Sugar cube substitutes

The same ingredient, just not pressed. Chemically and in flavour it is identical, so the only difference is handling: loose sugar needs a splash of liquid to hold it together while you muddle, or it scatters and skates around the bottom of the glass.

Best for

Old Fashioned, Sazerac, coffee and tea, baking, any recipe measuring cubes

Add the bitters and a barspoon of water first, then the sugar, then muddle. It turns into a wet paste in about ten seconds. Doing it dry is the reason people end up with undissolved grit at the bottom.

Dissolves instantly, no muddling, no grit. What you give up is the slow release: a muddled cube keeps sweetening the drink as it sits, so the last sip differs from the first, whereas syrup makes the drink uniformly sweet from the start.

Best for

Old Fashioned, any stirred drink, iced coffee and tea, batching multiple drinks

Two teaspoons of 1:1 syrup brings about a teaspoon of extra water into the glass, which is a small but real extra dilution in a spirit-forward drink. Stir a few seconds less to compensate.

Twice the sugar per spoonful, so you need half the volume and add almost no extra water. Demerara syrup also brings a faint toffee and mineral note, which most people find makes a bourbon or rye Old Fashioned taste rounder and more finished.

Best for

Old Fashioned, Sazerac, stirred whiskey and rum drinks

This is what most cocktail bars use in place of a cube, and if you make one syrup for cocktails, make this one. It sweetens correctly, dilutes least, and improves the flavour rather than just matching it.

Same sweetening power, larger and drier crystals, and a light molasses flavour. It gives an Old Fashioned a slightly richer, less clean profile that many people prefer, but coarse crystals dissolve more slowly than fine ones.

Best for

Old Fashioned, rum drinks, coffee

Muddle for longer, or wet it with hot water for a few seconds first. Otherwise you will find undissolved crystals in the bottom of the glass at the end, which is not a disaster but is not the point either.

Both sweeten more powerfully than a teaspoon of sugar, so use a little less. Both also change what the drink tastes of: honey brings a floral note and maple a woody, faintly smoky one. This is a flavour choice, not a stealth swap.

Best for

whiskey drinks, hot toddies, coffee

Straight honey will not dissolve in a cold drink, so thin it 3 parts honey to 1 part hot water first. Maple syrup pours cold as it is and needs no preparation.

Much finer and fluffier than granulated, so it takes more spoonfuls to deliver the same weight of sugar, and it dissolves faster than anything else on this list. The cornstarch blended into most powdered sugar can leave a clear drink very slightly hazy.

Best for

shaken drinks, whiskey smashes, when nothing else is in the cupboard

Fine for a shaken, cloudy drink. Avoid it in a crystal-clear stirred cocktail where you want the drink to look bright, since the starch will dull it a little. It also clumps if you dump it in dry, so add liquid first.