The Midori sour recipe
for your table
Place the coupe with some ice and a little water in the freezer or refrigerator so it is ice-cold when you pour.
Measure the Midori, lemon juice, and sugar syrup into the shaker. If you’re making the version with egg white, add it now and shake for ten seconds without ice first.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for twelve to fifteen seconds, until the outside frosts over and you can no longer hear the ice rattling around.
Pour the ice out of the glass and strain the cocktail through a fine strainer into the coupe. Garnish with a lemon wheel. For the longer version, pour it over ice in a highball glass and top up with a splash of sparkling water.
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The story
The sour is one of the oldest formulas behind the bar: spirit, citrus and something sweet, in a ratio you can remember by sight. A Midori Sour follows that formula, but with a liqueur in the starring role instead of a distilled base. That changes the calculation, because a liqueur already brings its own sugar. Whereas a whiskey sour needs sugar to soften the drink’s sharpness, a Midori Sour needs acidity to rein in its sweetness. And the bright green colour comes from the liqueur, not from melon: the fruit is in the flavour, the colour is in the bottle.
The right glass
A shaken Midori Sour is served without ice, so its starting temperature determines how long it stays cold. Chill the glass beforehand. At 22 centilitres, there is plenty of room: after shaking, the egg white brings the volume to around fourteen centilitres, and you still want some room for the foam cap. The description of this model says exactly that: a sour with egg white builds a layer of foam that you don’t want to flatten against the rim. Looking for an even wider bowl? Take a look at the champagne coupes.
Lehmann Roma Champagne Glass / Coupe 22 cl (6 pieces)
RCR Melodia highball glass 36 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 106,90.
The right tools
For a Midori Sour, besides the glass, you’ll need a shaker, a jigger for precise measuring, and a fine strainer for double straining. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you’ll find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 3 bar tools together € 109,80.
What do you make a Midori sour with?
To make a Midori sour, you need a melon liqueur, which belongs to the liqueurs. We do not yet have a dedicated page for Midori, so below are the liqueurs that come closest to it and the vodka from the bar version. On each drink page, you can read the percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it suits and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
The version you get in many bars includes 2 cl of vodka: it lengthens the drink without making it sweeter and takes it out of candy territory. An egg white softens the colour to an almost pastel green and gives it a thicker texture. If you want it long, top it up with sparkling water over ice in a tall glass; the proportions stay the same, and the sparkling water does the work. Replace the Midori with almond liqueur and you have an amaretto sour; with blue curaçao, you get the same structure in a different colour. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Put the glass in the freezer fifteen minutes before shaking, because a sour without ice depends on the temperature at which it enters the glass. Taste before straining: lemons vary considerably in acidity, so correct an overly sweet drink with an extra half centilitre of lemon juice and an overly sharp one with a few drops of syrup.
Good to know
Why the lemon juice here is not a garnish
Midori is a liqueur, which means it is distilled with sugar in it. Pour it neat and it is almost sticky. The 3 cl of lemon juice in this recipe is therefore not a finishing touch but the structure: the acidity cuts straight through that sugar and turns syrup into a drink. Reduce the lemon juice by half and you are left with a glass of liquid candy that you will put down after two sips. The ratio that works is just over three parts liqueur to two parts lemon juice and one part syrup, and the syrup is there only to smooth the transition between sweet and sour.
Where that vivid color comes from
The color of a Midori Sour comes from the bottle, not the fruit. Melon itself produces pale yellow-green to salmon-pink juice, never this neon green; that comes from the liqueur itself. That is not a problem, but it does explain why you cannot recreate the color with fresh melon. If you want a softer color, egg white helps: the foam on top breaks up the green and turns it into a pastel shade. If you serve it long with sparkling water, the color dilutes along with it and the whole drink becomes lighter.
The egg white: what it does and does not do
Egg white adds no flavor. It does two things: it binds air into a firm layer of foam and makes the drink feel thicker in the mouth, almost creamy. First shake for ten seconds without ice, so the egg white has a chance to whip up, then shake again with ice to chill and dilute. Strain twice afterward, through the shaker strainer and a fine-mesh strainer, otherwise ice chips will end up in the foam. No egg white on hand, or would you rather not use it? The liquid from a jar of chickpeas works just as well.
The version with vodka
Many bars serve a Midori Sour with 2 cl of vodka added. That is not a deviation but a solution: Midori is around twenty percent ABV and vodka around forty, so the vodka makes the drink stronger without adding a gram of sugar. You get a slightly drier, longer cocktail in which the melon still comes through clearly. If you want that without more alcohol, you can simply add an extra half centiliter of lemon juice; the effect on the sweetness is similar.
Shaken or built in a tall glass
There are two serves, and they taste different. Shaken and strained into a chilled coupe, the cocktail is small, cold, concentrated, and gone in five minutes. Built in a tall glass with plenty of ice and a splash of sparkling water, it becomes a long drink that you hold for half an hour. Per sip, the second is less sweet because the sparkling water dilutes it and the carbonation slightly suppresses the sweetness. You do not need to adjust the proportions, only the glass and the ice.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a Midori Sour?
Midori, lemon juice, and sugar syrup: 4.5 cl melon liqueur, 3 cl fresh lemon juice, and 1.5 cl syrup, shaken hard with ice and strained into a chilled coupe. Egg white is optional and adds a foamy layer and thicker texture. Many bars also add 2 cl of vodka.
What percentage of alcohol is in Midori?
The label states around twenty percent, so considerably lower than gin or vodka. That is because a liqueur consists largely of sugar and flavoring. As a result, a Midori Sour of approximately fourteen centiliters contains less alcohol than a stirred cocktail of the same size. Always check the bottle you have at home, as versions vary.
Does a Midori Sour need egg white?
No. Without egg white, it is a clear, bright green drink; with egg white, you get a foamy head, a softer color, and a thicker mouthfeel. If you use it, shake first for ten seconds without ice and then with ice, and double strain. Liquid from a jar of chickpeas is a workable alternative.
Which glass do you serve a Midori Sour in?
Shaken and served without ice, it belongs in a chilled coupe of approximately twenty to twenty-two centiliters, leaving room for the foam after shaking. If you serve it long with sparkling water, use a tall glass of just over thirty centiliters. Suitable models can be found among our coupette glasses.
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