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While visiting a coffee shop with coffee I was offered these two kind of sugar. But don't know about differences between them. And why does brown sugar absorb moisture quickly compared to white one? And can we use brown sugar instead of white sugar or vice versa?

Cascabel
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The Hungry Dictator
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    As for preference: that is purely a question of taste as far as the offerings in a coffee shop are concerned. – Stephie Feb 09 '16 at 13:23
  • It's also off-topic here since it's purely subjective. The "preferable" one is whichever you personally prefer. – logophobe Feb 09 '16 at 14:25
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    I removed your edit to add the question about which one is preferable, as that is subjective and would require opinion-based answers. Also removed 'Raw' from the title as white sugar is not raw. – Cindy Feb 09 '16 at 16:03

1 Answers1

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Brown sugar is just white granulated sugar with molasses added. Dark brown sugar just has more molasses than light brown sugar.

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Coffee shops often have turbinado sugar, a common brand is Sugar in the Raw. Turbinado sugar is brown because it is less refined than white sugar.

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The turbinado sugar is less "wet" than brown sugar, so it will dissolve somewhat faster than brown sugar. The molasses inhibits the sugar from dissolving quite as quickly, but will also contribute to the sugar drying in hard clumps.

Given a choice in a coffee shop, I would choose the turbinado or the white sugar. The molasses in brown sugar doesn't add anything that I want. Honestly, I can't really tell the difference in coffee between turbinado and white sugar, but I use turbinado anyway - for no particular reason.

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Jolenealaska
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  • Thank you for your response. but do you know, Which one is more sweeter ? – The Hungry Dictator Feb 09 '16 at 11:15
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    @RonakBhatt To the best of my knowledge and from what I have experienced, they are all equally sweet. – Jolenealaska Feb 09 '16 at 11:27
  • @RonakBhatt More refined sugar tends to be more "purely" sweet, as in it does not taste of anything but sweetness. Less refined sugar can have subtle flavors of caramel (or molasses, obviously) in with the sweetness. Technically, if you're going by mass the less refined sugar will *slightly* be less sweet, but that effect won't be noticeable with the approximate amounts used in coffee (not to mention all the other factors that affect the flavor of the coffee itself). – logophobe Feb 09 '16 at 14:24
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    Brown sugar hasn't necessarily had molasses *added*, molasses is the byproduct produced from refining raw (brown) sugar into white sugar. Brown sugars can be either unrefined (no molasses removed), partially refined (some molasses removed), or reconstituted (molasses added back into refined white sugar). – J... Feb 09 '16 at 15:34
  • Actually turbinado sugar dissolves the slowest of all the three mentioned sugars. Although it tastes good it's much harder to get it all to dissolve. Brown sugar dissolves more quickly because it is already compromised with moisture so it doesn't take much for it to dissolve. Both white sugar and brown sugar barely need to be stirred if you out the sugar in first and pour hot coffee over it turbinado always needs to be coerced with stirring. – Escoce Feb 09 '16 at 16:43
  • @J... Although brown sugar _used_ to be less refined, that's not so anymore. It's cheaper to refine it all, then add back in some molasses than it is to have two completely different production cycles and processes. – Escoce Feb 09 '16 at 16:44
  • @Escoce That goes against what I *think* I know, but it will make a good and easy experiment! – Jolenealaska Feb 09 '16 at 19:21
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    @Jolenealaska it's just from experience, no real experimentation, just age and lots of coffee drank over the last few decades :-) – Escoce Feb 09 '16 at 19:23
  • @Escoce i use both brown and white with my coffee.. which one you prefer more? – The Hungry Dictator Feb 10 '16 at 05:48
  • It depends on my mood. I usually use white sugar, as little as I can get away with and still taste it, but I prefer the taste of brown sugar in my coffee, at least the coffee I make at home. Not all coffee tastes good with brown sugar, some is just horrible no matter what you do to it. I like light roast coffee that has been brewed strong. – Escoce Feb 10 '16 at 14:01