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Demerara syrup is a sweetener with a nutty, caramel flavor! Use it for cocktails, coffee drinks, and more.

Want to step up your cocktails and coffee drinks? Try demerara syrup! This simple syrup made with demerara sugar transforms drinks with its nutty, caramel flavor. There’s an essence to the flavor that’s hard to describe in words.
It makes for one impressive cocktail! Alex and I like adding it to an Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, or Manhattan for a caramel boost. It’s also great for adding flavor to a latte or tea latte. It takes just 5 minutes to make!
What is demerara syrup?
Demerara syrup is simple syrup made with demerara sugar instead of granulated sugar. It has a unique caramel flavor, with notes of toffee, toasted sugar, and molasses. You can use it in cocktails or mocktails to add layers of flavor, and it’s great in coffee and tea drinks.
So what’s the sugar? Demerara sugar is a golden brown raw sugar with crunchy, coarse grains. It’s the result of processing cane sugar. Because it’s minimally processed, it still has some molasses, which makes the signature flavors and color.
If you keep processing demerara sugar, it makes granulated sugar. Brown sugar is simply granulated sugar with molasses added—so it has smaller grains and a more molasses-forward flavor than demerara.

How to make demerara syrup
Now for the fun part! If you’ve got the sugar and 5 minutes, you can make demerara syrup. It’s a formula you can memorize and make again and again:
- Place equal parts demerara sugar and water in a saucepan. In this recipe, we used ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water, which yields ¾ cup syrup.
- Heat over medium and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Resist the urge to simmer; all you want is to dissolve the sugar.
- Cool to room temperature. Pour into a covered container and it’s ready to use once cooled.
Storing leftovers
Store demerara syrup in a covered container in the refrigerator for 1 month. It’s nice to start it in a jar with a nozzle top, so you can use it for drizzling into cocktails and coffee drinks.

Ways to use demerara syrup
How to use demerara syrup? This caramel-flavored syrup tastes incredible right off a spoon, but it’s at its best in cocktails, mocktails, coffee drinks, and tea drinks. It naturally pairs well with barrel-aged liquors like whiskey and rum, but it adds a lovely flavor layer to any cocktail. Use demerara syrup in:
- Whiskey cocktails like the Old Fashioned and Whiskey Sour
- Rum cocktails like the Mojito and Daiquiri
- Coffee drinks like a latte, iced coffee, cold brew, iced espresso, and mocha
- Tea drinks like tea lattes or iced tea
- Pancakes and waffles like our favorite pancake recipe and waffle recipe.
Dietary notes
This demerara syrup recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Demerara Syrup
Demerara syrup is a sweetener with a nutty, caramel flavor! Use it for cocktails, coffee drinks, and more.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
- Category: Essentials
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- ½ cup demerara sugar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and heat over medium heat.
- Stir until sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes (no need to simmer). Cool to room temperature before using. Keeps in the refrigerator for 1 month.
More syrup recipes
Love making homemade syrups? Here are a few more recipes to try:
- Learn How to Make Simple Syrup
- Try infused syrups like Mint Simple Syrup, Ginger Simple Syrup, Rosemary Simple Syrup or Lavender Simple Syrup
- Make Vanilla Syrup or Brown Sugar Syrup
- Go seasonal with Pumpkin Spice Syrup or Gingerbread Syrup
I am excited to make this for my husband as he is a self taught mixologist and loves using flavorful ingredients like this!
Where did you get that bottle you use to pour the syrup? It is gorgeous!
I’m not sure how it came to us, sorry!
Let us know if you have any questions!