Why Buying Whiskey Sour Mix Isn't Really Worth It

Just like you should skip store-bought simple syrup or (literally) pay the price, so too should you avoid consumer-packaged whiskey sour mix. It's just too easy to make at home from scratch, not to mention so much better and probably cheaper, to give the mass-produced, bottled stuff any real appeal.

Will supermarket whiskey sour mix save you a few seconds of cocktail prep? Sure, but you could also just drink your booze straight from the spout and strip all remaining joy and attention to detail from the ritual art of mixing up a drink. Some familiar retail whiskey sour mixes also contain more than a dozen ingredients, while the real deal calls for just two. We prefer to keep those additives to a minimum and skip the shelf stabilizers and other chemicals that can give factory-made mixers their fake taste, which adulterates an otherwise perfectly good spirit. It's the difference between sipping something that tastes like it should come in a plastic cup at a sporting event, and savoring a thoughtfully crafted cocktail in appropriately elegant environs.

If you're convinced of the merits of homemade whiskey sour mix, the good news is the two ingredients required for it are items you likely already have on hand. You can make simple syrup for any cocktail in only a few minutes on the stovetop by combining sugar and water. Once it's incorporated and cooled, lemon juice is all it takes to make the standard sour mix. Fresh squeezed is great if you're preparing one or two cocktails, or you can scale up to a batch with Santa Cruz organic lemon juice, which tastes like what you'd get from the live fruit without all the labor — absent the gums and dyes you'd get in a store-bought mix.

A couple of ounces of whiskey transform the beverage from lemonade to a proper cocktail, and sometimes egg white enters the equation to create a nice layer of foam on top. A whiskey sour should be shaken with ice to fully incorporate its components in any case. And you didn't come this far to only come this far. There are right ways to use every cocktail glass, so serve your whiskey sours in a coupe or something similar.