THERE ARE MORE

The savvy move is to determine whether the sweet ‘n’ sour you’re using is up for the job. The only sure-fire method is to sample it—first over ice and then in its leading application. Make note of its color and opacity. Sweet ‘n’ sour should retain the appearance of real lemon juice especially when it’s used in a cocktail.

Does the mix have a vibrant lemon fragrance? Or is it faint and lackluster? Considering its frequency of use and that the olfactory is the most powerful sense, how it smells is a legitimate concern.

Naturally the last qualifier is taste. Swirl the sour mix around your mouth all the while assessing flavor and mouth feel. The finish is where sour mixes often falter and turn astringent, overly tart or cloying. A bona fide keeper should taste great alone in a glass.

SOUR MIX IS a difficult product to make well. Most scratch recipes call for 3 parts lemon juice to 1 part of simple syrup. If initial attempts are too tart, use a higher proportion of simple syrup. If the mix is moderately sweet—like lemonade—increase the proportion of lemon juice.

It should be noted that many a great sour mix has been crafted using a larger cast of performers than just lemons. An added splash or two of orange, lime or grapefruit juice is a proven way to add more dimension and pizzazz to the mix.

Many beverage operators like the idea of using a scratch sour mix until it comes to actually executing on the concept. Whether it’s the increased costs or the additional amount of prep work involved, the price of turning “fresh” is too steep for some.

For starters, the strategy requires that produce be juiced before every shift and purchased on a near daily basis. Fresh lemon juice keeps no more than 24 hours before needing to be discarded. Because it’s not pasteurized, a scratch mix must be refrigerated and can’t be kept at a bartender’s well, which impacts a staff’s speed of service.

Then there’s the question of whether the staff will invest the time and effort preparing the sour mix correctly. Exceedingly tart or bitter lemons will throw off the balance of the mix, which increases the risk of serving inconsistent drinks. For whatever reason, scratch sour mixes don’t always perform up to expectation.

LIME SOUR MIX is fast becoming a franchise player in the booming cocktail culture. Best known as the undercarriage of the mega-popular Margarita and the Daiquiri, many of the country’s finest bars and lounges are now stocking both lime- and lemon-based sweet ‘n’ sour.

In years past when faced with the need to prepare lime-based cocktails, bartenders would make the drinks with sweet ‘n’ sour and then squeeze in a few lime wedges. While reverse engineering Margaritas and Daiquiris is a long accepted practice, it’s rather like making Sidecars, Lemon Drops and Whiskey Sours with limeade and then adding lemon juice to radically alter their flavor.

Regardless of the night or bartender on-duty, guests rightly expect their drinks to taste the same each visit. Squeezing a bunch of limes into a Margarita or Daiquiri begs the question of whether everyone on staff takes the extra step and if they’re adding the same amount of juice when they do. At that point, drink consistency becomes a hit-or-miss proposition.

The key to making a great scratch lime sour is delicately balancing the fresh citrus and sweetener. Its flavor and degree of tartness will significantly affect the personality of the finished cocktail. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when the sour mix has a refreshing, moderately tart lime flavor. For added dimension and pizzazz, consider splashing in some orange or lemon juice, both of which marry beautifully with the taste of lime, rum and tequila.

When squeezing fresh limes, it’s important not to grind into the pith, which forms into a swirling cloud of white sediment and injects the juice with a dose of cocktail-killing bitterness. Limes yield more juice at room temperature than when taken directly from the cooler and the pressed juice should be strained through cheesecloth or a narrow-mesh strainer prior to use.

Fresh lime juice turns rancid in about 2-3 hours, and because it’s unpasteurized, scratch lime sour mix must be kept refrigerated and typically needs to be prepared on a per shift basis.

FINEST CALL PREMIUM Sweet & Sour Mix is a thing of beauty. Its naturally tart character provides the ideal foundation upon which to build a cocktail. The classically structured mix is created from a blend of all-natural lemon, orange and lime extracts. Sweeteners are added to throttle back some of the citrus exuberance, resulting in a flavorful and zesty mix.
Finest Call Sweet & Sour has a lightweight body, excellent opacity and a true-to-fruit appearance. In the all-important category of taste, the vivacious lemon-forward mix is tangy and delicious. Equally important from an operational perspective, it’s pasteurized, shelf-stable and costs pennies per ounce.

Among the many things this sour mix has going for it is its relative degree of tartness. Many producers add sweetener until it completely neutralizes the ascorbic acid in the juice. You need the natural tartness to shine through to the drink’s other ingredients.

FINEST CALL LIME SOUR MIX is an innovative drink mix loaded with charm and sensational flavor, yet completely free of the operational challenges connected with those made from scratch. It’s made with Persian limes cultivated along the Pacific coast in the Mexican State of Colima. The region’s climate and rich volcanic soil are ideal conditions for growing citrus. To give their sour mix more versatility and artisanal appeal, Finest Call added fresh lemon and orange juice bringing its juice content to 20 percent.

The Finest Call mix is bottled in an easily measured concentrated form, which affords the opportunity to control the exact amount of puckery tartness desired in the finished mix. Diluting it with equal parts, for example, yields a zesty mix with a lightweight body, brilliant citrusy notes and the sublime taste of one prepared from scratch. All that’s missing is the waste, hassle and lofty expense. It’s also shelf-stable, so there’s no need for refrigeration or chance of it turning bad in the middle of a busy shift.

Finding a really great sour mix is cause for celebration. Finding two is even better. Kudos Finest Call!