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!
✨ Recipe
Homemade Sour Mix
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- ¾ cups lime juice , freshly squeezed
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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!
Tom
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.
laurenpacek
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 😉
James Paulsen
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.
Christopher Scott Nohilly
I normally use lemon juice only in my sour 2 parts and 1 part simple , 1 part water for sour drinks long islands lemon drops john dalys etc....then I make a lime simple equal parts lime and simple to accomodate the margaritas and mojitos cosmos etc.
Wendy
How long is this good for in fridge, also, why not just shake the sugar and water til it dissolves?
laurenpacek
It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. Maybe a little longer. Keep an eye on it, and if you notice anything unusually cloudy, or anything floating in it, it's time to pitch it.
You could try shaking the water and sugar, but it's unlikely to dissolve entirely. Then you're left with a gritty sugar/water mixture. Dissolving it in hot water ensures that the sour mix is completely liquid and that there will be no grit in your drink.
Chase
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.
laurenpacek
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!
Tom
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.
Holly
About how long will this keep in the fridge?
laurenpacek
Approximately 2-3 weeks. But, if I'm being honest, it doesn't last that long in my house 😉
Holly
I put my sour mix in ice cube trays and then freeze it. Works like a charm. I found the best recipe ever for Whisky Sours; squeeze juice of 2 lemons and 1 orange, 4 Tbls. sugar, 4 jiggers of whiskey, 4 or 5 ice cubes, 1 egg white (best at room temp.) Serves 4 Of course you can switch out regular simple syrup for sugar, adjust sweetness to taste. No sour mix needed!
Will
Whiskey to mix ratio?
laurenpacek
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
Kathy
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!
laurenpacek
Hi Kathy. Woo hoo! So glad that you liked it!! You enjoy that Lemon Drop whenever you feel like it. You deserve it 😉
Kathy
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!
Gregory love
Liked the recipe. Perfect for Rita’s
John
It's great for both whiskey sours and margaritas...and anything else you make with it. Dilute to make. A lemon-limeade.
Karalee
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.
laurenpacek
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!
Karalee
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.
Rhonda
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!
laurenpacek
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 😉
Rhonda
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!
John
It's great for both whiskey sours and margaritas...and anything else you make with it. Dilute to make. A lemon-limeade.
Long
I will be trying it soon. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes.
Long
I will be trying it soon. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more of your recipes.
Megan
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! 🙂
laurenpacek
Hi there, Megan! I'm so glad that this recipe could come through for you. Cheers!!
Megan
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! 🙂
JD
My recipe is always based on what I have for citrus. It's always great though.
JD
My recipe is always based on what I have for citrus. It's always great though.
Robin
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!!
laurenpacek
Hey, Robin! Yayy so glad that y'all loved it!! Cheers!
Chase
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.
ratebot203
wow very cool :)))
Mrs. Blennerhassit
One of the points of sour mix is to create a froth on top - in the old days, egg whites were used for this purpose in the sour mix.... the store bought versions of sour mix have something in them that foams up.
laurenpacek
You're right, egg whites are still very often used to create that lovely head of foam on cocktails! However, the egg white foam and sour mix (whether homemade or store bought) are two separate components to a cocktail.
John R.
Good stuff, Lauren! I made a few tweaks to your recipe, using mostly honey instead of sugar, and all lemon juice. Turned out great! I'm now ready for a summer of whiskey sours!
laurenpacek
So glad that you could make it work for you! Cheers!
kerry
Anyone done this with a jar of lemon or lime juice from the store? 1 cup of juice takes like 4-5 lemons and at least that many limes thats kinda $$
derp
I loved the flavor, but I would need to boil it down more for certain recipes. Next time I will half the water.