Whiskey Sour
ClassicIBA OfficialBourbon, lemon, and a silk-soft foam.
Bright, tart, and silky, with bourbon's vanilla-and-oak warmth at the core. Fresh lemon cuts sharp and clean; a measure of sugar rounds it; and the egg white lends a plush, meringue-soft foam that carries a whisper of Angostura spice on top. Sweet-sour balance, made luxurious.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 0.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- 0.75 oz Simple Syrup
- 1 Egg White
- Angostura bitters · optional garnish
- Brandied cherry · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Add the bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white to a shaker without ice.
- 2
Dry-shake hard for 10-15 seconds to whip the egg white into a foam.
- 3
Add ice and shake again until well-chilled.
- 4
Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- 5
Dot the foam with a few drops of Angostura bitters and add a brandied cherry.
The Story
The sour is one of the oldest ideas in the drinks canon — spirit, citrus, sugar, a formula sailors leaned on against scurvy — and by the time Jerry Thomas set it in print in his 1862 bartender's guide, the whiskey version was already a fixture of American bars. The silky egg-white foam came later, softening the tartness and giving the drink its signature cloud. Simple, bright, and beautifully balanced, it's the template every other sour still answers to.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
