Whisky Sour

Why you are pouring this tonight

A proper Whisky Sour is one of the best-made cocktails in the world and one of the worst-made cocktails in the world. The gap between the two is entirely about egg whites.

At its best, the drink is the three things any great sour needs: spirit, citrus, something sweet, balanced perfectly. Add the foamy cap from a single egg white and it becomes something genuinely elegant. Gold in the glass. Cream on top. Three drops of bitters sitting on the foam like a drawing.

At its worst it is a flat yellow drink with bar syrup, bottled lemon juice and no foam, served with a skewer of mummified orange slices. That is the drink most Australians think they do not like. Different animal.

Make it properly at home and you will drink them for the rest of your life.

What you need

60 ml bourbon. Bourbon is the traditional call and the easiest entry point. Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, or Four Pillars Bourbon-style. Rye works and gives you a drier, spicier sour that some people prefer. Scotch is too smoky for most palates but a light Highland scotch like Glenmorangie is excellent if you want to try it.

25 ml fresh lemon juice. One lemon squeezed fresh. Bottled is an absolute no. You can taste it in a sour because there is nowhere for it to hide.

15 to 20 ml sugar syrup. Make your own: equal parts caster sugar and boiling water, stir until dissolved, cool. Keeps for a month in the fridge. Start at 15 ml. Move up if the drink is too tart for you.

One fresh egg white. About 30 ml. This is what gives you the foam cap. You can skip it but the drink is 40 percent less good. Pasteurised egg whites in a carton work if raw egg worries you. Aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas) works for vegan version and tastes indistinguishable.

Angostura bitters. Three drops on the foam at the end. Not optional.

A large lemon peel strip or curl. For aromatic garnish.

How to make it

Dry shake. Whisky, lemon juice, syrup, egg white all go in the shaker with NO ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds. This emulsifies the egg white into foam without diluting the drink.
Wet shake. Add a big scoop of ice. Shake again, hard, for another 15 seconds. This chills and dilutes.
Double strain. Hawthorne strainer plus a fine tea strainer, into a chilled rocks glass. You want the foam but not the ice shards or any stringy egg.
Ice on top (optional). Add one big ice cube if you want it on the rocks. Skip ice if you want it up. Up is more elegant, rocks is more bar.
Bitters art. Three drops of Angostura bitters on the foam. Take a toothpick or a bar straw and gently drag one drop into the others for a proper bar-style zebra pattern. Two seconds, looks like ten dollars more.
Garnish. Wide lemon peel curl, express the oils over the top, drape across the glass. Drink immediately.

Dinners that pair with this

What to cook when this is in the glass.

Fried chicken, properly crispy

Salt, fat, crunch. The sour strips the grease and handles the spice.

Cheeseburger with bacon and aged cheddar

Burger plus sour is the most underrated pairing in the bar.

Slow-cooked pork belly with glaze

Sticky, fatty, cracklingy. Sour cuts through like a knife.

Pate and cornichons on sourdough

Refined version. Bitters on foam next to pate is unexpectedly great.

Pecan pie or sticky date pudding

Dessert move. Whisky in the pie, whisky next to the pie.

Browse every dinner on the site

Three variations worth knowing

Same frame, different paint.

New York Sour

Float 15 ml red wine on top. Sinks in red ribbons. Looks stunning.

Maple Sour

Swap sugar syrup for maple. Autumn in a glass. Brilliant with pork.

Amaretto Sour

Half whisky, half amaretto. Nuttier, rounder, dessert-friendly.

Bottles worth buying for this

Budget $55 to $80 for a good bourbon. Buffalo Trace at the lower end, Woodford Reserve at the upper. Both make a superb Whisky Sour.

A bag of caster sugar ($2) and 30 seconds of heat gives you a month of bar-quality syrup. Stop buying bottled bar syrup.

Cocktails, Recipes