Recipe notes by Elizabeth Gibbs
The sour is a classic family of cocktails that also includes the Margarita and the Daiquiri. As a general rule, sours contain a base liquor, lemon or lime juice, and a sweetener. Occasionally they can contain egg white, as this Gin Sour does to give it more body.
I like my Gin Sour, well, sour. So as a rule-of-thumb, this Gin Sour cocktail recipe follows the 1:2:4 ratio (1 part sweet, 2 parts sour, 4 parts base) for classic sour cocktails, which always results in a very well-balanced sour cocktail.
But do feel free to add more sweetness by increasing the amount of simple syrup and reducing the amount of lemon juice. A ratio of 2:3/4:3/4 (60mls gin, 22.5mls lemon juice and 22.5mls simple syrup) will make a cocktail that many will find more nicely balanced (or less sour).
Add a few dashes of bitters to enhance the flavours of the cocktail (making it a Fitzgerald), or add a soda top up (making it a Gin Fizz).