Winter Sour

The Winter Sour is a modern sour cocktail variation that uses Campari as a base and Honey Syrup as a sweetener. Other than that, it's pretty similar to other sour cocktails; it generally follows the formula or spirit, Lemon Juice, sweetener, and Egg White. Another twist here though is that the recipe calls for a little bit of Rosemary as well. This adds an interesting flavour and some Winter elements as well.

Since you're using only Campari here for alcohol, this is a sour cocktail that is a lot lower in alcohol than others, which is great for sour lovers who don't want to go too overboard! It's interesting because even other sour cocktails, like the Amaretto Sour, that feature an alternative (generally lower alcohol) spirit usually prop it up with at least Bourbon for both strength and flavour. But not here!

Total Time 5

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

30 mL Campari
45 mL Honey Syrup
45 mL Lemon Juice
Egg White
Leaves from a small sprig of Rosemary
Garnish with an additional sprig of Rosemary

Instructions

Put the Rosemary leaves and Honey Syrup in a cocktail shaker and muddle together.
Pour in the Campari, Lemon Juice, and Egg White. Dry shake (i.e. shake without ice) for about 20-30 seconds to froth up the Egg White.
Add ice to the cocktail shaker and shake again until everything is both cold and mixed.
Double strain into a Coupe.
Garnish, serve, and enjoy.

Notes

While Campari is quite bitter, it works well in this recipe going up against the Lemon Juice and, more importantly, the Honey Syrup. Using regular Simple Syrup likely wouldn't add enough sweetness here nor give the right flavour up against the bitterness of the Campari. You can also tell from the recipe that the portion of Honey Syrup is pretty generous! If things do come out too sweet for you, or you just like things bitter, feel free to dial back the Honey Syrup a little bit. Ultimately you're making a cocktail for you, so make it how you like it!

A Few More Words on the Winter Sour

We’re big fans of sour cocktails over here at What Cocktail Can I Make. To us they have the perfect balance. Sure, they lean a little bit more sour than do sweet (hence the name), but they’re pleasant in their sourness. We also think that sour cocktails are a lot of fun to make. It almost feels like chemistry when you shake up egg white and make it nice and frothy. All cocktails kind of feel like chemistry in a way, but, in a sour style cocktail with Egg White, it feels even more so because you’re seeing ingredients transform into something different just by combining and shaking them. It’s truly marvelous!

So if you’re like us and love a good sour cocktail, add the Winter Sour to your menu. You won’t regret it.

Is the Winter Sour a cocktail I can make a larger batch of?

You could probably make two to three servings of the Winter Sour in a shaker without a problem, but any more and you may run into trouble.

The key with cocktails that use Egg White is to make sure they’re properly shaken to make sure the Egg White is nice and foamy. If there’s not enough room, you won’t be able to get the proper texture of the cocktail. So don’t overdo it!

Can I make this cocktail ahead of time?

No, sorry, you can’t. Since part of the cocktail is that foamy Egg White mentioned, making the cocktail early then leaving it in the fridge (or similar) will mean the consistency of the drink will change. The Winter Sour needs to be made to order.

What would be the best time to have a Winter Sour?

While it’s not a total Winter warmer, the Winter Sour is definitely intended as a Winter cocktail (it’s in the name after all!). It’s the kind of drink that’s nice to drink while sitting next to an open fire. It’s cold and dark outside, but it’s nice and warm inside. It’s a great drink to waste away winter nights with.

While we usually like a sour as an after dinner cocktail, often in place of dessert, the Winter Sour works before or after eating. The Campari pushes the bitterness of this beverage so the cocktail can actually work quite well as an apéritif. Alternatively, the cocktail is also a little bit sweet, and a tart dessert with a little bit of sweetness can be quite pleasant. Or have one before dinner and one after dinner. Indulge a little!

Is the Winter Sour a strong cocktail?

We put the Winter Sour in the low alcohol cocktail category. Campari has an alcohol by volume content of 24%, higher than, say, Wine, but much lower than the base spirits in a lot of cocktail recipes (usually around 40%). With that, you’re also only pouring a 30 mL measure of Campari compared to (once again) many other cocktail recipes that specify up to 60 mL of much stronger base spirit. So all in all this recipe is quite low in alcohol. This is an easy excuse to have a few of these when the weather outside is frightful.

What kind of music is best to have on while drinking a Winter Sour

Considering this is a Winter cocktail, we suggest playing some Winter music! Whether that Winter music is Christmas Carols, general Winter classics like Let It Snow, or newer Winter/Christmas songs is up to you. Winter and cold weather songs are great for that time of year for a reason, and they’re even better if you have the right drink in your hand.

And a few more cocktail recipes for you to check out

Whether it’s low alcohol cocktail recipes or sour cocktail recipes you’re after, we have you covered! Of course we have more than just low alcohol or sour cocktail recipes on this site, so feel free to checkout our cocktail recipe builder, otherwise, check out the site sections below.

All low alcohol cocktail recipes: this is where we keep all of our low alcohol cocktail recipes. Take a look for great recipes that won’t send you spinning.

All sour cocktail recipes: or, if you’re in the mood for something sour, check out our archive of sour style cocktails.