sour_cocktail

All in the (Cocktail) Family: Sours

Margaritas. Daiquiris. Sidecars. It wasn't too long ago that I realized some of my favorite drinks had something in common. Each is a member of a certain tart and delicious extended cocktail family: the Sour.

The perfect combination of citrusy freshness and mellowing sweetness, backed by the rich warmth of alcohol, Sours are one of the earliest cocktail types on record (Brandy Sours were big in the 1850s), and their modern cousins (Cosmos, anyone?) are still holding their own.

The beauty of the Sour is its simplicity: mix together a base liquor, a sour ingredient - usually fresh lemon or lime juice - and a sweetener, and you're good to go.

Within the Sour family there are Classic Sours, International Sours, and New Orleans Sours. Classic Sours are distinguished by the non-alcoholic sweeteners they're mixed with (sugar, flavored syrup, or a sweet fruit juice):

• Daiquiri (rum, lime juice, simple syrup)
• Whiskey Sour (whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup - recipe below)
• Lemon Drop (citrus vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup)
• Pisco Sour (pisco brandy, lemon juice, simple syrup - with Angostura bitters and egg white)

International and New Orleans Sours (as defined by mixologist Gary Regan), on the other hand, get their sweetness from liqueur. In the case of New Orleans Sours, an orange-flavored one, such as Cointreau, triple sec, or curaçao:

• Margarita (tequila, lime juice, triple sec or Cointreau)
• Sidecar (brandy, lemon juice, Cointreau)
• Cosmopolitan (vodka, lime and cranberry juice, Cointreau)
• Aviation (gin, lemon juice, Maraschino liqueur)

The possibilities are nearly endless, but one of my personal favorites in the bunch goes right back to basics: the Whiskey Sour.

Whiskey Sour (adapted from Salvatore Calabrese, Classic Cocktails)

makes one cocktail

1 3/4 ounces bourbon (or rye whiskey)

2/3 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon simple syrup

1 egg white (optional - I leave it out)

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker over ice and shake briskly. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a Maraschino cherry (I've been using homemade ones from earlier this summer, mmmmm!) and an optional orange slice.

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Pisco Trail

Peruvian Cuisine & Pisco Mixology in San Francisco

Pisco Cocktails

This collection of Pisco cocktails includes traditional and original recipes inspired by the spirits, ingredients, culture, and history of Lima, San Francisco, New Orleans, London, Florence, Macau, and Tokyo.

A Japanese-Peruvian Pisco Sour variation where the Pisco is infused with nori seaweed using the sous-vide technique

A Pisco cocktail with tropical ingredients that connects Peruvian and Tiki cultures

Pisco infused with eggplant to pay homage to Fermina Daza’s tale of unrequited love

A Pisco variation of the classic Greyhound but infused with orange, broiled grapefruit, mint syrup, & Peychaud’s bitters

An imgagined Prohibition era cocktail, Pisco infused with rosemary, Green Chartreuse, Luxardo Maraschino, and thyme

An exotic Pisco Sour variation with Pisco, Sake, and a French aperitif wine to honor the singer & Inca Princess, Yma Sumac

A modern cocktail inspired by the Capitan and classic Manhattan using sous vide techniques to infuse the Pisco with orange and spices

The classic Italian cocktail with Pisco & infused with the spirit of the Andes

This is what James Bond drinks in Peru

Pisco & sweet cherry blossom tea celebrates Peru, Japan, a ship, a flower, Spring, and fleeting beauty

A Pisco variation of legendary bartender Hisashi Sugimoto’s signature cocktail tells the bittersweet story of a journey

A fusion of Chinese & Peruvian cultures, ingredients from Macau & Pisco from Peru

Aromatic Pisco Italia, sweet strawberry syrup, crisp citrus, and a bubbly Cava bouquet

Pisco ✓ Purple corn superfood ✓ Quinine elixir ✓ 100% Peruvian medicine ✓

Pisco infused with coffee and served with tonic water

A story about how the Whiskey Sour became more Peruvian

A tribute to Pisco and Gypsy Jazz nights at Comstock Saloon

A seasonal remedy for whatever ails you this Summer

From Peru & Italy, a bittersweet tribute to Love with Pisco, spiced syrup, and Gran Classico

The National Drink of Peru

A classic Summer combination, Pisco, citrus, syrup, bitters, and ginger ale, served on the rocks

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A cure-all Pisco hot toddy

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Amaretto Sour cocktail

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The Amaretto Sour belongs to a family of mixed drinks known as “sours.” This category of cocktail recipes are has at least one liquor (or liqueur), plus lemon or lime juice (the sour part) and a sweetener. They include classics like the Margarita, Sidecar and Whiskey Sour. The smooth, sweet taste of an Amaretto Sour makes it ideal for occasional drinkers as well as more dedicated cocktail fans.

