Sugar (Granulated)
Refined white sugar, the baseline sweetener every other one is measured against. It dissolves slowly in cold liquid, and that single fact decides when to use it dry and when to turn it into syrup first.
Quick Facts
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Clean, neutral sweetness with no aroma or aftertaste when fully dissolved. Acts as a structural balancing element rather than a flavour driver.
Recommended Brand
Recommended
Supermarket white granulated: sugar is sugar, and this is what a syrup recipe assumes
Storage & Handling
Store in a cool, dry place in an airtight container. Protect from moisture to prevent clumping and contamination.
Shelf Life
Indefinite when stored dry and sealed
Usage
Used dry where the method dissolves it, in a muddled Caipirinha or a swizzled drink, and converted to syrup everywhere else. Sugar and syrup are not interchangeable by volume, because a 1:1 syrup is already half water.
Why Syrup Usually Wins
Granulated sugar dissolves slowly in cold liquid and barely at all in cold spirit, so a shaken drink sweetened with dry sugar frequently arrives with sugar sitting on the bottom of the glass. Converting it to syrup first solves that and makes the sweetness measurable, which is why almost all modern service runs on syrup. The exceptions are the methods that do the dissolving as part of the technique: muddling, swizzling, and a long stir over ice with a sugar cube and bitters.
The Forms, and What They Are For
Granulated is the default, being refined white sucrose with a crystal size that suits syrup-making. Caster is the same sugar ground finer, which makes it dissolve faster and suits anything muddled or shaken. Icing sugar is finer again and carries an anti-caking starch, which clouds a drink and is why it belongs in a Ramos Gin Fizz and almost nowhere else. Demerara and the other partially refined sugars keep some molasses and therefore contribute flavour, which makes them a different decision rather than a finer grind. Sugar cubes are compressed granulated sugar, and their virtue is a fixed dose.
Why the Caipirinha Uses It Dry
Muddling lime with sugar does two jobs at once. The crystals act as an abrasive against the fruit, tearing the peel and releasing oils that a syrup would never extract, and the sugar dissolves into the juice as it goes. Replace it with syrup and the drink loses the oil and becomes a lime daiquiri served in a rocks glass. The same logic applies to a Mojito and to any drink where fruit is pressed rather than juiced.
Sweetness Is Not Measured in Spoons
A recipe saying two teaspoons of sugar and one saying 10ml of syrup are not the same instruction, because a 1:1 syrup is half water by weight and a 2:1 syrup is not. Converting between them means thinking about the sugar rather than the volume. The practical approach is to pick one and stay with it, since a bar running on 1:1 syrup with its recipes adjusted to suit will be consistent, and one mixing methods will not be.
Pro Tip
If sweetness feels uneven, it’s usually undissolved sugar, not overuse.
Top Tips
- Make syrup rather than measuring sugar. It dissolves, it measures and it pours.
- Use it dry only where the method dissolves it: muddled, swizzled, or stirred long over ice.
- Keep icing sugar away from clear drinks. The anti-caking starch in it clouds them.
Possible Substitutions
- Caster sugar (faster dissolution)
- Simple syrup (preferred for cocktails)
- Demerara sugar (adds molasses notes; not neutral)
Production Method
Produced by extracting juice from sugar cane or sugar beet, refining it through crystallisation, and drying into uniform granules.
History & Context
Sugar has been fundamental to cocktails since their earliest definitions in the 19th century, where balance between spirit, sugar, water, and bitters defined the category. While modern bars favour syrups for consistency, granulated sugar remains the foundational reference.
Common Questions
Sugar or syrup in cocktails?
Syrup in almost every case, because granulated sugar dissolves slowly in cold liquid and ends up on the bottom of the glass. Dry sugar belongs only where the method dissolves it, which means muddled drinks, swizzles, and a cube stirred long over ice.
Why does the Caipirinha use sugar?
Because the crystals do mechanical work as well as sweetening. Muddled against lime they tear the peel and release oils that syrup cannot extract. Substitute syrup and the drink loses that aroma and becomes a lime daiquiri served in a rocks glass.
What are sugar cubes for?
A fixed dose that dissolves slowly, which suits an Old Fashioned or a Champagne Cocktail where the drink is stirred or sipped over time. Saturating the cube with bitters first is the traditional method, and it gives the bitters somewhere to sit before the spirit arrives.
Caster or granulated?
Caster is the same sugar ground finer, so it dissolves faster and suits anything muddled or shaken. Granulated is the default for making syrup, where crystal size makes no difference once it has dissolved. Neither changes the flavour, unlike demerara, which does.