SWEET ON SOURS

We're toasting our birthday with the most popular cocktail in the REAL SIMPLE recipe archives: the amaretto sour. And we're keeping the party going with two more classics in the genre.

- JENNA HELWIG

IF YOU'RE NOT a sour drinker, you'd be forgiven for thinking these cocktails are, well, tart-maybe unpleasantly so. But what they really are is balanced. Each one is a well-calibrated combo of spirit, citrus, and sweet. Take a sip, and puckered lips will likely not be your first reaction. It will be something like "Mmm, this is delicious! More, please!"

You'd also be forgiven for thinking that sours are a little retro. It's true they went out of fashion for a while, says Sammi Katz, coauthor of Spirited Women: Makers, Shakers, and Trailblazers in the World of Cocktails. "In the 1980s and '90s, bottled sour mix was the go-to," she explains. "They tended to taste fake and saccharine, and that severely damaged the reputation of these drinks." Thankfully, these days, freshly squeezed citrus is in vogue, and sours are making a comeback both in bars and at home.