The flavor of amaretto dominates this drink, so the Amaretto Sour clashes with some recipes. You can definitely enjoy this drink all by itself. Or you can serve it with salty bar snacks, or mildly sweet desserts like tiramisu, cheesecake or a chocolate croissant.

For a special touch, garnish this one with Luxardo maraschino cherries. They represent a big upgrade compared to the ones you get for 99 cents at the grocery store. They have a rich, complex taste. Seriously, I never liked maraschino cherries, but these taste almost like a fresh picked cherry, rather than one that’s been sitting in syrup for ages.

For the amaretto, I recommend the classic brand, Disaronno. I enjoy other amarettos, but always come back to Disaronno because there’s something a little more complex and fresh tasting about it, compared to some other brands. It’s not cloyingly sweet like some brands.

If you enjoy this drink, you should check out some of the other “sours”, like the classic Whiskey Sour. If it’s the amaretto flavor you love, try the Nilla Wafer Martini, which features amaretto with vanilla vodka.

Amaretto Sour Recipe

The Amaretto Sour is mostly sweet with enough sour to make it interesting. It's a classic cocktail featuring amaretto and lemon juice.

5 min Prep Time

5 min Total Time

1. There are two ways to make this drink.
2. #1: Rub the rim of an old-fashioned glass with lemon juice . Dip it into a pile of granulated sugar several times until the rim is covered with sugar. Method #1: Shake the amaretto and lemon juice without ice. Strain into the glass over ice. Finally, garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherries . An orange round makes a nice additional garnish.
3. Method #2: Shake the amaretto, lemon juice and teaspoon of granulated sugar in a strainer without ice. Fill a glass with ice and strain the mixture into it. Finally, garnish with an orange round and/or maraschino cherry.

October 24, 2017 Filed Under: Cocktails Tagged With: Amaretto, Lemon

10 Great Sour Cocktails from Bars Across America

Move over, bitters: There's a new flavor profile in town, and this tart is taking over the nation's cocktail bars

The Maiden's Blush at Dead Rabbit Grog & Grocery, NYC (Credit: Courtesy Dead Rabbit Grog & Grocery)

Bump down a seat at the bar, bitters. There's a new type of drink in town, and it's carving out a niche on cocktail menus nationwide.

Sours--using spirits as distinct as bourbon and tequila, and mouth-puckering elements as eclectic as vinegar, pickle brine, fermented pineapple juice, and malic acid--are on the rise. Damnably delicious, they are brilliantly suited to warm-weather drinking.

Jack McGarry, of New York watering hole Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog , is a mixology nerd's nerd. Before opening his punch-centric bar in downtown Manhattan, McGarry immersed himself in drink recipes dating to the 1600s, testing thousands of them. Sours became trendy in the mid-19th century, he said, when industrialization made the ubiquitous punch bowl look less cool: "If you had a punch bowl, it said that you had a lot of uncommitted time to sit for two or three hours around it."

What were called "short punches" came into fashion, including cobblers (fruit, herbs, sugar, and seltzer), sours (citrus and sweetener), fizzes (a sour with egg white and seltzer), and daisies (citrus, cordial, and seltzer). Here are ten tasty drinks incorporating sour elements from around America, with thoughts from McGarry about what makes them so grand.

1. OX, Portland, Oregon

McGarry calls himself "fanatic about balance," and says you'll never find pickle juice--"it's very, very aggressive"--on his menu. But he tips his hat to anyone using it smartly. At OX, Justin Diaz combines Belvedere vodka with house-made dill pickle juice and dry vermouth, serving it up garnished with a pickle spear. The pickle recipe comes from the chef's grandma, and is called

the Dirty Grandma Agnes as an homage. It (she?) is divine.

2225 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd; 503-284-3366; oxpdx.com

2. Sobou, New Orleans, George Washington Sour

Ask Sobou bartender Abigail Gullo for something tart and cherry-flavored, and she'll throw together an off-the-menu

cherry whiskey sour on the spot: Luxardo maraschino liqueur, an ounce each of bourbon and rye, and lemon and lime juice are shaken with egg whites and simple syrup for a concoction as pretty as it is delicious. (As McGarry points out, egg white has traditionally been deployed to improve texture and soften sour notes.)

