Sour Patch Sour Cocktail
THE SOUR COCKTAIL
A “sour” is a combination of spirit, citrus and sugar. This recipe is the foundation for hundreds of different cocktails, with some of the most popular being a daiquiri, margarita, lemon drop, and whiskey sour. The sour recipe is typically:
- 2 oz spirit,
- 3/4 oz citrus and
- 3/4 oz simple sugar
- shaken, strained, and served up or over ice (rocks)
Fresh citrus can be difficult to pack into the backcountry. Fruit takes up space, can get smashed and damaged, and has a low caloric density. Usually you cannot make a sour cocktail without citrus…..fortunately we found an easy to substitute alternative: citric acid!
Check out another great sour variation with our Turmeric Sour
What is citric acid
Citric acid is a chemical compound associated with sour tastes; it naturally occurs in citrus. A manmade version of citric acid is produced by feeding simple carbohydrates to Aspergillus Mold and then processing the resulting fermented compound. This results in a white film or powder, and it can be found in thousands of processed and preserved foods.
Its not likely that you’re going to go out and buy some citric acid and pack it into the backcountry. Which is why we invented the Sour Patch Sour drink. By melting Sour Patch Kids candy in water, you will create a syrup that is both sour from the candy’s citric acid, and sweet from the sugar. After the syrup has cooled, add your favorite spirit to enjoy a 3 ingredient sour cocktail in the wilderness. Add vodka for a lemon drop, rum for a daquiri or whiskey for a whiskey sour…its that simple!
Recipe for Sour Patch Sour
The first step is to melt the candy and create the syrup. This process takes about 10 minutes of high heat. If you are conserving fuel, bring your water to a boil, add candy, place lid on pot, and let soak for 20 minutes. The hot water softens the candy and starts the melting process without wasting fuel.
Chop 15 Sour Patch Kid’s candy into small pieces, add to pot with 2 cups of water. Turn burner to high, cover with lid and stir occasionally. Let cook on high heat for 10 minutes. Then turn stove off and add 4 oz your preferred spirit to syrup. Stir, and pour into cups or drink straight from the pot when cool. This drink serves 2 people. Add water to dilute sweet and sour flavors.
Sour Patch Sour
Prep Time
2 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
12 mins
A backcountry sour cocktail made out of Sour Patch Kids candy.
Course:
Drinks
Cuisine:
Beverages
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 3 cups Clean Water
- 15 Sour Patch Kid Candies chopped
- 4 oz Spirit Vodka, gin, rum, whiskey, tequila, pisco
Instructions
-
Chop 15 Sour Patch Kid's candy into small pieces, add to pot with 2 cups of water. Turn burner to high, cover with lid and stir occasionally. Let cook on high heat for 10 minutes.
-
Turn stove off and add 4 oz your preferred spirit to syrup. Vodka will make a Lemon Drop, Rum a Daiquiri, and Whiskey is a Whiskey Sour
-
Stir, and pour beverage into cups or drink straight from the pot when cool. This drink serves 2 people. If the sweet and sour flavors are too strong, add a little bit of water to dilute.
