Message 23798 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Everyone has assumed lemon juice is the default because no-one seems 
> to want to say otherwise. Lack of adventure?
> 

Using the word 'assumed' here implies that the tenders who correlate lemon 
with Sours do so arbitrarily or without compelling reason.  Several posts have 
made it clear that this is not the case, that lemon in a sour is something 
that can be objectively determined by a consensus of cocktail books.  

Lack of adventure?  Do you really think that you can say that about the 
regulars on this board, that they lack the desire to explore interesting 
possibilities in their drinks?  I think that's a tad dismissive of the passion 
that I see displayed here daily.  Robert explained it clearly in his first 
long reply, that what you labeled as 'lack of adventure' is actually fidelity 
to well established classic recipes for the sake of consistency.  He echoed my 
thoughts exactly, what I tried to say earlier when I said that words mean 
things, particularly when it comes to ordering a cocktail.  If the tender just 
starts swapping things around as it suits them then the whole system goes out 
the window and as a customer I don't really know what I'm going to get when I 
order a drink.  

Robert made another key point as well, that the cocktail that is known as a 
Whiskey Sour has a specific recipe that calls for lemon juice, it isn't just 
"something sour with whiskey in it".  If the drink was called something that 
wasn't so descriptive, like a Margarita, this issue wouldn't have even  come 
up.  I'm guessing that in a Sidecar you wouldn't replace the lemon with orange 
juice and call it the same drink, would you?  How about a margarita, can that 
be made with something besides lime juice?  Why not, can't you be an 
adventurous bartender, or is there a good reason for adhereing to the recipes 
that have been established and are expected by the people ordering the drinks? 
 My point is that lemon in a Sour is just as much part of the recipe as lime 
is in a Margarita or a Daquiri.  Those drinks are sour but they're not Sours, 
if you take my meaning.  

As for being adventurous, I'm all for using something besides lemon juice with 
bourbon or Midori or amaretto, I just wouldn't call them X Sours.  If anything 
there's some great potential there for some zesty house cocktails - I might 
just have to suggest as much when our next cocktail list comes out, maybe one 
of my prefereed variations of a whiskey sour (with bitters).