Homemade Sweet and Sour Mix is so easy to make and so much better than store bought. It's truly one of the most versatile mixers that can be used to make a variety of newer and classic cocktails. The zing of the juices are the perfect complement to sweet simple syrup. Make your own sour mix and keep it on hand to enjoy anytime! This recipe makes plenty, too - enough for a whole party! It's totally worth the little bit of effort that it takes to whip this up.
I know that it might be tempting to just buy a bottle of pre-made sour drink 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 natural flavor that come from 3 simple, fresh ingredients: real juice from real lemons, real limes, and simple syrup. It's the perfect balance of sweet and sour. You really can't beat it.
If you're like me, there's a good chance that you like to have your home bar stocked with a variety of mixers and garnishes. Show off your home bartender skills with more recipes for home bar basics: Try my Grenadine Syrup or Luxardo Cherries!
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
It uses only fresh ingredients. Just fresh fruit juices and some simple syrup here!
It tastes great. That's it. It tastes so good. It adds the perfect bit of tart sweetness to any drink.
You can use it in countless favorite drinks. It has so many uses!
💭 What is Sweet and Sour Mix?
Sweet and sour mix (sometimes just called sour mix) is, at its most basic, a roughly equal mixture of lemon and/or lime juices and simple syrup. It's used to sweeten cocktails (and mocktails) and give them a little bit of tangy zip.
You've probably seen pre-made bottled sour mix at the liquor store or in a bar. It's bright green in color. This version is nothing like that.
DIY Sour Mix is made with fresh ingredients (just simple syrup and some fresh juices) and tastes SO much better than the pre-made stuff. No weird preservatives or strange ingredients here.
📝 Ingredients
You only need THREE ingredients to make this sweet and sour mix at home.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed, please.
- Lime juice: Again, freshly squeezed.
- Simple syrup: It's so easy to make your own at home. Just follow my recipe!
🔀 Substitutions or variations
- Make it more or less sweet. If you want a sweeter mix, use more simple syrup. Want it more tart? Use less simple syrup (or more citrus).
- Change the ratio of lemon to lime juice. You can tinker with the amounts of lemon and lime juice if you prefer more of one over the other. Keep the overall amount of juice the same.
👩🏻🍳 How to make Sour Mix
Just like it says above: this mix is super easy to make. This recipe involves very few, very easy steps. First, 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. You can do it by hand if you want, but I've found that this little citrus squeezer makes the job a lot easier.
Next, 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 some refreshing cocktails.
If you zest your lemons before juicing them, you can make sous vide limoncello, too!
I've found that the quantity of sour mix made with this recipe fits perfectly in a quart mason jar or one of these handy bottles from Crew.
🛠️ How to use homemade sweet and sour mix
Homemade Sour Mix can be used in so many of your favorite cocktails. Think, whiskey sours, amaretto sour, the best margarita, the perfect Collins, a pisco sour... the list goes on and on. A few more of them are shown below. Click any of the photos below to be taken to the recipes!
🥃 More home bar basics
If you want to up your home bar cred even further, check out the recipes below.
❓ FAQs
Sour mix (sometimes also called sweet and sour mix) is a mixture of sugar, water, and fresh citrus juices. It gives drinks a sweet and tangy flavor. Sour mix can be purchased in the store, pre-bottled, or made at home.
Yes. For the best results, please use freshly squeezed lemon and lime juices.
Store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
Because it uses fresh ingredients. It tastes better. And there are no weird preservatives or other ingredients that you can't even pronounce.
If kept in the fridge in an airtight container, it should be good for about 2-3 weeks. You an also freeze it!
Yes! I've made a big batch and frozen it several times now. I put the sour mix into these Souper Cubes, freeze until solid, and then transfer them to a freezer safe zip top bag. Just thaw it out when you're ready to use it and give it a shake.
Sure. If you don't want a whole bottle of sour mix, you can make a smaller amount. Just divide the amounts of the ingredients equally.
Sort of. Margarita mix is usually made with lime juice only. Plus all the preservatives and stabilizers and whatnot.
I'd love to know what you thought of this recipe! Don't forget to leave a comment and ⭐️ star rating below!
✨ Recipe
Sweet and Sour Mix
Ingredients
- 1 cup simple syrup
- 1 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¾ cups lime juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Combine the simple syrup and freshly squeezed juices in an airtight container.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Freshly squeezed juices will give you the best results
- This sour mix freezes and thaws well
- You can make a bigger or smaller batch; just either multiply the amounts of each ingredient equally (for a bigger batch) or divide them equally (for a smaller batch)
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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!!
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.
John
It's great for both whiskey sours and margaritas...and anything else you make with it. Dilute to make. A lemon-limeade.
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!
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 😉
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.
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!
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.
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!
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 😉
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
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!
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.
Felicia
Have you ever made it with agave nectar? My husband can no longer have any carbonation and limited sugar. I use agave a lot. I love this using sugar, I was just curious if you’ve tried it with agave.
Lauren Pacek
Never tried it with agave nectar, but it's an interesting idea! If you ever try it, please let me know how it goes!
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!