The Sweet Addition That Will Change Your Sour Cocktail Game Forever

If sour cocktails are just a little bit too, well, sour for you, then we have the perfect sweet solution: cotton candy. Adding cotton candy to your sour cocktail will completely transform the drink into one with much more of a sweet-and-sour balance, and it will be just as delicious as the original if not more so.

Before you make your sour cocktail of choice, place a generous helping of cotton candy into the glass, then make the drink as normal. If the drink is stirred, pour the ingredients directly into the glass and stir the cotton candy along with the rest; if it's shaken, pour the finished drink over the cotton candy in the glass. Either way, the cotton candy will dissolve within the drink, directly infusing its sweetness with the other ingredients. To finish, garnish the cocktail with another piece of cotton candy. Depending on the drink and the cotton candy color, the drink may even change in hue thanks to the vibrant cotton candy — in other words, a cotton candy-infused cocktail is the perfect drink to serve at a dinner party to impress your guests.

When it comes to sour cocktails, your mind may have jumped to the whiskey sour, which is easily one of the most popular cocktails in this category. The whiskey sour is a perfect candidate for a cotton candy addition — perhaps a yellow or orange cotton candy would be a good fit to give the drink a deeper coloring. Because whiskey sours call for some sugar already, you may want to lessen the amount or leave it out altogether so that the sweetness is not overpowering when you add the cotton candy.

Other great sour cocktail options are the traditional gimlet (which consists of just lime juice, gin, and simple syrup) and the Meyer lemon Tom Collins (which infuses lemons, gin, club soda, and simple syrup). Both of these drinks are lighter in color, so they present the perfect opportunity to have fun with colorful cotton candy flavors that will make your drink much more vibrant and eye-catching. You could pair the Gimlet with a vibrant pink watermelon cotton candy, while the Tom Collins could be matched up with a bright green apple cotton candy. Once you've tried a couple of these ideas, feel free to experiment with any and all cotton candy flavors that you can get your hands on.