Balance is the key to a delicious cocktail. When a drink is too boozy, it's tough to swallow. When it's too sweet, it can be equally hard to swallow, in a cloying way. Refined white sugar, even in the form of simple syrup is often the culprit. Demerara sugar, or a simple syrup made from it, can resolve the problem.

Sugar cane requires processing to become the sugar crystals we know and use. But the processing strips sugar of much of its character. This is where Demerara can be a superior choice.

“Demerara sugar is minimally processed, keeping the crystals fat and sticky, allowing it to retain some of the cane's natural molasses,” says Luke Duncan, founder of Eli Mason cocktail mixers in Nashville, Tenn. His Demerara syrup has hints of caramel flavors and a velvety texture. “It works in most brown liquor (drinks) and fares exceptionally well in specialty cocktails grounded on molasses-based rums.” He likes it especially with Tiki drinks that call for a hint of molasses and raw sugar notes.

Henry Prendergast, beverage director of Analogue in Chicago, also finds that Demerara sugar pairs well with bourbon (or any aged whiskey), as well as dark rums, echoing the woody molasses flavor.

“We've been using Demerara sugar for most of our careers,” says Prendergast. “The unrefined sugar comes from Guyana and works well in stirred cocktails and flips, adding a deeper slightly nutty flavor to cocktails, along with a richer mouthfeel than white sugar.”

Analogue uses Demerara sugar in its End of Daze cocktail, a take on a wintry beer flip made with Cruzan Black Strap Rum. At Sepia restaurant in Chicago, head bartender Griffin Elliott dissolves Demerara sugar into a syrup for his riff on an Old Fashioned.

Laura Levy Shatkin is a freelance writer.