As with so many of these recipes, an advanced bartender can adjust the amounts to match the house proportions for the type of cocktail.
Today the use of “Sour Mix” is fairly universally accepted as sour citrus and sweetener.
in pre-Prohibition days, both lemons and limes were not always available fresh everywhere at times of the year. Sometimes one would be used, sometimes the other depending upon availability, especially up north.
Some Pre-Prohibition book recipes demonstrate that bartenders mixed the two (lemon juice and lime juice) creating “sour mix” and then added pure cane sugar simple syrup to the mix in equal proportions (1 part sour mix, 1 part simple syrup) to balance out the sourness.
As an example – Margaritas are “Daisy” type drinks, as they were and are still known by pros today. Daisy type drinks also include the Sidecar, which uses lemon juice. Margaritas use lime.
So please take any drink on this site and adjust it to your level of expertise, and MAINLY based on your client preferences to be as fresh, strong (or weak), as you/THEY want, and according to the syrup, liquor, and liqueur brands that you have in stock (at least until you can get something better).
As long as the recipe adjustments stay within the parameters of the drink’s proper ratios of ingredients to one another, you’ll have a balanced drink that remains in the proper named category.
Good luck! Life IS SHORT – LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST, and remember – BARTENDERS INVENTED BARTENDING – DON’T ROLL OVER DEAD, PLAY STUPID, AND LET NON ADVANCED BARTENDING MANAGEMENT OR CORPORATIONS TAKE IT FROM US – SO ENJOY!
47 years behind the pine.
Experience Talks.
