Sweet-and-sour mix gets a bad rap. People often order so-called “scratch margaritas” to avoid it, but those drinks really are just regular margaritas, albeit handmade. Both have sweet-and-sour, just one has sweet-and-sour (a combination of lime juice and simple syrup or agave) made on the spot.
The sweet-and-sour identity problem stems from premade bottled sweet-and-sour mixes. Almost all mass-produced sweet-and-sour mixes use citric acid as an ingredient. And although citrus fruit certainly contains citric acid, the artificial citric acid most often used in food production comes from Aspergillus niger, a type of black mold. It is what causes that scratchy sensation in the back of your throat and the tingling along the sides of your tongue. There are some studies that suggest black mold-derived citric acid may lead to allergic reactions, but these studies are few and incomplete.
Natural citric acid has many known health benefits. Artificial citric acid is also often used as a disinfectant and lime scale remover.
Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group
Make a variety of cocktails at home using homemade sweet-and-sour.Stay-at-home cocktails are now starting to look a lot like regular cocktails, because it has become apparent that this pandemic is not going to be over anytime soon. One way to make your cocktail experience better is to double or triple up on the types of cocktails you can make using just one ingredient. Homemade sweet-and-sour is a great way to do this. With one mix, you can make dozens of cocktails. Everything from margaritas to lemon drops to Tom Collins to whiskey sours can all be made with the same mix, just by using different base liquors or liqueurs.
Furthermore, since many classic cocktail recipes come from Spanish-speaking countries (margaritas, daiquiris, caipirinhas, pisco sours, etc.) there is some confusion over whether lemons or limes are used, partly because the Spanish word “limon” is not specific without adding a color modifier. Limon verde (green lemon), is a lime and limon amarillo (yellow lemon) is a lemon. We will get around this problem by using both lemons and limes for our sweet-and-sour. That combination is a winning one, just ask 7-Up or Sprite.
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender, Vol. I and II,” the host of the Barfly Podcast on iTunes and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at jeffburkhart.net and contact him at jeffbarflyij@outlook.com.
RECIPES
SIP all-purpose homemade sweet-and-sour
20 limes
15 lemons
½ cup sugar
½ cup warm water
Cold water to taste
Juice the limes and lemons, retaining some pulp. Combined juices should yield about 3 cups (you might need more fruit depending upon the season). In a separate container, mix warm water with sugar until completely dissolved. In a gallon container (glass preferred) combine juices and sugar/water mixture. Taste. Mixture will be strong, but should still exhibit a balance of sweet and tart. Adjust flavor.
Once that balance is achieved, dilute with water to about 50/50. It should taste like a slightly too strong to drink on its own limeade/lemonade. Cover and refrigerate. This mix will last up to 10 days.
Classic cocktail
2 ounces base spirit: whisky, gin, rum, brandy, tequila, mezcal, etc.
¾ ounce good quality triple sec (Cointreau, Combier, Naranja)
2 ounces homemade sweet-and-sour
Combine all three ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and shake until ice cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the citrus rind zest of your choice or brandy-soaked cherries. For some extra fizz, add a raw egg white or aqua fava. Alternately, you may serve over ice and top with soda water, rendering the drink either a fizz, a Collins, or a sling, depending upon the base spirit used.
Note: If using liqueurs or amaro, eliminate triple sec. Aqua fava is the liquid that canned white beans are stored in. Flavorless and colorless in cocktails, aqua fava provides a nice foamy head when shaken.
"sweet" - Google News
August 05, 2020 at 02:00AM
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A sweet-and-sour mix that beats the bad rap - Marin Independent Journal
"sweet" - Google News
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