Common Cocktail Sweeteners and How to Use Them

Posted on February 17, 2017 by resourcefulman

If there is one ingredient that most cocktails need, it’s some kind of sweetener. But with all the syrups, sugar and honey, things can get confusing. Here’s what you need to know to make the best drinks at home.

In this video from the Cocktail Chemistry YouTube channel, you will learn about the five main sweeteners and how to make and use them.

Simple syrup: A mixture of one part sugar and one part water (by weight) heated on a stove until the sugar dissolves. The default sweetener used in most cocktails, with a sweetness of 50%.
Saturated Simple Syrup: A mixture of two parts sugar and one part water, 66% sweetness, prepared in the same way as simple syrup. Typically used for alcoholic beverages where dilution is as little as possible, as in vintage drinks.
Maple Syrup: “Grade B” maple syrup , with a sweetness of about 67%, can be used as an alternative to rich plain syrup, and some cocktails specifically require it.
Agave syrup: very sweet (75% sweetness), but can be used in place of plain syrup if you add 50 g of water for every 100 g of agave. Some cocktails also recommend consuming agave neat and pair well with lemon-based cocktails.
Honey: 82% sweet clover honey is the sweetest of all cocktail mixers. It is rarely used in cocktail recipes because of its viscosity, but it can be a simple syrup substitute if you add 64g of water for every 100g of honey.