interesting. I literally came across that serious eat article a month or so ago and about 2 weeks ago, toasted 4 types of sugar to test and taste. I used table sugar, demerera, washed raw, and pure cane organic sugar. by a million miles everyones favorite was the organic cane sugar followed by the washed raw. We actually used them to brew some rootbeer and creamsoda with my kids (came out amazing with the caramelized sugar) and plan to try these in several beers!
As a comparison, the table sugar was the lightest and least caramel tasting. Was good, just not as good as any of the others. the demerera and washed raw sugar were very similar with the raw lending just a little more flavor. The pure cane organic was simply amazing. Not as heavy feeling as the other 2 but lots of caramel flavor.
Personally, i think the washed raw would be amazing in anything dark but may get a little deep if used in a lighter beer. The pure cane would be good in almost anything i would imagine.
For reference, I toasted all mine for 3 hours.