Midori Sour

Not really. Melon liqueur carries a lot of sugar already, and the 8 ml here just softens the edges for people who want it gentle. Leave it out and the lemon comes forward, which is the version most bartenders prefer. Add it back a bar spoon at a time if the drink bites too hard.

It would. Fifteen milliliters of egg white shaken hard before the ice gives you a dense foam, dulls the sharpest edge of the lemon and makes the green look softer rather than radioactive. Add the soda after straining, gently, or it will collapse the head you just built.

Yes. The recipe was reworked in 2013 to cut the sugar and lean on real melon, and older stock still turns up on back shelves. The newer version is paler and easier to build a sour around. Check the label design if you're unsure which you have.

Split it with gin at 30 ml each in a sour and the melon stops being the whole story. It also makes the Japanese Slipper, three equal parts with orange liqueur and lemon. A bar spoon in a glass of prosecco turns the color without wrecking the wine.

A classic Midori Sour calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Melon liqueur, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 8 ml (0.25 oz) Simple syrup, 30 ml (1 oz) Lemon-lime soda. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Midori Sour is roughly 9% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it a relatively light, sessionable drink — similar in strength to a beer.

A Midori Sour is shaken — the rule of thumb is to shake anything with citrus juice. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.