310 Chartres Street, New Orleans; 504-552-4095; sobounola.com

3. Bar Ama, Los Angeles

Shrubs developed in the early-to-mid 1800s as a way to preserve big shipments of fruits, especially citrus. The alcohol-based shrub, of which McGarry says Grand Marnier is a modern example, is one type, and vinegar-based shrubs are the other. Though a shrub can be a potent addition, it's successfully deployed at Bar Ama, where a drink called the

The Nacho mingles a chile-lime cider vinegar shrub with honey, Campari, and tequila blanco for a silky drink that is sweet, sour, and hot.

4. Jasper's Corner, San Francisco

Along with lemons and limes, oranges were among the first to make a tart dent on the American palate--"orange punch was very big in America in the 1700s." In tiny amounts, though; the first sour drinks were actually as sweet as sherbet, says McGarry. It's no surprise, then, that

the Wiessen Sour--a bourbon-based cocktail with lemon, orange marmalade, orange bitters, and a splash of white beer--is so popular at Jasper's Corner in the Bay Area.

Shrubs at Pok Pok (Credit: Flickr user luz)

5. Pok Pok, Portland, Oregon

"I always think of flavors as a boxing ring," says McGarry. "Each ingredient in your boxing ring has to be able to go the distance." He avoids vinegar-based shrubs since, like pickle juice, they can K.O. the palate. At Andy Ricker's Pok Pok restaurants, however, drinking vinegars (shrubs) make cameos in many of the drinks.

The Hunny is a winning example--gold tequila, grapefruit juice, lime, honey drinking vinegar, and honey.

6. Scofflaw, Chicago

A favorite among the barkeeps at this Chi-town gin joint is

The Veranda Way, which combines tepache--a fermented pineapple juice the bar staff buy at a bodega on the city's South side--Citadel gin, Aperol and lime served over a giant cinnamon ice cube. Thanks to the pineapple juice having gone tart during the fermentation process, the finished elixir is one that co-owner Andy Gould calls "a pretty rad balance of sweet and sour."

Sour at Lucey's Lounge (Credit: Courtesy Lucey's Lounge)

7. Lucey's Lounge, Brooklyn

New to the sours craze, or on the fence? McGarry would suggest a fruitier type of sour, so "you're not hitting somebody straight in the head with citrus." Happily enough,

apricot sours are making a comeback, and the one at Lucey's is like drinkable apricot candy: Bitter Truth apricot liqueur, Wódka vodka, a secret house sour recipe (a bartender admits to fresh lime and lemon juices), a touch of egg white, and a fat maraschino cherry.

8. Vessel, Seattle

Grapefruits were considered quite exotic in the heyday of punches and sours; McGarry rarely saw them in the recipes he studied. But it's a citrus flavor he loves--"a clean bitter"--like lemon and lime. At Vessel, a drink called

the Madmartigan includes the unlikely bedfellows of barely tart grapefruit liqueur and Mezcal, dark rum, and lime juice. Garnished with a brandied cherry, it is sweet, smoky, and tart in equal measure.

9. Bar Congress, Austin

Sometimes just a touch of sour can keep an otherwise sweet drink in balance.

The Scarlet Lantern at Bar Congress is a complicated concoction that mingles a black cardamom-strawberry shrub, a tiny bit of malic acid (a tart element found in green apples), rhubarb liqueur, and tequila. Sweet, with a deep berry profile and a touch of tart, it's a summer charmer.

10. Dead Rabbit Grog & Grocery

This pink belle may look innocuous, but--no Cosmo--she packs a hell of a punch.

The Maiden's Blush comprises Ransom Old Tom Gin, raspberry cordial and orange bitters spun with a full ounce of Absinthe and a full ounce of lemon juice for the most licorice-y sour drink we've ever tasted. "Raspberry and anise go terrifically together, historically," declares McGarry happily, proclaiming this wonderful, strange cocktail a true "bartender's sour."

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The Trickiest Drink

The best cocktail you've ever had was probably some version of the sour. The worst cocktail you've ever had probably was, too.

No drink formula could be simpler: booze, lemon or lime juice, sweetener, done. And none has given us so much: the whiskey sour, the daiquiri, the collins, even the sidecar and the margarita — all sours. And none can be so awful: either tooth-strippingly tart or candy-sweet instead of what it's supposed to be, which is dry and complex.

