Whisky Sour
The sour is the most useful structure in cocktails because everything else is a variation on it. Spirit, citrus, sweetener. Change the spirit and you have a Daiquiri or a Margarita. Add egg white and you have texture. Add wine and you have a New York Sour.
Egg white is standard here, not optional. Without it the drink is correct and thin; with it the same liquid arrives with weight and a head that holds the bitters on the surface long enough to smell them before you drink. That is the whole argument for the dry shake — you are not adding flavour, you are building structure out of protein and air.
Shake it dry first, with no ice. Ice chills the egg and stops it emulsifying properly, which is why a sour shaken only once comes out flat.
Ingredients
- 45 ml Bourbon or rye whiskey
- 25 ml Fresh lemon juice
- 20 ml Sugar syrup
- 1 Egg white (optional)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters, to garnish
Method
- If using egg white, dry shake the whiskey, lemon, syrup and egg white with no ice, 10 seconds.
- Add ice and shake, 12–15 seconds.
- Double-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
- Dash the bitters across the surface.
Egg white is optional and changes the drink structurally rather than in flavour: the dry shake builds protein and air into a head that holds the bitters on the surface long enough to smell them. Shake dry first, with no ice — ice chills the egg and stops it emulsifying, which is why a sour shaken only once comes out flat. Syrup should be 1:1, not rich; a 2:1 syrup at 20 ml will overwhelm 25 ml of lemon. Without the egg, drop the syrup to 15 ml — the sweetness has nothing to hide behind.