Mezcal Sour

The only thing we might love more than cooking is crafting unique cocktails with the spirits and flavors we enjoy most. This fun mezcal sour combines one of our favorite spirits with the bright sweet and sour notes of lemon and honey for a sophisticated yet surprisingly simple cocktail. No matter the season, this mezcal sour is the perfect smooth sipping cocktail for any occasion. 

Mezcal Sour Ingredients

A sour is a cocktail consisting of a spirit, an acid, and a sweetener. Sour cocktails are generally made with 2 parts spirit, 1 part sour, and 1 part sweet. Some sours also include egg white to give the classic foamy top – but our mezcal sour is made without egg white for a no-fuss (and vegan friendly) cocktail!

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this refreshing cocktail:

• 2 ounces mezcal espadin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• ½ ounce honey syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters 

Much like tequila, mezcal comes in a few varieties which all have their own distinct flavor profile. Check out our Pineapple Mezcal Old Fashioned recipe for why we love the espadin variety of mezcal.

The honey syrup has such a rich flavor that we recommend going a little lighter on this sweetener compared to the typical ratio for sour cocktails. At half an ounce, the honey syrup provides plenty of sweetness to balance the sour lemon juice and the smoky mezcal.

If you haven’t made honey syrup before, it’s super simple and only requires two ingredients: honey and water. All it takes to make honey syrup is 1 part water and 2 parts honey! To make a batch, just heat water in the microwave and then mix in honey until fully combined. Homemade honey syrup lasts for up to 1 month in the fridge, so you can enjoy this mezcal sour cocktail over and over again.

How To Make A Mezcal Sour

Once you’ve mixed the honey syrup, this simple mezcal cocktail comes together quickly and easily in just a few minutes. Here’s how to make a mezcal sour with lemon and honey: 

1. Fill a shaker with ice cubes and add mezcal, lemon juice, honey syrup, and bitters.
2. Shake until chilled, approximately 10 seconds. With practice you will hear the change as the ice breaks down which indicates the drink is thoroughly chilled. You can learn more about this in this awesome mixology MasterClass (which has helped us level up our cocktail game immensely!).
3. Double strain the cocktail into a whiskey or coupe glass. Since the process of shaking chills the drink, you don’t need to serve this mezcal cocktail over ice. All you need is a nice glass and this silky mezcal sour for a wonderful sipping experience. 

How Do You Double Strain A Drink?

Double straining is a technique often used when a cocktail is shaken and served without ice. There are two reasons why you may want to serve a drink without ice:

1. To ensure the flavor stays true to how it was made. No ice means the drink won’t get watered down while you enjoy it. 
2. To let the cocktail warm up as you sip it to highlight different flavors. As the drink warms up, the smoky mezcal becomes more potent.  

All you need to double strain a drink is either a julep strainer or a Hawthorne strainer, along with a fine mesh sieve strainer. Put your julep or Hawthorne strainer into the shaker to trap the large pieces of ice that remain, and pour it through the sieve strainer into your glass. Once you experience sipping on a silky smooth cocktail, you’ll be double straining all of your cocktails served up.

This eggless sour is one of our favorite mezcal cocktails for sipping no matter the season, with its citrusy summer notes, smoky fall and winter mezcal, and sweet springtime honey. Try the recipe below and let us know what you think of this mezcal sour in the comments!

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Love this recipe? You may enjoy these recipes, too:

• Pineapple Mezcal Old Fashioned
• Rosemary Vodka Lemonade
• Strawberry Jalapeno Mojitos
• Blood Orange Vodka Soda