Now, we don't want to make balancing a sour sound like molecular biology. But the sour is machined to a finer tolerance than other drinks, so it takes a little management. Like this:

Although most bartenders these days balance out the citrus with an equal portion of simple syrup — a 50-50 mix of sugar and water — what you want to use is granulated sugar. If you look through old bar books, you'll notice that the pre-Prohibition masters of the art, although fully versed in the use of simple syrup, made sours with plain sugar.

There's a reason for that. A drink with superfine sugar stirred into lemon juice is clean and vibrant. A modern drink with, say, three quarters of an ounce each of citrus juice and syrup has a slick, almost plastic texture. Score one for the wisdom of the ancients.

If you use quality spirits — we like bolder ones here, such as American whiskey, cognac, gin, or rich, funky rum — a well-balanced simple sour will always be perfect. Of course, perfection can sometimes be a little dull. The traditional way to fancy up the drink is to replace the sugar or syrup with a liqueur. This can be delightful, to be sure (see the margarita and the sidecar), but it presents its own challenges in balancing the drink, good liqueurs being less sweet ounce per ounce than syrup, and it also makes for a significantly stronger drink — not always what you want from a sour.

Or you could deck it out like they did in the 1880s, when someone figured out that if you make a simple sour and, pouring carefully over the back of a spoon, float a half ounce or so of good dry red wine over the top, it gives the drink a hell of a "snap," as a Chicago bartender put it at the time. (Ironically, in time the drink became known as a "New York sour.") Plus, it looks spectacular.

> Stir 1 level tsp superfine sugar and ¾ oz lemon juice together in a cocktail shaker. (It's easier to dissolve the sugar without the booze.)*

> Add 2 oz American whiskey of any kind.

> Fill shaker with ice, shake like a jackhammer operator, and strain into chilled cocktail coupe. Drink. Repeat.

> Stir 1 level tsp superfine sugar and ¾ oz lemon juice together in a cocktail shaker.

> Add 2 oz straight rye whiskey.

> Fill shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into chilled cocktail coupe.

> Carefully float ½ oz cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine over the top by pouring it slowly out of a small container over the back of a bar spoon.

*If this is too tart for your taste, better to pull the citrus back to ½ oz than increase the sugar. That stuff will kill you.

WHAT DAVE'S DRINKING:

BOLS BARREL-AGED GENEVER ($50)

You used to make gin and whiskey pretty much the exact same way, except for the gin you threw in some juniper berries and sometimes a handful of hops. That was a few hundred years ago, before the English came up with the far lighter and more botanical style we know as London dry gin. The Dutch still make much of their gin the old way. When barrel aged, it's a wonderfully mellow drink — with just a hint of juniper to spice it up — that gives a sour the body and richness of whiskey and the brightness of gin.

Classic Cocktails in History: the Whiskey Sour

There is a grand pendulum that swings back and forth in trends. In the beginning, everything is simple. People use what they can find, adding new ingredients or processes as they become available. More and more people begin to work with this new trend, everyone adding their own twist or adaptation. Some of them catch on, some of them are mercifully discarded. The original product begins to get more and more complex as competitors try to outdo each other with the most extreme versions they can find. The product becomes so complex that the people buying the product yearn for something simpler. They get tired of all the whirling gizmos and extreme iterations and just want something simple that works. Food and drink are not immune to this arc.

There has been a movement back to the basic blocks when it comes to cocktails. There is something special about the simple cocktails. They are enjoyable and well known from a customer standpoint, and easy to assemble from behind the bar. Daiquiris, Margaritas, Old Fashioneds, Gin and Tonics, are all starting to find their way back onto the menus of great cocktail establishments.

Another cocktail that is starting to see the light of day is one that has used the simplest of building material, and enjoyed widespread popularity in the United States even before it was written down – the Whiskey Sour. It’s as simple as you can get and still be called a cocktail. There is a base spirit, water, sugar, and a citrus element, usually lemon.

There are some historians that believe the sour category is a scaled down version of the basic punch. It has the elements of “one sour, two sweet, three strong, four weak” that a classic punch has, but in an individual serving size. The proportions are a bit off, but you get the idea. The base spirit is always the dominant flavor. The sugar needs the juice and water or soda to help dissolve the sugar. The citrus should be just present enough to balance out the sweetness of the sugar. Gum (simple) syrup was later substituted for the sugar and water in some recipes, which is easier to blend into the cocktail.

