23 Sweet & Sour Mixed Drinks + 41 Mixers for Endless Variations

Sweet and sour mixed drinks are incredibly versatile. They're perfect for nearly every scenario, whether family brunch, professional dinner, or bachelorette party. You can amp up or tamper down the sweet or sour sides of these cocktails to satisfy your specific tastebuds, and there's a sweet and sour recipe for you, no matter what your go-to spirit is. 

Easy Drinks With Sweet & Sour Mix

Buying premade sweet & sour mix allows you to make fast and easy drinks. These super easy drinks have just a few ingredients and no fancy techniques, so you can make them in a flash.

Easy Amaretto Sour Highball

If you love the amaretto sour, this easy recipe is a fast way to get there.

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces amaretto
• 1 ounce sweet and sour mix
• Ice
• Lemon-lime soda

Instructions

1. In a highball glass, combine amaretto and sweet and sour mix. 
2. Add ice and stir.
3. Top off with lemon-lime soda.

Easy Vodka Sour

Make this right in the glass. It's so easy!

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces vodka

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and vodka.
3. Stir.

Easy Whiskey Sour

Whiskey sours are also super easy to make if you don't have a ton of extra ingredients. All you need is whiskey and sweet and sour mix.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces whiskey

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and whiskey.
3. Stir.

Easy Tequila Sour

Prefer tequila? The great thing about pre-made sweet and sour mix is that it goes with just about any hard liquor.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces tequila

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and tequila.
3. Stir.

Easy Gin Sour

Gin gives a botanic flavor to sweet and sour that makes a lovely and tasty blend.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces gin

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and gin.
3. Stir.

Easy Rum Sour

Sweet and sour mix also makes a yummy quick drink with rum. 

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces rum

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and rum.
3. Stir.

Easy Cognac Sour

Even Cognac goes well with a sweet and sour mix. It follows the simple 1:1 ratio of sour mix to liquor.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces Cognac

Instructions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and cognac.
3. Stir.

Super-Easy Sweet & Sour Highballs

These simple highballs use the same basic 1:1 ratio of sweet and sour mix to liquor and finish with a fizzy element.

Sweet & Sour French 75

A variation on the classic, this fizzy highball is perfect for brunch.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces gin
• Prosecco or Champagne to top off

Instructions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and gin.
3. Stir.
4. Top off with prosecco or Champagne.

Rum Mule Highball

If you love the Dark & Stormy or a Moscow mule, you'll love this simple highball. 

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounces sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces dark rum
• Ginger beer

Instructions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and dark rum.
3. Stir.
4. Top off with ginger beer.

Blackberry Gin Highball

This simple take on a bramble is super easy when you mix it all in a highball glass.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1 ounce sweet and sour mix
• ½ ounce blackberry liqueur
• 1½ ounces gin
• Club soda 

Instructions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix, blackberry liqueur, and gin.
3. Stir.
4. Top off with club soda.

Razzle Dazzle Fizz

If it's raspberries you want, this is your drink. 

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1½ ounce sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces raspberry vodka
• Club soda 

Instructions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and raspberry vodka.
3. Stir.
4. Top off with club soda.

Cinnamon Fizz

Like it hot? We get it! This cinnamony cocktail is sooooo good!

Ingredients

• Ice
• 1 ounce sweet and sour mix
• 1½ ounces Fireball whisky
• Club soda 

Instructions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
2. Add sweet and sour mix and Fireball.
3. Stir.
4. Top off with club soda.

Classic Sweet and Sour Drink Recipes

Traditional sweet and sour is a combo of equal parts sweet (either liqueur or simple syrup) and sour (usually lemon and/or lime juice). Add that to a strong (liquor) element, and you have a perfectly balanced sweet-and-sour cocktail.

So, instead of using pre-made sweet and sour mix for these recipes, these classic bar drinks use a combo of fresh lemon and lime juice and either simple syrup or a sweet liqueur. 

Cointreau Cosmopolitan

Channel your inner Samatha and order the perfect pink martini. It's the perfect puckery blend of sweet and sour. 

Ingredients

• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 ounce 100% cranberry juice
• ¾ ounce Cointreau
• 1½ ounces citron vodka
• Ice
• Lemon twist for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a cocktail glass.
2. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, cranberry juice, Cointreau, and vodka. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Classic Daiquiri

The daiquiri is a classic rum sour by any other name. This is the shaken chilled kind, not the frozen blended type. 

Instructions

• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• 1½ ounces white rum
• Ice
• Lime wheel for garnish

Ingredients

1. Chill a cocktail glass.
2. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, simple syrup, and rum. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Related: 15 Frozen Daiquiris to Chill You Out This Summer

Sloe Gin Fizz

This fruity sweet-tart drink is super satisfying.

Ingredients

• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• 1½ ounces sloe gin
• Club soda
• Ice
• Lemon wedge for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, and sloe gin. Add ice and shake to chill.
2. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice.
3. Top off with club soda.
4. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Classic Whiskey Sour

This traditional whiskey sour adds frothy egg whites to the top for the perfect drink.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 1 egg white
• 2 ounces bourbon
• Ice
• Cherry for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and whiskey.
2. Dry shake (shake without ice) vigorously for about 30 seconds. Don't skip the dry shake, as this is what allows the egg whites to foam.
3. Add ice and shake to chill.
4. Strain into a rocks glass with ice.
5. Garnish with a cherry.

