The History of Sour Cocktails 

Making cocktails is like cooking — it’s all about balancing flavors to create something tastier than the sum of its parts, and there’s science involved here. Sour cocktails are based on three main components that balance each other: a spirit, a sweetener and an acidic ingredient.

Cocktails, including the Margarita, Mojito, Daiquiri and the whiskey sour, are all parts of the family, and they go back to the most ancient cocktail form — the punch, a mixed drink that originated four-hundred years in India. 

As explained in the earliest cocktail recipe books, the three main ingredients comprising a sour can evolve into more complex, although outdated cocktail families, including fixes and daisies. Collins cocktails, which are basically sours topped with sparkling water, are notable family members.

Even some of the most modern cocktails, crafted by talented mixologists, are based on the simple premise that acidity balances sweetness and that both elements elevate any alcoholic spirit to new heights.

The Ingredients 

The most important ingredients in sour cocktails are alcoholic drinks, acidic elements and sweeteners.

For the alcoholic base, any spirit, from gin, vodka and rum, to flavored liqueurs like Amaretto, which are flavored and sweetened, can be used. The leading liqueur will often give the cocktail its name, and you can use more than one alcoholic drink: Margaritas call for both Tequila and orange liqueur.

Nowadays, the acidic element is mostly either lime or lemon juice, although a drink category called Shrubs calls for the more potent vinegar. Acidity balances the drink’s sweetness in the same way lemon works in lemonades

As for the sweetener, bars commonly use simple syrup, a mixture of equal parts of sugar and water. Other sweeteners, from low-carb alternatives to honey, can be used as well, rendering delicious results.

Three main ingredients are all you need. There’s beauty in simplicity, after all. This doesn’t mean you won’t find variations for some of the most common sour cocktails. 

Variations and Similar Cocktails 

The whiskey sour is one of the most frequent sour cocktails, but the liqueur can be substituted for others. A Pisco Sour follows the same basic recipe, but it relies on egg whites to add a frothy foam to the drink.

The Tom Collins, a gin-based sour cocktail and topped with soda, is a familiar tall drink, and it has its own variations. A John Collins calls for Bourbon, and you can probably guess how a Vodka Collins is made of.

Something similar happens to the Fizz cocktail family. With the Gin Fizz as the most prevalent variety. They’re similar to Collins cocktails but are often served chilled without ice. 

Mojitos are sour cocktails too, and even the Ramos Gin Fizz, which incorporates dairy to the drink, is a sophisticated sour. 

Classic Whiskey Sour Cocktail Recipe

From all sour cocktails, we’d love to share with you how we make the Whiskey Sour. The good news is that once you master the art of balancing sweetness and sourness, you can make at least a dozen unique cocktails, and they’re all lovely.

What you’ll need:

– Cocktail shaker

– Prong strainer 

– Low glass

 

Ingredients:

– 2 ounces Bourbon

– 1 ounce fresh lemon juice

– 1 ounce simple syrup

– Ice

– Orange wheel and maraschino cherry for garnish

 

Directions:

1. Fill your shaker with ice and add the Bourbon, lemon juice and simple syrup. 

2. Shake for 20 seconds or until the shaker is frosty.

3. Strain into your glass filled with fresh ice. 

4. Garnish with the orange wheel and the cherry.

A Tangy and Sweet Drink

Sour cocktails are wide and varied, meaning there’s certainly one to satisfy your palate. Whether you’re into fizzy drinks or strong beverages, sours are there for you. 

From classic to new age concoctions, many cocktails are based on the three-ingredient combination, the holy trinity of cocktails: spirit, sugar and citrus. How cool is that