The recipe itself was first written down in the 1862 book The Bartender’s Guide by Jerry Thomas. However, the basic recipe was known for over a century prior. In those days, travel seemed to take forever, and up to the 20 th century, refrigeration was lacking and the concept of germs was largely unknown. Long journeys over land weren’t terrible. You could stop off and resupply as needed or just go hunting and foraging. Sea travel, especially from Europe to North America, was not nearly as simple. Food and water will spoil over a multi-month trip, and water wasn’t exactly considered safe (see the germ note above).

photo by Beautiful Mess

Professional sailors suffered from scurvy and other malnutrition and sea-sicknesses, up until a bartender’s hero named Vice Admiral Edward Vernon of England began mixing a few ingredients together to serve to his crew. Sailors had a ration of various things, like limes and lemons to prevent scurvy, and liquor for something safe to drink. To prevent a ship full of intoxicated shipmates, the liquor, usually rum once it was discovered, was watered down and lemon or lime juice was added to mask the flavor of the rum. Hence, we have a very early version of the Sour.

The sailors then brought this concept to shore and eventually the basics of the sour cocktail were refined to what we know it as. Gin and Brandy were also substituted in by the English, but the Americans were more fond of the native (and generally easier to obtain) whiskey. Jerry Thomas ultimately refined and published this imbibement, codifying the sour into black and white.

And what of that original recipe? Here is it, from the book:

• (Use small bar-glass.)
• Take 1 large tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar dissolved in a little Seltzer or Apollinaris water
• The juice of half a small lemon
• 1 wine-glass of Bourbon or rye whiskey

Fill the glass full of shaved ice, shake up and strain into a claret glass. Ornament with berries.

Soda was originally used, but eventually abandoned over time. Most likely as people realized that the soda lost some effervescence after being shaken. One thing you do not see in the recipe, other than a lack of measurements? An egg. No whites, no yolks, nothing.

The egg was later added as a creamy, frothy element to the cocktail. It went down a little smoother and looked a little better in the glass with the egg in it. Gary Regan’s Joy of Mixology does not include an egg. Dale DeGroff’s The Essential Cocktail includes egg white as an option. Adding an egg to a cocktail makes some people nervous, as it should; there is a chance you are going to contract salmonella and become ill. As a bartender friend of mine likes to say, “You actually have a better chance of choking on a bar peanut than contracting salmonella from an egg.”

If the bar is keeping the eggs cold before they use them and being careful not to touch the egg white to the shell, the 0.25 oz to 0.5 oz (7 to 15 mL) of egg white you typically would add will not have any adverse effects. The elderly and those with weak immune systems should avoid the egg in the cocktail, since they have the greatest chance of contracting salmonella. The CDC also says that anyone under five has twice the risk of contracting it, but they should not really be drinking cocktails, should they? Some very strict bartenders may insist that adding an egg white makes it a Boston Sour, but that is a different argument for a different day.

The actual recipe with measurements for a Whiskey Sour is:

• 1.5 to 2 oz. (45 to 60mL) Whiskey
• 1 oz. (30 mL) Lemon Juice
• .5 oz. (15 mL) Simple Syrup
• .25 oz. (7 mL) Egg White (optional)
• Cherry for garnish
• Lemon or orange slice for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a shaker over ice. Shake well, then pour into a rocks glass over ice. If you are using the egg white you can use as much or as little in the cocktail as you want (I have had just a dash, up to a full egg white. It is all tasty.). Dry shake (no ice) vigorously to get the white foamy element before adding ice and other ingredients. Egg proteins do not break down without a fight, and this will froth them up nicely. Adding the ice and other ingredients at this phase may put too much water into the cocktail. You can adjust the ratio of simple syrup and lemon juice to taste.

Why is such an amazing, simple, fresh cocktail being rediscovered? Like many other cocktails, it succumbed to multiple changes in culture and technology during the 20 th century. The first cultural change was Prohibition. Base spirits in their pure form were hard to come by, and even when they were available they were watered down or tainted in some way. Sours and other simple cocktails were not refined to hide bad base spirits. Odd, how a mixture that once was used to mask foul ingredients eventually lost that ability. Prohibition, even after it ended, did not bring liquor production in the U.S. back to life. World War II hit not long after, and distilleries did their part in the war by switching over to producing industrial alcohol for the war front. It was not until the 1950’s and 60’s that American made spirits like whiskey and rum started to come back to pre-Prohibition levels.

