Out of Simple syrup, one case
Can you substitute sugar for simple syrup?
5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Sugar + water (make the syrup)
2/3 cup sugar + 2/3 cup water for every cup of simple syrup
Yes. Simple syrup is sugar dissolved in an equal measure of water, so the quickest fix is to make it: stir ¼ cup sugar into ¼ cup hot water until clear. To put sugar straight into a drink, use 2 teaspoons of sugar for each tablespoon (½ oz) of simple syrup, and stir or shake until it dissolves. Plain granulated sugar dissolves slowly in cold liquid and leaves grit at the bottom of the glass.
- Verdict —
- Works
- The tweak —
- Stir the sugar into hot water until the liquid is clear, with no need to boil. Cool before using in a cold drink. For one or two drinks, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons hot water make about 1 ½ oz.
- Best for —
- cocktails
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full simple syrup card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup simple syrup | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sugar + water (make the syrup)cocktails | 2/3 cup sugar + 2/3 cup waterWorks | Works |
| 2 | Superfine sugarshaken cocktails such as sours and daiquiris | 2 tsp per 1 tbspTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Granulated sugarhot drinks, where it dissolves at once | 2 tsp per 1 tbspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Brown or demerara sugarold fashioneds and other whiskey and rum drinks | 2 tsp per 1 tbspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Powdered sugarshaken drinks when nothing else is in the house | 1 tbsp per 1 tbspYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
Sugar + water (make the syrup)
the same
This is simple syrup. Equal volumes of sugar and water, stirred until the sugar dissolves, give about one and a half times the volume of either.
- Best for
- cocktails, iced coffee, iced tea and lemonade, brushing on cake layers
- Prep
- Stir the sugar into hot water until the liquid is clear, with no need to boil. Cool before using in a cold drink. For one or two drinks, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons hot water make about 1 ½ oz.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Nowhere, apart from the few minutes it takes to cool.
Superfine sugar
the same sweetness
Finer crystals than granulated, sold as superfine, caster or bar sugar. It dissolves in cold liquid with a hard shake or a good stir.
- Best for
- shaken cocktails such as sours and daiquiris, mojitos and other muddled drinks, lemonade
- Taste
- the same sweetness; the drink is very slightly stronger because the syrup's water is missing
- Prep
- Add the sugar to the citrus juice or spirit and stir until dissolved before the ice goes in. Ice chills the drink and stops the sugar from dissolving.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Stirred, spirit-only drinks with nothing watery to dissolve it in.
No superfine sugar: run granulated sugar in a blender or food processor for 30 seconds.
Granulated sugar
the same once dissolved
The same sweetness in the same amount, but the crystals are coarse and slow to dissolve in anything cold.
- Best for
- hot drinks, where it dissolves at once, an old fashioned, muddled with bitters and a splash of water, baking recipes that add syrup to a batter
- Prep
- Dissolve it first in an equal amount of warm water or in the citrus juice. In a hot drink, stir it straight in.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Iced coffee, iced tea and cold cocktails: undissolved sugar sinks, so the drink is less sweet than it should be and gritty at the end.
One sugar cube is about 1 teaspoon of sugar, which sweetens like ¼ oz (1 ½ teaspoons) of simple syrup.
Brown or demerara sugar
caramel and molasses
Sweetens in the same amount and adds a molasses, caramel flavor and a darker color. Dissolved in equal parts water it makes demerara syrup.
- Best for
- old fashioneds and other whiskey and rum drinks, iced coffee, tiki drinks
- Prep
- Pack brown sugar into the spoon, and dissolve it in an equal amount of hot water first.
- Suits
- vegan
- Where it fails
- Clear, bright drinks such as a gin sour, a daiquiri or lemonade, where it muddies the color and the flavor.
Powdered sugar
the same sweetness, with a faint chalky note
It dissolves fast, but it is lighter by the spoonful than granulated sugar and contains a little cornstarch.
- Best for
- shaken drinks when nothing else is in the house, sweetening whipped cream or fruit
- Prep
- Start with the same measure as the syrup, shake hard and taste.
- Where it fails
- The cornstarch turns a clear drink cloudy and can leave a film. Do not use it to make a syrup you plan to store.
Tips for substituting simple syrup
5 tips- The conversion for standard 1:1 syrup: ¼ oz syrup = 1 teaspoon sugar. ½ oz = 2 teaspoons. ¾ oz = 1 tablespoon. 1 oz = 4 teaspoons.
- Rich simple syrup is 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. It holds about 1 tablespoon of sugar per ½ oz (1 tablespoon), so replace it with an equal measure of sugar.
- Dissolve sugar before the ice goes in. Stir it into the lemon or lime juice in the shaker, then add spirit and ice.
- For cake layers, sugar cannot be brushed on. Make the syrup: ¼ cup sugar stirred into ¼ cup hot water gives about 6 tablespoons.
- Homemade 1:1 syrup keeps about a month in a clean, covered jar in the fridge. Throw it out if it turns cloudy.
Questions
5 questionsHow much sugar equals 1 oz of simple syrup?
4 teaspoons, a little over a tablespoon. Standard simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, and 1 cup of each makes about 1 ½ cups of syrup, so every ounce of syrup carries about two thirds of an ounce by volume of sugar.
How much sugar replaces rich simple syrup?
About the same measure: 1 tablespoon of sugar for each ½ oz (1 tablespoon) of rich 2:1 syrup, or 1 teaspoon for a teaspoon. Rich syrup is sweeter than standard syrup, which is why recipes use less of it.
Can I make simple syrup with a sugar-free sweetener?
Yes, with a granulated one that dissolves. Allulose dissolved in an equal measure of hot water makes a syrup that stays liquid in the fridge; it is about 70 percent as sweet as sugar, so the syrup is milder. Erythritol dissolves when hot but tends to form crystals once chilled. Liquid stevia or monk fruit drops sweeten a drink but add no body, so add them to taste with a little water.
Can I put sugar straight into iced coffee?
It will not dissolve well. Stir 2 teaspoons of sugar into a tablespoon of hot coffee or hot water first, then add it to the cold drink. That is a single serving of simple syrup.
Can I use sugar in place of simple syrup in baking?
In a batter, yes: use two thirds of the syrup's volume in sugar and add the same amount of water, so 2/3 cup sugar and 2/3 cup water per cup of syrup. For soaking cake layers or glazing fruit, the syrup has to be liquid, so dissolve the sugar first.