Applejack

A less-common apple spirit, Applejack, is a fundamental ingredient to this old-school cocktail.

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 ounce grenadine
• 2 ounces applejack
• Ice
• Apple slices for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine lemon juice, grenadine, and applejack.
2. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.
4. Garnish with an apple slice.

The President

The president is a balanced rum drink that employs the sweetness of grenadine to combat the sourness of the orange and lemon juice.

Ingredients

• ¼ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ ounce grenadine
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 2 ounces white rum
• Ice
• 1 orange twist for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemon juice, grenadine, orange juice, and rum.
2. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into a coupe.
4. Garnish with an orange twist.

Armagnac Sidecar

Considered the most popular Cognac mixed drink, the sidecar goes for a simple recipe combining cognac, lemon juice, and Cointreau for a refreshing flavor. This version substitutes another popular French brandy, Armagnac.

Ingredients

• 1 lemon wedge
• Sugar
• ¾ ounces lemon juice
• ¾ ounce Cointreau
• 1½ ounces Armagnac
• Ice

Instructions

1. Rub the rim of a coupe glass with the lemon wedge and stamp it into a plate full of sugar to rim the glass.
2. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lemon juice, Cointreau, and Armagnac.
3. Add ice and shake to chill.
4. Strain into the prepared coupe.

Experiment With Spirits and Sweet and Sour Combos

Move beyond classics with tasty and fun sweet and sour bevies.

Bone Crusher

This complex drink mixes various spirits and juices, making it perfect if you want only one cocktail to get you through the night.

Ingredients

• ¼ ounce grenadine
• ¼ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 ounces sweet and sour mix
• ½ ounce triple sec
• ½ ounce vodka
• ½ ounce light rum
• ½ ounce gin
• 1 ounce dry Champagne or sparkling white wine
• Ice
• 1 lemon twist for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the grenadine, lime juice, sour mix, triple sec, vodka, rum, and gin. Add ice and shake to chill.
2. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with Champagne.
3. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Joe Collins

An interesting variation on the Tom Collins, a Joe Collins uses scotch and incorporates the sweet flavor of cola.

Ingredients

• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce simple syrup
• 1½ ounce scotch
• Cola
• Ice
• Cherry for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine lemon juice, simple syrup, and scotch.
2. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into a rocks glass full of ice.
4. Top with cola and garnish with a cherry.

Junebug

This electric-colored cocktail combines banana liqueur, pineapple juice, coconut rum, and Midori for a tropical flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 ounce pineapple juice
• 1 ounce sour mix
• ¾ ounce coconut rum
• ¾ ounce banana liqueur
• 1 ounce Midori
• Ice
• Pineapple cubes for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the pineapple juice, sour mix, coconut rum, banana liqueur, and Midori.
2. Add ice and shake to chill.
3. Strain into a Collins glass full of ice.
4. Garnish with pineapple.

Russian Sunset

Another drink that focuses on the citrus flavors, the Russian sunset is bright and tart and pretty easy to put together.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces sweet and sour mix
• 2 ounces triple sec
• 2 ounces vodka
• Ice
• Dash of grenadine
• Cherry for garnish

Instructions

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine the sour mix, triple sec, and vodka. Add ice and shake to chill.
2. Strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice and top with a splash of grenadine.
3. Garnish with a cherry.

How to Make Sweet and Sour Mix

Sours are a traditional cocktail with many variations. The aim with a sour is the perfect balance between sweet and sour elements. Sours typically follow a formula of 1 part sweet (simple syrup, sweetener, or a cordial/liqueur), 1 part sour (usually lemon, lime, or grapefruit juice), and 2 parts strong (a hard liquor). Here's a classic recipe to make your own.

Ingredients

• ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup simple syrup

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Store, tightly sealed, in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to six months. 

Things to Mix With Sweet & Sour Mix

Whether homemade or store-bought, sweet and sour serves as the backbone for many classic cocktails, so it mixes well with a lot of different things. These are some classic things to try:

• Vodka
• Citron vodka
• Berry vodka
• Whipped cream vodka
• Cinnamon vodka
• Fig vodka
• Pink Whitney
• Iced tea (with or without booze added)
• Cranberry juice (with or without booze added)
• Dark rum
• White rum
• Cachaça
• Pisco
• Bourbon
• Irish whiskey
• Scotch
• Canadian whisky
• Japanese whiskey
• Tennessee whiskey
• Tequila
• Mezcal
• Champagne or sparkling white wine
• Club soda (with or without booze)
• Tonic water (with or without booze)
• Lemon-lime soda (with or without booze)
• Cola (with or without booze)
• Gin
• Cognac
• Armagnac
• Apple brandy
• Calvados
• Grappa
• Amaretto
• Port wine
• Sherry
• Pear brandy
• Nonalcoholic spirits
• Fireball whisky
• Malibu rum
• Coconut rum
• Pineapple rum

Sip on Sweet and Sour Mixed Drinks

We love how versatile sweet and sour mix is. It's yummy in boozy cocktails, simple highballs, and nonalcoholic drinks, adding the perfect amount of pucker to your drinks.