That era of good feelings and consumerism brought a technological boom with it that would destroy well-crafted cocktails for over a generation: pre-bottled mixers. To keep up with the times and technology, bartenders wanted to use all of the latest and greatest things hitting the shelf. Instead of squeezing juices an ounce at a time, then adding sugar to them, you could just grab a premade bottle and pour! No fuss and less preparation? Who could resist? Over time, those concoctions were made with less juice and sugar, and with more syrup and flavoring. The delicate balances that the great barman developed were dropped in favor of bigger cocktails. Those classic cocktails in the sour category fell to the bottom rung of cocktail making. They were a pour of the good stuff doused in a cheap chemical wash of sweet, lemony syrup. Serious drinkers stayed away from them, opting for Bloody Mary’s, Long Island Iced Teas, Alabama Slammers, and Cosmopolitans. It was not until the 90’s that bartenders started to pull back, gently dipping their toes into this idea of fresh mixers. And the pendulum slowly started to move in the other direction.

As the mixologists and other crafty bartenders got a hold of this cocktail, they started to explore ways to manipulate it without losing the equilibrium of sweet, sour, and boozy. The sour and the boozy are hard to really manipulate; whiskey and lemon wrap themselves nicely together. The one thing people have played with the most is how to make it sweet. Marmalade, maple syrup, and other specialty favored syrups have been worked in at various bars to give their own twists on the traditional flavor. The one that is most commonly used, though, is honey. Making a simple syrup from honey is what PDT mentions in their book, and how many NYC hot spots, such as Dear Irving serve it. PDT shows a 2:1 ratio of honey to water in the book. Other sources with a similar cocktail use a 1.5:1 ratio. It just depends on how sweet you want it.

• 1.5 oz. to 2 oz. (45 to 60 mL) Whiskey (bourbon works best to pick up the sweetness)
• 1 oz. (30 mL) Honey Syrup
• .75 oz. (20 mL) Fresh Lemon Juice
• Cherry for garnish
• Lemon or orange slice for garnish

Gold Rush, by Stew

Pour the ingredients into a shaker over ice. Shake well, then pour into a rocks glass over ice. If you want to make the honey syrup by the individual glass, pour 0.25 oz. (7 mL) of warm water to 0.5 oz (15 mL) of honey into the shaker and shake first. Let it cool, then add ice and the rest of the ingredients. The ice melt will add extra water, and the cocktail should come out at about the same proportions.

The basics of a cocktail were wrapped up elegantly in the well balanced Whiskey Sour. So elegantly that it is difficult to improve on it without a deft hand at cocktail construction. Its movement through history is one that mirrors pendulum movement of any good trend. From the low points of being made by necessity and with commercial sour mix to the sublime highs of the recipe Jerry Thomas published and modern bartenders rediscovered, the Whiskey Sour has had an interesting journey. Where it goes next will just be another chapter in the saga.

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About The Author

brian_petro

Brian Petro, a native of the great state of Ohio, found himself in the town of Dayton after graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art. His path has wound through the design, education, and restaurant industries, all of them adding a little something to the overall flavor of his creative endeavors. The first time he stepped behind a bar, it felt like home. Ever since, he has absorbed all of the liquor knowledge he can find, from culture to history to recipes, and done his best to share what he knows with the world. Or, at least the readers of Dayton Most Metro, where he is the writer about all things cocktail. He also likes the word “Brilliant” too much and appreciates the beauty of winter more than most. Follow him @SmartGuyInATie.

Should be reminded to always promote safety when mixing drinks. Thanks for a great post.

You can avoid the contamination issue by using InstaFoam, which is a natural, vegan, FDA approved foamer derived from tree bark for the whiskey sour or any cocktail where an egg white is used.

Great recipe Alcohol Professor, I tried this last weekend and it tasted delicious!

Almost too sweet for me! 😀 But the egg? No way. I couldn’t do that… That sounds too brutal. Well, I usually drink my whisky as a whisky. No big fan of the mixed stuff, usually. But the lemon does it.. 😉

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Vodka Sour

Cocktail recipe

• #9 / 752 in Vodka Cocktails
• |
• see all.
• #11 / 326 in Lemon Juice Cocktails
• |
• #10 / 192 in Sugar Syrup Cocktails

3 Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz Vodka 1 ½ oz Vodka 4.5 cl Vodka 45 ml Vodka 1 ½ oz Vodka 1.5 oz Vodka
• ¾ oz Lemon Juice ¾ oz Lemon Juice 2.25 cl Lemon Juice 22.5 ml Lemon Juice ¾ oz Lemon Juice 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
• ½ oz Sugar Syrup ½ oz Sugar Syrup 1.5 cl Sugar Syrup 15 ml Sugar Syrup ½ oz Sugar Syrup 0.5 oz Sugar Syrup

• Original
• cl
• ml
• oz

Microbadges (Expand)

