Sour Mix

Sour Mix: The Original Drinking Mixer

 

There are some secrets in the world that are held on to pretty tightly and no one ever gets to find out about them. There are other secrets which are like old books – a few know of them and most can find out if they are resourceful enough. So when a person walks into any bar and asks for a Whiskey or Vodka Sour, it makes for a pretty straightforward drink. Pick your choice of Whiskey, pour in the sour mix, add in some ice and cherry juice, and voila – you have a perfectly balanced drink ready to be served at a moment’s notice. The open secret here is not the recipe of the drink but of what goes into making the perfect sour mix and like any open secret, a little bit of digging can make it well worth the effort. It is after all one of the oldest mixers known to bartenders.

 

The well balanced sour mix is made from the base ingredients of a simple syrup, lemon, and egg whites. The egg whites are what makes this mix frothy, although the purists don't usually like the egg whites in the mix. The simple syrup, like the name suggests, is a pretty simple concoction to make. It takes two parts of water and one part of sugar boiled well. This mixture is then bottled, chilled and kept to be used later. Now by adding one part lemon to one part of the simple syrup, and then adding two egg whites for every liter, one gets the perfectly balanced sour mix ready to be used.

 

While there are many mixers available in any grocery store today (the Margarita Mix for example), the sour mix is an old fashioned bartender’s secret that makes any sour drink taste so delicious. Make it at home, chill it in the refrigerator, and use it to make the drinks that will have all the guests asking for more, every time.