Whiskey Sour

A classic! While you can make a sour out of almost any spirit, the Whiskey Sour is indeed the standard. The marriage of Bourbon with lemon, and just a hint of sweetness makes one hell of a cocktail. The Whiskey Sour has been around for a long time for a reason.

The fun thing about a Whiskey Sour is that, while it's easy to make, there's a great transformation of the ingredients in the shaker, making it feel extra special, especially if you're new to making cocktails. There's something about the chemistry of getting some wonderful froth from the egg white on the top of your drink that's just wonderful.

Going further, being such a classic cocktail, there are so many different ways to make a Whiskey Sour, you may find different recipes elsewhere. We've tried to keep pretty standard here, but feel free to adjust this recipe to suit your tastes.

Total Time 5

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

60 mL Bourbon Rye works too, but the standard is with Bourbon.
30 mL Lemon juice
15 mL Simple Syrup* or to taste, you do you.
Egg white
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Garnish with orange and cherry (optional)

Instructions

Put Bourbon, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup, and Egg White into a cocktail shaker. This is all the ingredients except for the Bitters.
Shake well WITHOUT ice; this is called dry shaking. This helps get the egg white nice and frothy. Ensure there's a good seal on the shaker (cold from ice usually helps the seal, but we're not using ice yet).
Shake again with plenty of ice to chill the drink.
Strain into a glass of your choosing.
Add a dash of bitters on top to garnish (if desired). Serve and enjoy.

Notes

*Here's how to make Simple Syrup.

Use a good Bourbon to ensure the best Whiskey Sour possible. This is a great classic cocktail, and there's no reason to ruin it with bad Bourbon. Also, as mentioned, there are plenty of variations on the Whiskey Sour (and sours in general), so have fun with this! Feel free to explore our other cocktail recipes to find other great sour cocktail recipes, the variations are endless.

Alternatively see what you like with other base spirits, whether that be something like Gin or Vodka, or anything else lying around. It may not work, but it may just become your new favourite mixed drink. You don't know until you try it!

Our Review of the Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour is a great cocktail because it’s one of those easier to make cocktail recipes that actually feels like something is happening. It’s amazing to put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, pour them out, and have a drink with that interesting foamy head that tastes so good.

The Whiskey Sour is, perhaps, king of the sour cocktail family. Anything with the “sour” moniker is usually a mixture of spirit, citrus, and egg white, but the Whiskey Sour is pretty much the standard here. I’m not sure if the whiskey version was the first sour recipe, but it’s the one people are most familiar with. Even though you can “sour” anything. Like a Mezcal Sour or a Gin Sour. Some cocktails follow a similar formula but aren’t called a sour, like the Clover Club, which is similar to a Gin Sour, except with the addition of raspberry syrup. It’s a wide genre of cocktail recipes, and at the centre of that is the Whiskey Sour.

I already mentioned that I’m not sure if the Whiskey Sour was the first of its kind, and it’s probably too difficult to find out. It’s one of those super old and standard cocktails, the history of it is probably lost, but yes, it’s the most well known. It definitely deserves this fame though. Depending on your personal preferences, the Whiskey Sour may not be the tastiest of the sour family of cocktails, but there’s nothing to dislike about it. Bourbon is always welcome, and the sourness of the lemon juice isn’t too intense thanks to the sugar. Other sour recipes may push things in one direction or another, which may suit some palates, but not others. And that’s why the Whiskey Sour is the most universal.

If you’ve never made a Whiskey Sour before, I’ve already said how shaking one of these things is like magic. There’s a certain satisfaction getting the foam just right. While I’d always make the suggestion to start with a simpler cocktail to make, it’s easy to quickly move onto the Whiskey Sour and really feel like something new has been created. And I like that about the Whiskey Sour. Like any hobby, making cocktails shouldn’t be hard to get into; it needs the basics for people to have fun with and enjoy. The Whiskey Sour is one of those cocktails.

So get out there and make a Whiskey Sour for the first time. Or come back to it if it’s been awhile. You’ll realise you’ve been missing it.

10/10

Review by Emily

Let’s take a look at some more cocktail recipes…

Whether it’s a classic cocktail recipe, a recipe with Bourbon, or a recipe with Whiskey, we have quite a few for you to look through. We’ve guided you through some ideas below:

Top 20 classic cocktail recipes: any discussion of classic cocktails needs to include the Whiskey Sour. If you like this recipe, perhaps you’ll like other classics. Take a look!

Top 10 Whiskey cocktail recipes: like classics, anytime Whiskey cocktails come up, the Whiskey sour needs to be involved. Keep the party going with our favourite Whiskey cocktail recipes.

All Bourbon cocktail recipes: if you’re just interested in Bourbon, take a look at all of our Bourbon recipes. You’ll be sure to find something!

All Whiskey cocktail recipes: or if you want to try to other cocktails with Whiskey in general, flick through our archive of all of our recipes with Whiskey as the base.