Best Homemade Sour Mix Recipe
This Homemade Sweet and Sour Mix recipe is perfect for making Whiskey Sour Cocktails and so much more! Made with fresh lemon and lime juice, sugar, and water, this sour recipe is a simple but essential craft drink staple.
The Best Homemade Sour Mix Recipe
You can’t have a bar without Sour Mix. For the best taste, skip the store-bought stuff and make your own instead!
This recipe is a must if you enjoy classic cocktails, whiskey-lemon juice concoctions, or fancy craft drinks! While it’s ideal as a Whiskey Sour mix recipe, it’s perfect for shaking up other drinks and cocktails, too.
Ready to channel your inner mixologist? You’ll want to stock your bar with more homemade drink essentials like this Sour Mix, Simple Syrup, and Grenadine!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: A citrusy base with a bit of sugar for a tart, slightly sweet mix.
Texture: Smooth if strained through a fine mesh sieve, if not it does have a bit of pulp from the fresh lime and lemon juice.
Ease: 3/10
Pros: It’s popular in drink recipes made with whiskey, tequila, and amaretto; therefore, this mix can be used in a ton of drinks!
Cons: None.
Would I Make This Again? Yes!
Sour Mix Ingredients
This recipe is made with equal parts of lemon juice, lime juice, sugar, and water. If you prefer your sour mix to be more tart than sweet, you can reduce the sugar by half.
- Lemon juice – For bright, sour flavor.
- Lime juice – For even more dimension and citrusy goodness.
- Granulated sugar – So it’s not TOO sour!
- Water – Add more liquid and prevent the acidity from being too overpowered.
How To Make Sour Mix
- Add the sugar, water, lime juice, and lemon juice to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat and continue to simmer the sour mix.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and then allow the homemade sour mix to cool completely before bottling it up and using it!
Rebecca’s Tips
Run the fruit juices through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any pulp. Or run the whole mixture through once it has cooled.
Drinks To Make With Sour Mix
Grab your cocktail shaker and mix up some classic sour drink recipes:
- Amaretto Sour – This is one of my favorite cocktail recipes! It’s the perfect blend of sweet and sour, yet still quite refreshing.
- Whiskey Sour – This classic is made with the addition of an egg white and is also sometimes referred to as a Boston Sour.
- Tequila Sour – This one has a nice kick and gets finished with lemon-lime soda.
- Vodka Sour – This version gets a dash of bitters for a refined finish.
- New York Sour – Made with a red wine floater, this is the prettiest of them all!
- Margaritas – One of the most popular drinks around! Although it’s usually made with just lime juice, you can use sour mix in it as well.
We also love using it in this Blueberry Gin Sour Cocktail!
How To Store Homemade Sour Mix
To Enjoy Now: Store in a high-quality glass bottle or jars like a mason jar or a Weck Bottle to ensure ultimate freshness. Then store the mix in the fridge to use for 2 to 3 weeks. You can add 1 tablespoon of vodka to extend the shelf life by about 1 week.
To Enjoy Later: For longer storage, you can freeze the sour mix. To do so, just wait until it’s completely cooled. Then put it in a freezer-safe container or bag, or freeze it in an ice cube tray. The sour mix will last for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Is Sour Mix Alcoholic?
The mixture itself is not, but it is most commonly used in cocktail recipes.
Is It Gluten Free/Vegan/Keto?
This mix is both gluten-free and vegan. (If you have any concerns, just make sure to get sugar that’s either gluten-free or vegan certified.) However, it’s not keto-friendly since there’s sugar in it.
What’s The Difference Between Sour And Margarita Mix?
Margarita mix is traditionally made with just lime juice. That said, you can definitely use this mix for margaritas. Or you can make margarita mix with the same process using a 1:1:1 ratio of water, sugar, and lime juice.
How Much Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe yields about 2 cups. Feel free to double it if you’re making large batch cocktails, but I find that this is more than enough if you’re just making a few drinks here and there over the course of a couple of weeks.
More Homemade Drink Ingredients!
- Raspberry Simple Syrup – Sweet, tart, and perfect for mixing in cocktails, iced teas, or lemonades!
- Candied Lemons – These make a sweet, beautiful garnish for any drink.
- Grenadine Syrup – Made with pomegranate juice, this bar staple is way better homemade!
- Homemade Irish Cream – A rich, boozy mix-in for your coziest cocktails.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Sour Mix
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup lime juice
- ½ cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Add ingredients to a medium pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before bottling.
Notes
- Store for about 2 to 3 weeks in a bottle in the refrigerator.
- This mix is both gluten-free and vegan. (If you have any concerns, just make sure to get sugar that’s either gluten-free or vegan certified.) However, it’s not keto-friendly since there’s sugar in it.
- This recipe is made with equal parts of lemon juice, lime juice, sugar, and water. If you prefer your sour mix to be more tart than sweet, you can reduce the sugar by half.
- This recipe yields about 2 cups. Feel free to double it if you’re making large-batch cocktails, but I find that this is more than enough if you’re just making a few drinks here and there over the course of a couple of weeks.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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