bird only, as the IBA specifies
Rich syrup	2:1, white sugar	About 9g	One month	Amaretto Sour, Banana Calling

It goes where something dark can meet it

Rum is the clearest match: the Rum Punch, the Queen's Park Swizzle and the Rum Smash each take 15ml. Rye and amaro come next, with 5ml holding the fernet in the Toronto and 10ml carrying the maraschino and absinthe in the Improved Whiskey Cocktail. The Jungle Bird uses it to tie blackstrap rum to Campari. In a gin sour or a white-rum Daiquiri the caramel and the amber colour would only get in the way.

It needs heat, and keeps a month

The crystals are large, so demerara needs water close to a simmer and a steady stir before it clears. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the last grain has gone: a syrup left to reduce ends up stronger than 2:1. Cool it before bottling, label the ratio and the date, then refrigerate it; it lasts a month.

Using it

Using Demerara Syrup

Usage

Our recipes pour 5 to 15ml: 5ml in the Toronto and the Port Old Fashioned, 10ml in the Improved Whiskey Cocktail, 15ml in the Rum Punch and the Queen's Park Swizzle. In place of simple syrup, two thirds of the measure gives the same sweetness with the caramel added.

House Recipe

Ratio2:1 by weight

MakesAbout 450ml

Our keeping timeOne month refrigerated

Ingredients

400g demerara sugar
200g water (200ml)

Method

Bring the water to just below a simmer.
Add the demerara and stir until every crystal has gone; demerara will not dissolve cold.
Take it off the heat before it reduces, and let it cool.
Bottle it, label it with the ratio and the date, and refrigerate.

Food safety

A clean bottle, kept cold. Discard it at the first cloudiness, fizz or fermented smell rather than trying to rescue it.

Pro Tip

If a stirred rum or rye drink tastes thin on simple syrup, swap to demerara at two thirds of the measure before reaching for more sugar. The sweetness stays where it was and the caramel fills the middle.

Top Tips

Heat it. Demerara crystals are large and will sit grainy in cold water long after white sugar has gone.
Label the bottle 2:1 or 1:1. Only the Jungle Bird wants the thinner one, and the two look much the same.
Keep it for drinks with something dark to meet: aged rum, rye, bourbon, amaro or port.
A 1:1 batch for the Jungle Bird keeps two weeks, like any 1:1 syrup, not the month the 2:1 keeps.

Possible Substitutions

Rich Syrup: the same measure at 2:1; sweetness without the caramel
Simple Syrup: half as much again; lighter, no caramel

Production Method

Demerara sugar and water warmed together until clear, our house ratio of 2:1 by weight, then cooled and bottled. The Jungle Bird's 1:1 version uses equal weights.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is demerara syrup?

A sugar syrup made with demerara, a partly refined cane sugar that keeps a little of its molasses. Ours is 2:1 by weight, 400g of demerara to 200g of water. It sweetens like a rich white syrup and adds a light caramel note and an amber colour that white sugar does not.

Demerara syrup or simple syrup?

Simple syrup sweetens and adds nothing else, which suits a bright, citrus-led drink. Demerara syrup is stronger at our 2:1 and brings caramel, which suits rum, rye and anything with an amaro or port in it. Swapping one for the other means changing the measure as well: two thirds of the simple measure in demerara.

Is demerara syrup the same as rich syrup?

They share the ratio, 2:1 by weight, and so the sweetness. They differ in the sugar: rich syrup is white sugar and tastes of nothing but sweetness, demerara syrup keeps a caramel edge and colours the drink. At the same measure either can replace the other; the drink changes in taste, not in balance.

Why is the Jungle Bird made with 1:1 demerara syrup?

Because the IBA specification gives it that way, and we follow it in that drink: 15ml of demerara syrup at equal weights of sugar and water. Every other demerara line in our recipes is 2:1. Using our 2:1 syrup in the Jungle Bird, pour about 10ml to keep the balance.

How do you make demerara syrup?

Bring 200g of water almost to a simmer, tip in 400g of demerara and stir until every crystal has gone; demerara will not dissolve cold. Take it off the heat before it reduces, let it cool, then bottle it and label it with 2:1 and the date.

How long does demerara syrup keep?

Sealed and refrigerated, our 2:1 lasts a month. A 1:1 batch keeps two weeks, because it holds more free water. Pour it away at the first cloudiness, fizz or fermented smell; a few crystals at the bottom of a cold bottle are only sugar and warm back in.

Can I use brown sugar to make demerara syrup?

It makes a syrup, though not this one. Soft brown sugars are finer, damper and often darker, sometimes refined white sugar recoloured with molasses, so the syrup tastes heavier and less clean. Demerara's large, dry crystals give the lighter caramel our recipes are balanced on.

Make something

Made with Demerara Syrup

Featured In These Cocktails

Rum Punch Improved Whiskey Cocktail Jungle Bird Toronto Queen’s Park Swizzle The Old Standard

Show all 9 cocktails

Fish House Punch Port Old Fashioned Rum Smash

Often Used With

Updated 10 October 2026

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