Where to buy sour mix in Winnipeg (or anywhere in canada)

[chris_s]

Firstly, save your lectures. I have no interest in hand muddling my own organic fair trade limes and cooking up a simple syrup every time I need a quick whiskey sour at night. 

 

When I'm in USA I can find sour mix or sweet & sour mix at any grocery store. But I haven't been able to track any down here in Winnipeg. I've looked at superstore, safeway, shoppers drug mart, walmart, the liquor store, london drugs. Someone said to check winners but they didn't have any either. 

 

 

Has anyone got a clue where else a person can buy this type of thing? The brand names I've bought before are Mr & Mrs T's (superstore carries their margerita and pina mix) and Masters of Mix

 

thanks!

[Deryn]

I am sorry I can't help you with where to buy what you want out there, chris - but, though you said you don't want to squeeze limes and make simple syrup every time you want a drink, what about doing it once, freezing the mixture into an ice cube tray and using one of those when you need some sour in your drink?

[weinoo]

No one needs to muddle anything (least of all, limes for a whiskey sour), nor do they need simple syrup.

 

From David Wondrich, in Esquire:

 

2 ounces bourbon
2/3 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar

Glass Type: cocktail glass
Instructions

Shake the bourbon,* juice,** and sugar well with cracked ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass (unless you happen to have a Sour glass). Resist, if you can, the impulse to decorate lavishly with fruit, although a maraschino cherry will raise no eyebrows.

 

For a change, try a Dizzy Sour (nothing to do with the trumpet-wrangler; the recipe's far more ancient than that): Dock the whiskey 1/2 ounce, add 3 dashes of Bénédictine, and float 1/2 ounce dark Jamaican rum on top; garnish with a stick of pineapple, or not.

 

You can also commit Hari Kari, our pre-Prohibition Wehman Bros. Bartenders Guide informs us, by building the standard recipe in a tall glass, topping it off with fizz water, and bunging in whatever fruits you have in your garnish tray.

 

* Or rye whiskey, or Canadian whiskey, or Irish whiskey or...

 

** The juice, more or less, of half a decent-sized lemon

[Kerry Beal]

There are a couple of online sources I found.  Not too promising for stores - it appears that Canada has only 3 of the mixes in standard stores.  Here's one source.  Another.

[SylviaLovegren]

You can also get it on Amazon.ca -- but the price for 1.75 liters is $25 and the shipping to Canada is $97 -- so it doesn't seem a great option!

[weinoo]

Cheaper to buy lemons. And sugar.

[Bowlsareus]

Hi Chris 

 

How about checking around to see if any friends or relatives are heading to the US for a vacation and they can bring you back a bottle or two? I often do this for friends when they need items that can only be found in the US or are simply cheaper there.  If you have a US mailing address close to the border (Emerson) you can have it sent there are just drive down to pick it up.  I do this with a number of items as I live close to the BC/Washington state border. Best wishes. 

[weinoo]

Hi Chris 

 

How about checking around to see if any friends or relatives are heading to the US for a vacation and they can bring you back a bottle or two?

Great ideas.

 

Do you think chris_s is gonna get back on this thread ever? To let us know how he solved his problem?

[chris_s]

All good ideas. 

 

I just finished cooking up some simple syrup and squeezing 5# of lemons and limes. You know, the exact thing I said I didn't want to do

Once again the internet has got me in way further than I originally intended. 

 

My plan is to freeze it into cubes as recommended. Truthfully, it wasn't all that much work using one of those $2 juice extractors. Not sure if I'll have time to actually try it tonight, but I definitely will later this week. 

 

The recipe I used was 

 

1c water, 1c sugar, boil for 7 minutes, let cool

add to 1c lemon juice and 1/2c lime juice

[chris_s]

Hi Chris 

 

How about checking around to see if any friends or relatives are heading to the US for a vacation and they can bring you back a bottle or two? I often do this for friends when they need items that can only be found in the US or are simply cheaper there.  If you have a US mailing address close to the border (Emerson) you can have it sent there are just drive down to pick it up.  I do this with a number of items as I live close to the BC/Washington state border. Best wishes. 

 

I have a shipping address just south of here, about an hour's drive, that I've been shipping car parts to for about 15 years. So this is also a viable option should my home made stuff not pan out

 

thanks!

[Hassouni]

You don't need to boil it at all if its 1c water to 1c sugar. Just stick it in a jar and shake it up well and it will dissolve. Use hot water and it'll go even faster.

[chris_s]

Any tricks to freezing liquid that is high sugar content? After a day in my deep freeze, or even leaving them outside overnight (-30c) and they're still sticky and squishy

[Shalmanese]

Any tricks to freezing liquid that is high sugar content? After a day in my deep freeze, or even leaving them outside overnight (-30c) and they're still sticky and squishy

Sugar depresses freezing point so no. If you're freezing for it's preservative effects, it doesn't matter what state it's in. Just store it as a slushy liquid instead of a solid.

[Pam R]

No help here, but just another hour from the border and you can probably load up in Grand Forks. Or maybe even at that gas station/duty free store in Pembina?  The one on the north side of the road seems to have a larger selection.

 

Seems strange that it's completely unavailable here. though not completely shocking.  Have you asked the folks at the MLC?  

[chris_s]

No help here, but just another hour from the border and you can probably load up in Grand Forks. Or maybe even at that gas station/duty free store in Pembina?  The one on the north side of the road seems to have a larger selection.

 

Seems strange that it's completely unavailable here. though not completely shocking.  Have you asked the folks at the MLC?  

 

yeah grand forks is where I've got it before, usually am there once or twice a year. But the stranger thing is that it's simply unavailable here. 

 

one other thing I've noticed is craft root beer. Every grocery store in grand forks seems to have a handful of different small batch/craft root beers but I am stretched to find even ONE in winnipeg

[chris_s]

epilogue: after making a batch myself and freezing it into cubes I decided it was too messy (even in the deep freeze they were sticky) and have resigned myself to purchased margarita mix which seems readily available in canada. I can't find much information about the difference between it and sour mix, other than margarita mix has some orange flavors in it. 

 

If I were making a large batch to consume quick enough I'd make it from scratch, but for casual consumption bottled will do. 

[Ashen]

you can get powdered bar mix here  . not sure about their shipping rates,  I just go into the store. 

 

 

 https://www.shopatstop.com/en/catalogue.php?cat=1&search=bar+mix