Last Updated on February 21, 2021 by laurenpacek
Homemade Sour Mix is so easy to make, and is so much better than the neon green store bought stuff.
I'm telling you, sour mix is so easy to make at home. It's totally worth the little bit of effort that it takes to whip this up.
Please don't give in to temptation and buy a bottle of pre-made sour mix.
I know that it might be tempting to just buy a bottle of pre-made mix from the store. I get it. It's right there, and it's ready to go. But trust me. With how easy AND how much more delicious this is, you'd be a fool to buy some.
There are no weird preservatives and no overabundance of food coloring. Just 4 simple ingredients (one of them is water!). You really can't beat it.
Making your own sour mix requires only a few ingredients and steps!
Just like it says above: this mix is super easy to make. This recipe involves very few, very easy steps. You'll start out by making a simple syrup. We've done this before. It's, well, simple.
Next, you'll squeeze some (okay, a lot of) fresh citrus. Lemons and limes, to be exact. Stir the fresh squeezed juice into the cooled simple syrup and boom. You're done. Stash it in the fridge and break it out whenever you feel like whipping up a cocktail.
I've found that the quantity of sour mix made with this recipe fits perfectly in a quart mason jar.
Want to know how to put this sour mix to good use?
Check out my recipe for The Palace Cafe Cocktail! It uses this mix AND the Rosemary Infused Vodka that I shared recently. It's perfect for warm weather sipping!
The Black Eyed Susan (official drink of The Preakness Stakes!) is pretty fantastic, too.
You could also make a classic whiskey or amaretto sour!
Looking to up your home bar cred even further?
Impress the heck out of your guests with Homemade Luxardo Cherries! You know, the fancy ass cherries used as garnishes in Old Fashioneds? These are the ones.
Your friends will also be very pleased to imbibe some of this Rosemary Infused Vodka and/or Basil Infused Vodka, especially when mixed up into tasty cocktails!
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¾ cups lime juice, freshly squeezed
-
The first thing you're going to do is make a simple syrup. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water. Stirring occasionally, heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved.
-
Remove from the heat and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled, pour the simple syrup into the container in which you'll be storing the sour mix.
-
Add the lemon and lime juices to the simple syrup. Give everything a shake until well combined. Seal the container and store the sour mix in the fridge.
What gear will I need to make this sour mix?
- Quart Mason jars
- I really like this citrus squeezer. No lie, I use it all. the. time.
What's your favorite cocktail?
Tell me in the comments! Bonus points if it uses this mix 😉
Pin it for later!
While your recipe is great for margaritas, I think it may be a bit sweet for whiskey sours. By using one part lemon juice, one part lime juice, two parts water and one part sugar, the sugar doesn't overpower the taste of the whiskey. This is especially important if you are using a better grade of whiskey vs well grade. Of course, any fresh made sour mix beats the bottled swill you get at the store.
Hi Tom, and thanks! Definitely feel free to tinker with the proportions to suit your needs. I'm of the same mindset that homemade is definitely better than the bottled store bought crap 😉
You wouldn't actually use this type of a sour mix for a whiskey sour. This mix is for Mojitos, Margaritas, Tom Collins, etc. Whiskey sours are completely different.
So just double up the water amount and it worked better for whiskey sour? A girl I'm dating loves Amaretto sour so I'm going to make some sour from scratch. I hate the store bought stuff.
You can tinker with it however you'd like. For whiskey sours, I almost always just use plain old lemon juice, but this should work, too!
About how long will this keep in the fridge?
Approximately 2-3 weeks. But, if I'm being honest, it doesn't last that long in my house 😉
Whiskey to mix ratio?
I think it depends on your personal tastes, but here's what Food Network has to say about it: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/whiskey-sour-3644825
Great recipe! We just had a taste-test with your recipe vs. the store-bought sour mix. Hands down, this one is better. It tastes so fresh and I might not be able to wait until this evening to make a Lemon Drop!
Hi Kathy. Woo hoo! So glad that you liked it!! You enjoy that Lemon Drop whenever you feel like it. You deserve it 😉
Liked the recipe. Perfect for Rita’s
It's great for both whiskey sours and margaritas...and anything else you make with it. Dilute to make. A lemon-limeade.
Great idea and I love my whiskey sour heavy on the fresh squeezed lemon. I unfortunately would have to sub the simple sugar for stevia and I find that stevia does not (for myself) leave any aftertaste when combined with fresh lemon and lime juice.
I like on the sour side, too! I'm not much of a stevia user, but would be very interested to know how much stevia you would use to replace the amount of simple syrup in this recipe!
We’ve been on a quest to replicate my favorite Martini from a local restaurant. It is called Golden Pear. There are many variations, but I couldn’t find anything on the internet with the exact ingredients mentioned on the menu, so we thought we’d do a little experiment to try to figure it out! The one given was Homemade Sour Mix... I made yours with one slight modification (I used a full cup of lime juice instead of 3/4) and it was fantastic! Thanks!
Hi, Rhonda! So glad you liked it and were able to tinker with the proportions to make it fit your tastes/needs! I'd love to get the recipe for the Golden Pear 😉
I will be trying it soon. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes.
Needed to make a sour mix ASAP since I forgot to get a few family members were coming for Christmas. What better way to celebrate? Drinks! This sour mix recipe went well with the Collins, and daiquiri for starters... more to come. Well balanced on sweetness and sour but still taste the alcohol of choice! 🙂
Hi there, Megan! I'm so glad that this recipe could come through for you. Cheers!!
My recipe is always based on what I have for citrus. It's always great though.
Loved this mix! My sister was visiting and she loves Amaretto sours! I made this for her and she loved it. We did top it with some seltzer! We had to make another batch! Cheers!!
Hey, Robin! Yayy so glad that y'all loved it!! Cheers!