Message 23704 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Hey thanks for the tip. So the next whiskey sour I get I should shake 
> real hard if using sour mix or use lemon juice instead of the sour 
> mix?? Also when you guys refer to lime juice do you mean the juice of 
> a freshly squeezed lime or roses lime juice. Thanks!

In this thread lime juice does refer to squeezed from a piece of fruit.  A 
hand citrus press is perfect for this, I use a larger one that can accomodate 
lemons as well as limes.  

As for the sours, I'm not saying you should quit using sour mix, it depends a 
lot upon where you work, being consistent with the other tenders, cost of 
making the drink and how management expects you to make a drink.  Sour mix 
isn't a bad thing in its own right, I just think it's unfortunate that so many 
bartenders never learn what its actually a substitute for.

You can't just replace lemon juice for sweet and sour mix, if you use fresh 
juice than you'll need to balance the tartness with some sugar (that's why the 
mix is SWEET and SOUR).  I've gotten used to making these drinks but you'll 
have to do some tasting to figure out the right balance.  At my bar I'd do 
something like this:

1 1/2 oz. whiskey
1 oz. lemon juice (about half of a lemon should do it)
1/2 oz. simple syrup*

Combine in shaker with ice, shake and strain into a bucket glass with fresh 
ice, garnish with orange and cherry.  

* I make simple syrup by combining two parts of sugar with one part of water 
(by volume), bring to a simmer, stir until sugar dissolves and allow to cool.  
I keep the syrup in a plastic bottle with a pointy top that I can squeeze it 
out of.  

Note that this same approach can be used for all sours, but when the base 
spirit is a liqueur (e.g. Midori, amaretto) you'll cut way back on the sugar 
since the base is already so sweet.