<p>I was surprised at how tough it was to track down anything that clearly mentioned both.</p>

<p>Firstly, from several recipes, <a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20216/simple-syrup/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">including this one</a>, it seems that simple syrup is made, as you might expect, by dissolving sugar into an equal amount of water and then cooling.</p>

<p>When it comes to invert sugar, <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Invert-Sugar" rel="nofollow noreferrer">recipes</a> seem to call for more sugar and possibly an acid, be it cream of tartar or citric acid (sometimes via lemon juice) to help catalyze the inversion of the sugar.  On top of that, they often call for boiling until a temperature of 236 °F (114 °C).  This process effectively breaks downs the bond between the glucose and fructose molecules that make up the sucrose.</p>

<p><a href="https://cocktailjen.blogspot.com/2007/04/not-so-simple-syrup.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This page</a> explains that water activity (correlated with spoilage) is better minimized by monosaccharides, while simple syrup generally only contains sucrose, a disaccharide.  It then goes on to describe a method for making "partially inverted sugar syrup" and calls either for acid or more sugar, as well as boiling for 20 minutes.  Since this process is less exact and does less to force the system to break down the sucrose it's easy to see why it's "partially" inverting the sugar.</p>

<p>So to directly answer your question, there is difference. Simple syrup is effectively just sugar (sucrose) dissolved in water, while invert sugar/syrup is dissolved sugar that has been processed to break it down into its component sugars (glucose and fructose).  Invert sugar should be slightly sweeter, thicker, and have a longer shelf-life.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-03T12:53:41.720Z
Wow! That's a lot of great information. Thanks!
Ben Jones
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-03T12:33:38.717Z
2019-02-01T23:01:14.987Z
2019-02-01T23:01:14.987Z
thesquaregroot
<p>I have heard the term <em>inverse</em> or <em>inverted simple syrup</em> used in cocktail recipes, but I haven't been able to figure out how this is different from "regular" simple syrup.  For example, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_sugar_syrup" rel="noreferrer">wikipedia page</a> makes no mention of <em>uninverted</em> simple syrup.</p>

<p>Are these just longer names for regular simple syrup (sugar melted in water)?</p>

<ingredients><cocktails>
What is the difference between inverted simple syrup and simple syrup (if any)
Ben Jones
# What is the difference between inverted simple syrup and simple syrup (if any)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-02)

I have heard the term *inverse* or *inverted simple syrup* used in cocktail recipes, but I haven't been able to figure out how this is different from "regular" simple syrup. For example, the [wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_sugar_syrup) makes no mention of *uninverted* simple syrup.

Are these just longer names for regular simple syrup (sugar melted in water)?

**Tags:** ingredients, cocktails


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-08-03. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

I was surprised at how tough it was to track down anything that clearly mentioned both.

Firstly, from several recipes, [including this one](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20216/simple-syrup/), it seems that simple syrup is made, as you might expect, by dissolving sugar into an equal amount of water and then cooling.

When it comes to invert sugar, [recipes](https://www.wikihow.com/Invert-Sugar) seem to call for more sugar and possibly an acid, be it cream of tartar or citric acid (sometimes via lemon juice) to help catalyze the inversion of the sugar. On top of that, they often call for boiling until a temperature of 236 °F (114 °C). This process effectively breaks downs the bond between the glucose and fructose molecules that make up the sucrose.

[This page](https://cocktailjen.blogspot.com/2007/04/not-so-simple-syrup.html) explains that water activity (correlated with spoilage) is better minimized by monosaccharides, while simple syrup generally only contains sucrose, a disaccharide. It then goes on to describe a method for making "partially inverted sugar syrup" and calls either for acid or more sugar, as well as boiling for 20 minutes. Since this process is less exact and does less to force the system to break down the sucrose it's easy to see why it's "partially" inverting the sugar.

So to directly answer your question, there is difference. Simple syrup is effectively just sugar (sucrose) dissolved in water, while invert sugar/syrup is dissolved sugar that has been processed to break it down into its component sugars (glucose and fructose). Invert sugar should be slightly sweeter, thicker, and have a longer shelf-life.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Wow! That's a lot of great information. Thanks!  

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