The Overlooked Acidic Ingredient You Should Add To Your Next Cocktail

The first cocktail — the word having questionable origins and roots — was related to a sling, a boozy beverage made with watered, sweetened liquor and lemon juice. Ever since then, we've loved sour add-ins in our mixed drinks. Cocktail garnishes aren't always necessary, but who could imagine a Moscow mule without that squeeze of lime? Or a Long Island iced tea without a kiss of citrusy sourness to cut through the strong taste of alcohol? Sour citrus and spirits go together like peas and carrots. Unfortunately, it's not always convenient to freshly juice tons of lemons or limes for a party, especially when you can't quickly access more. Sometimes, it seems like you can spend a full hour fiddling with a juicer, picking seeds out of the scant, precious liquid, and still run out. Or, worse, you might find you've made too much, it goes bad quickly, and quickly feel like you wasted time.

Luckily, there's a unique product flying under the radar that will save the day. Jordan Hughes, cocktail maker, visual storyteller, and author of "Twist: Your Guide to Creating Inspired Craft Cocktails," goes by High-Proof Preacher on Instagram. He spoke with Foodie regarding a Belgian product called SupaSawa (say the name out loud!). Why does he love it? According to Hughes, it's "a shelf-stable, non-alcoholic mixer that can essentially replace lime juice in a cocktail, and is also perfectly clear." Having a bottle on hand is the perfect way to prevent hosting disasters.

Running out of mixers for your signature cocktail is definitely a mistake that could ruin your next brunch, dinner, or get-together. The strength of keeping SupaSawa on hand, Hughes explains, is that it is "really helpful when making cocktails at events where you can't get fresh citrus as easily, or have the time to juice and prep fresh citrus." It's a shortcut, sure, but one that belies the usual negative connotations of that word. SupaSawa will save you time, but you'll also be delighted to discover that it's a high-quality addition to your bar cart.

Unlike fresh juice, SupaSawa doesn't expire for a long time. In fact, it should last one full year after you open the bottle, as per its website. It replaces 35 fruits per bottle (just imagine juicing those all by hand!) and, as Hughes pointed out, is completely clear — meaning that your colorless cocktails will look as perfectly crisp as they taste. Anyone looking for mocktail ingredients will be pleased to know there's no alcohol in the mixer. Instead, it's a concoction of distilled water and several food-grade acids, like citric and malic acid. The result? A mixer that is, indeed, super sour and which will taste equally delicious in classic cocktails or some of the nouveau quaffs dreamed up by the SupaSawa team. The High-Proof Preacher always comes through with top-tier mixology know-how, and this is yet more proof that the man knows his stuff.