The 10 Best Sour Cocktails Everyone Should Know How to Make
From Sidecars and Mojitos to Margaritas and Gimlets, here are our favorites.
The “sour” family of cocktails is a range of drinks that include classics such as the Sidecar and Margarita and tall drinks like the Tom Collins and Mojito. The bubbly-based French 75 even falls under the sour category.
In one of the earliest cocktail books on record, the 1862 The Bartender's Guide: How to Mix Drinks, bartending pioneer and author Jerry “The Professor” Thomas documented early 19th-century cocktail recipes. The drinks were divided into small categories that included collinses, daisies, fizzes, and sours. Over the years, these cocktail branches were consolidated.
The sour is essentially a descendant of the earliest form of a cocktail, a punch, and often follows the “golden ratio” template of two parts base spirit, one part sweet, and one part sour — known to bartenders around the globe as the 2:1:1 rule.
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Sours can be made with any base spirit, such as rum in a Daiquiri, gin in a Gimlet, or vodka in a Lemon Drop. The defining characteristic of a sour is the citrus element, balanced by the crucial sweet counterpart in the drink, often coming from a simple syrup or liqueur.
Many of the world’s most popular drinks belong to the sour family of cocktails. From a traditional frothy Pisco Sour to a lychee riff on a classic Gimlet, here are our favorite sour cocktails that everyone should know how to make.
Daiquiri
This three-ingredient classic is simply white rum combined with freshly squeezed lime juice and superfine sugar. Simple syrup can be subbed for loose sugar to taste.
The Daiquiri is thought to have been invented in the late 1800s, and named for a small mining town in Cuba. This pioneer in the sour category of drinks is one of the most recognizable rum cocktails.
Though the large, colorful blended versions may still be the more popular variation at all-inclusive resorts, this simple classic is closer to the original, delicious, and easier to make.
Tom Collins
This refresher is essentially an effervescent Gin Sour combining gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, granulated sugar, and club soda and is served in a tall glass named for the cocktail.
Though the origins are fuzzy, the first mention of the Tom Collins was in Harry Johnson’s 1882 book New and Improved Bartender's Manual or How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style. This original recipe called for Old Tom Gin, an older, sweeter style of gin, from which the drink is likely to have taken its name.
Sidecar
Matt Taylor-Gross / Styling by Lucy Simon
This classic sour, the most famous Cognac cocktail, is another simple build that includes Cognac, orange liqueur, and fresh lemon juice.
Thought to have been invented around World War I the drink was said to be named for the motorcycle attachment commonly used at the time.
This recipe calls for Cointreau orange liqueur but because the liqueur is the sole source of sugar in the drink, the Sidecar tends to be drier compared to other sours. The sugared rim will further sweeten the drinking experience and help to balance the other ingredients.
Mojito
The origins of this classic warm-weather staple can be traced to 16th-century Cuba and is a mix of fresh mint leaves, lime, white unaged rum, simple syrup, and chilled club soda.
The mint, lime, and simple syrup are first muddled to extract and mix the bright flavors. White rum is mixed in and the drink is topped with a splash of bubbly water and garnished with a mint.
Margarita
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Oset Babür-Winter
The classic Margarita is one of the most recognizable examples of the sour family of cocktails. Fresh, quality ingredients are key to making the best version of this drink. Use 100% agave tequila, fresh lime juice, and a well-made orange liqueur such as Cointreau to round out the cocktail. Agave nectar is a popular option to further sweeten the drink if necessary, as it accentuates tequila’s natural agave notes. A sea salt garnish will provide a savory contrast and help to enhance the drink’s flavors.
Pisco Sour
The Pisco Sour is a tangy, and refreshing South American classic and is the national cocktail of both Peru and Chile. The recipe we’re most familiar with today, a combination of pisco, lime juice, sugar, egg white, and bitters, came on the scene at the American-owned Morris’ Bar in Lima, Peru in the 1920s.
The base of pisco, a distilled spirit made from grapes, lends fruit-forward aromatics and earthy unaged brandy qualities. Adding egg white to this sour helps create a silky mouthfeel and a froth-like texture. Angostura bitters are a striking aesthetic touch floated atop the fluffy egg foam layer of this drink and provide additional aromatics.
Arnaud’s French 75
Matt Taylor-Gross
Lychee Gimlet
The traditional Gimlet is another three-ingredient cocktail that follows the sour formula, combining a balance of gin, lime juice, and sugar. In this updated riff from the now-closed San Francisco restaurant Circolo, lychee nectar and orange liqueur balance out a generous portion of fresh lime juice and gin. An optional garnish of lychee fruit rounds out the drink.
New York Sour
The New York Sour is a riff on a Whiskey Sour, arguably one of the most popular sour drinks in the category. Like the classic, this variation contains whiskey, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup, but also has a float of dry red wine atop the drink.
This recipe calls for a bourbon base but can be subbed out for a spicy rye whiskey for a drink closer to the late 1800s variation. An option to add an egg white will create more viscosity to the drink and a frothy top and a dramatic contrast to the red wine float.
Brandy Daisy
The Daisy is a category of drinks from the mid-1800s, following a formula that looks strikingly similar to the sour template. This originally included a base spirit, a liqueur or syrup, lemon juice, and soda water.
The Brandy Daisy combines brandy, Yellow Chartreuse, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a splash of soda water. Based on current demands, Yellow Chartreuse may be difficult to source at times, but an orange liqueur can also work as a less herbaceous swap.
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