Featured in a user list on the site

Received 10 or more positive votes on the site

Featured in 10 or more lists on this site

We have a photo of this cocktail

" > Photo Diffords 14 Key Ingredients

Can be made with Simon Difford's 14 key ingredients list

" > Diffords 14 Key Ingredients Cocktail Of The Day

Has been featured as cocktail of the day on this site

" > Cocktail Of The Day Classic

Is categorised as a 'classic' cocktail on this site

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We love our Sour cocktails, and this one is one of the best. Not too sweet, not too tart, just right. Rich and creamy. This delicious sour, made incredible by our . ">How to Make The Vodka Sour - Featuring Boyd and Blair Vodka https://www.youtube.com/embed/jcpEAVgYvP8

Absolut.">Vodka Sour https://www.youtube.com/embed/KeAvq8bunyU

A sour is a traditional family of mixed drinks; the word itself is often used as a post-positive adjective when in the name of a drink. Randy makes a fabulous . ">How To Make A Vodka Sour | Epic Guys Bartending | The Best Vodka Sour Cocktail Recipe

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Black Russian

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• 1 ½ oz Vodka Vodka ( )
• ¾ oz Lemon Juice Lemon Juice ( )
• ½ oz Sugar Syrup Sugar Syrup ( )

Add to My Bar

• 1 ½ oz Vodka Vodka
• ¾ oz Lemon Juice Lemon Juice
• ½ oz Sugar Syrup Sugar Syrup

Email the recipe

Text the recipe

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  Whiskey Sour

  Cocktail recipe

  

  • #7 / 71 in Bourbon Cocktails
  • |
  • see all.
  • #48 / 326 in Lemon Juice Cocktails
  • |
  • #35 / 192 in Sugar Syrup Cocktails

  3 Ingredients

  • ¾ oz Lemon Juice ¾ oz Lemon Juice 2.25 cl Lemon Juice 22.5 ml Lemon Juice ¾ oz Lemon Juice 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
  • ¾ oz Sugar Syrup ¾ oz Sugar Syrup 2.25 cl Sugar Syrup 22.5 ml Sugar Syrup ¾ oz Sugar Syrup 0.75 oz Sugar Syrup
  • 1 ½ oz Bourbon 1 ½ oz Bourbon 4.5 cl Bourbon 45 ml Bourbon 1 ½ oz Bourbon 1.5 oz Bourbon
  • Original
  • cl
  • ml
  • oz

  Microbadges (Expand)

  A cocktail recognised by the International Bartenders' Association

  " > IBA Official Drink In A List

  Featured in a user list on the site

  Received 10 or more positive votes on the site

  Featured in 10 or more lists on this site

  We have a photo of this cocktail

  " > Photo Diffords 14 Key Ingredients

  Can be made with Simon Difford's 14 key ingredients list

  " > Diffords 14 Key Ingredients Cocktail Of The Day

  Has been featured as cocktail of the day on this site

  " > Cocktail Of The Day Classic

  Is categorised as a 'classic' cocktail on this site

  Featured in Diffordsguide Top 100 Cocktails

  " > Difford Top 100 Difford's hall of fame

  Diffords top 68 cocktails that made his hall of fame list.

  " > Difford's hall of fame

  Found In Lists

  

  Thankyou for your email, we'll look at the issue as soon as we can.

  Activity on this cocktail

  Can you make this?

  Personalise your bar and see what cocktails you can make

  Elsewhere on the net

  Shop Our Barware Essentials: Beer Glasses: http://amzn.to/1H1A2yu Professional Bottle Opener: http://amzn.to/1RAeBgc 3 Piece Shaker Set: . ">How to Make a Whiskey Sour | Cocktail Recipes https://www.youtube.com/embed/3l04mRURJ6Q

  How to Cocktail: Whiskey Sour This all-time classic cocktail is a very versatile drink, as it can be made with just about any type of spirit. In this video, mixologist . ">How to Make a Whiskey Sour - Liquor.com https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_ddr6BFzqc

  http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-6706824.html How to make a whiskey sour cocktail - Whiskey sour recipe Whiskey Sours are the perfect cocktail if you . ">How to make a whiskey sour - Whiskey sour recipe

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  You might also like

  Mint Julep

  Boston Sour

  Melnyk Flip

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  Add to basket

  • ¾ oz Lemon Juice Lemon Juice ( )
  • ¾ oz Sugar Syrup Sugar Syrup ( )
  • 1 ½ oz Bourbon Bourbon ( )

  Add to My Bar

  • ¾ oz Lemon Juice Lemon Juice
  • ¾ oz Sugar Syrup Sugar Syrup
  • 1 ½ oz Bourbon Bourbon

  Email the recipe

  Text the recipe

  • Badges & Reputation
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  • T&C
  • FAQ
  • About
  • Subscribe
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  • Copyright © 2017 Make me a cocktail. All Rights Reserved.

