Fix Too-Sweet Fruit Juice With Apple Cider Vinegar

I am not a big drinker of fruit juice, unless it is mixed with gin, but my partner (who does not drink gin or anything like that) is a fan. He often buys juice for my place, drinks some of it, and leaves the rest for me to drink or ignore until he returns. This is how a carton of POG ended up in my fridge.

I like POG with rum (and lime) or Campari (and lime), but this morning was the first time I drank some of the juice all by itself in a while. It was fine, but much sweeter than I remember. This was disappointing, as I had been looking forward to a refreshing, sweet-but-tart beverage as a breakfast treat.

It was obvious that acid was the missing component, and while lemon and lime would certainly fix that, they also change the profile of the juice by bringing a flavour all their own. If you want to up the acid and temper sweetness in your juice without distracting from its original flavour, reach for the apple cider vinegar.

While apple cider vinegar has a flavour, the apple-y undertone is something that is already present in most mixed juices, so it blends right in. (There’s a reason apple juice is often used a base for juice “cocktails” that have nothing to do with apple.) You don’t need much—start with just the tiniest of splashes, maybe an eighth of a teaspoon. The fruity, slightly funky vinegar reels in any cloying qualities, complementing the more sugary aspects of the beverage without overshadowing it. It’s the juice same juice you bought at the store, just a little bit better.