Gross sugar water = sweet and sour

Sweet & Sour juice is disgusting. It's basically tart sugar water. I suppose they could call it sweetened lemon and like juice, which is what it technically is. Problem is most places don't make it fresh. It usually consists of synthetic sugars and other ingredients I can not pronounce the name of.

Using the juice of 1/2 a lime, 1/2 a lemon, and between 1/2-1 ounce of simple syrup (or even agave nectar) usually does the trick. Next time you have a Long Island Iced Tea substitute the sweet and sour with the recipe above and it's like being 21 again.

Perhaps the cocktail that frequents sweet and sour the most is a margarita. Once you have a margarita with fresh ingredients you will never again want one made with sweet and sour. The recipe is just as easy:

• 1 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 ounce of agave nectar (make sure you test the agave first to figure out how sweet it is, it can vary)
• 2 ounces of tequila 

Fresh ingredients, like in cooking, is pivotal to a tasty cocktail. Many bars in San Francisco freshly squeeze all their juices for their drinks including orange and grapefruit.

Here is one of my favorite cocktail recipes that includes freshly muddled ginger:

• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed pomegranate juice
• 4 thin slices of peeled ginger (muddled)
• 1/2 ounce of simple syrup
• 2 ounces of vodka

It turns out quite tasty and the crushed ginger gives the drink some crunch.

More to come on fresh ingredients and where to find the freshest drinks in San Francisco.