  • Enter your email address and we'll send you a free Ebook of cocktail recipes.

    

    As well as receiving weekly updates packed with our latest drink and cocktail related content.

    And . done! Awesome.

    Your 'Top 50 Cocktails' book is whizzing through the old t'internet as we speak, and should be with you soon.

    How to Make and Use Sour Mix in Cocktails

    Sour Mix is a Great Shortcut in the Bar

    

    Sweet and sour mix is often called sour mix or bar mix and it is a popular drink ingredient that should be in every bar. You will find that a number of sour and tropical drinks such as margaritas use sour mix.

    Sour mix is used to add both a sweet and a sour element to drinks via a single ingredient. It is a simple combination of sugar and lemon or lime juices (sometimes both) and it is very easy to make yourself.

    Essentially, sour mix is a simple syrup that uses the combination of sour citrus fruit for flavoring and is a little thinner because it typically uses a 3:1 ratio of liquid to sugar.

    While you can purchase sour mix at almost any liquor store, these are often either too sweet or too sour and commonly include artificial sweeteners. As with almost every drink mixer, fresh is best and you will find that a housemade sour mix produces better tasting cocktails.

    Making your own sour mix will also save money, so there is no reason to avoid learning this simple recipe.

    To make sweet and sour mix:

    Combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water until sugar is completely dissolved. Add 1 cup fresh lime juice and 1 cup fresh lemon juice and refrigerate.

    This can be done over heat by bringing the sugar and water to a boil and simmering for about 5 minutes before adding the juices and allowing the mix to cool before bottling.

    Or, you can simply combine the sugar and water in a cocktail shaker (or a bottle with a tight seal) and shake until the sugar is dissolved.

    Tip: Adjust the lemon and lime juice ratio to fit your specific taste. You can also make it with either lemon or lime juice exclusively by using 2 cups (or parts) of either juice.

    Examples of this include the Global Warmer recipe, which calls specifically for 'lime sour mix' and the Honey Bun, which uses 'fresh lemon sour.'

    Mix 1 part simple syrup with 1 part lemon juice. Optionally, add 2 egg whites for every liter of mix to make cocktails slightly foamy.

    Tip: The best sour mix uses fresh citrus juice. Any citrus juice will work, and you might want to try a grapefruit sour to add a twist to your drinks.

    Using Sour Mix in Drinks

    Once you have a sour mix, store it in the refrigerator and use it in any cocktail recipe that calls for sour mix. It can also be used to adjust any drink's flavor if both sweet and sour elements would make a significant improvement.

    Sour mix can also be used as a shortcut for many cocktails that call for simple syrup and either lemon or lime juices individually such as the popular Whiskey Sour. If you do this substitution, you may have to use more or less sour mix than the recipe calls for to obtain a balanced cocktail.

    Pisco Sour

    

    The pisco sour cocktail, invented in Peru around 1900, uses a pisco (Peruvian grape brandy) that has a bit of bite to it--that is, nothing too smooth--to create the balance in this creamy, frothy, limey drink.

    Ingredients

    • 1/4 cup (2 oz.) pisco (see notes)
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
    • 1 teaspoon pasteurized egg whites

    Nutritional Information

    • Calories 224
    • Caloriesfromfat 0.0%
    • Protein 0.7g
    • Fat 0.2g
    • Satfat 0.0g
    • Carbohydrate 33g
    • Fiber 0.0g
    • Sodium 9mg
    • Cholesterol 0.0mg

    How to Make It

    In a blender, whirl 3 ice cubes, pisco, sugar, fresh lime juice, and egg whites. Whirl until smooth (you'll no longer hear the ice cracking against the side of the blender) and serve straight up in a martini glass with a dash of aromatic bitters and a wedge of lime.

    Peruvian Pantry: Pisco. A brandy distilled from several different grape varieties grown in South America, it is the national drink of Peru and comes in many styles--from smooth and sippable to rough and fiery. (Chile also produces pisco, although Peru contends that the Chilean version is not real pisco but a Chilean brandy that needs its own name.) Pisco became popular in California during the Gold Rush, when Peruvian miners there extolled its virtues to fellow fortune-seekers.

    Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving.

    Andina, Portland, OR

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