by Luke McKinney
FoodConnect Toronto
luke.mckinney@foodconnect.com

Another component for the well-stocked cocktail cabinet, sour mix might not be as widely used as simple syrup or as vital as a good vodka but it's essential to make a whiskey sour. Bet you couldn't have guessed that. A bartender without sour mix cannot make that drink, and I put it to you that such a barman is no barman at all.

There are many commercial sour mixes available, and many simple recipes online that will tell you that some sugar and lemon is all you need. These facts prove that the majority of people are stupid and can't even do drinking right. Make some proper sour mix and reap the benefits.

Sour Mix

Half a cup of syrup
Half a cup of lemon juice (2-4 lemons depending on the quality of your fruit, juicer, and elbow grease)
One egg white, beaten

You'll need some syrup (we've shown you how to make that here). If you've just whipped some up on the way to sour mix, stick it in the fridge and cool your heels while it does the same - jamming hot syrup in will destroy the texture of the mix.

Pour the syrup, juice and egg white into something you can close and shake. While the urge to use electrical appliances to beat the egg like you found it in bed with your daughter is strong, and usually correct, stick to a fork this time - it's only a tiny bit of egg and electric power means you'll overshoot and stiffen it. Then you'll have all sorts of fun scraping it into your container and dripping whipped chicken-product all over the kitchen.

We also not that with all the juicing, whipping and pouring this cocktail component is an excellent choice for those using "making drinks" to look like they're doing stuff around the house. Not that this writer knows anything about that.

Close up the container and shake your stuff like it was the Disco/Rave/insert-age-appropriate-party-location-here. Your sour mix is ready to roll, and will remain so for a fortnight if you keep it in the fridge. The egg white gives the mix a vital texture boost. You better test them all, though, just to be sure.