The Whiskey Sour (Four Ways)

Whiskey Sours are, more often than not, my go-to cocktail if I’m out on the town.  It’s a hard drink to screw up, even for a corporate bartender who uses his drinks “gun” more than his jigger.  Just about any whiskey will do — Bourbon, rye, blended, single malt, Irish — as well as brandy and genever (Dutch gin).  Among our bottles, the Rittenhouse Rye is a mighty fine choice here, but the Redbreast is superlative.  The smoothness and boldness and honey-like notes of the Redbreast really shine through in all the drinks listed below.  Having said that, be sure to make a batch with the Rittenhouse as well.

Many of the other drinks we’ve added to our list — such as the Fitzgerald, the Crusta, the Sidecar, and the Gimlet — are variations on the sour.  Margaritas are as well.  The family is a direct descendant of the Daisy family, which today is little more than a complicated, fizzy sour (or the sour is a less-inspired Daisy, if you so prefer).  The basic role call is to the point:  spirt, citrus juice, and sweetener.   If you break the sweetener (simple syrup here) down into its components of sugar and water, what you really have is a single serving punch (strong, weak, sour, sweet).

Below, we’ll examine the basic recipe as well as three variations.  A mastery of these, along all the possible variances in ingredients, and you’ve got yourself a lengthy list of go-to cocktails.

 

The Whiskey Sour

 

The Basic Sour
1.5 oz Spirit
0.75 oz Lemon Juice
0.50 oz Simple Syrup

Shake all ingredients together and strain.
Garnish with lemon twist and/or a Maraschino cherry.

While this may seem like a deceptively simple drink, it’s a key building block in bartender know-how and drink construction.  Brown syrup, which is less sweet and more caramel-like, works wonders here, as does rosemary syrup, which is my go-to at home.

 

 

The Fancy Whiskey Sour

 

The Fancy Sour
1.5 oz Spirit
0.75 oz Lemon Juice
0.50 oz Simple Syrup
Splash of Orange Liqueur

Shake all ingredients together and strain.

“Fancy” is an olde-timey cocktail term that referred to anything from additional ingredients to a nicer glass to more garnish or, really, to nothing at all.  In reality, it was probably just a way to get people to spend more money.  Here, I am adopting Wondrich’s definition of the term as it refers to the Cocktail, which implies the addition of Orange Liqueur.  Today, most whiskey sours are garnished with an orange wheel and a Maraschino cherry.  The orange wheel makes sense in the Fancy Sour, given the inclusion of the orange liqueur — otherwise go with lemon.

If I was pressed to make just one sour, this would be the one.

 

The New York Sour

 

The New York Sour
1.5 oz Spirit
0.75 oz Lemon Juice
0.50 oz Simple Syrup

Shake all ingredients together and strain.
Top with a 0.50 oz float of Red Wine.

This is one of my favorite sours, both in presentation and in taste.  The red “claret snap” atop the drink is a float of red wine — the British (not accepting of complicated French names for wines) having coined the term “claret” for all red wine.  Apparently, it was a big deal in Chicago at the end of the 19th Century — so much so that “men who drink… sours expect a claret at every bar, and when it is not put in they ask for it” (1883). As luck would have it, however, over the years, the final name settled upon was the New York Sour.

While the float intrigues most people when they are looking at the drink, it scares them off when it comes time to drink.  Encourage them, but encourage them not to just sip from the top, which is the cocktail equivalent of dipping a toe in the pool.  If you sip off the top, all you’ll get is wine.  A proper drink is required to get the full experience. If your wine is fresh and jammy (Syrah/Shiraz work well here), the overall flavor has been describe to me as being close to that of a Skittle.

To float the red wine, I place a bar spoon in the glass, resting the bowl of the spoon against the inside edge of the glass and rising from the surface at a slight angle.  Then, I pour the red wine into the bowl of the spoon, letting it trickle down the side of the glass and spread out over the surface of the drink.  If you need a little more detail, the web is full of how-to examples.

According to Wondrich, this is a Rye drink.  I like Redbreast in it.

Variations: Instead of red wine, try sparkling wine or a smokier whiskey from the same family of the original whiskey (go with a smokey, peated whisk(e)y if you’re using Redbreast, or a heavy Bourbon like Booker’s, if you’re using Rittenhouse).

 

The Egg Sour

 

The Egg Sour
1.5 oz Spirit
0.75 oz Lemon Juice
0.50 oz Simple Syrup
Splash of Orange Liqueur
White of one Egg

Shake all ingredients together without ice.
Shake again with ice and strain.

Egg sours really came into vogue post-Prohibition, and if you’ve never tried one, I must insist.  The egg softens and smooths the drink in ways that are just velvety — there really is no other term for it.  The double shake is a point of debate.  Some say it helps the emulsification of the egg white to shake it briefly before adding the ice (cold breaks apart emulsifications — look at the oil and vinegar salad dressing in your fridge).  Other say it doesn’t make a difference.  I’ve always used the double shake, but go with what works for you.

Notes: Some people are severely allergic to eggs.  Ask your guests before springing an Egg Sour on them.  Also, make sure to only use fresh eggs — it makes a big difference in the foaming and the taste.  Because of our son, we have started buying organic, cage-free, hormone-free eggs, and they’re absolutely horrible in the drink, providing little-to-no foam (I had to be creative in the picture you see), so shop accordingly.

The smaller-mouthed glass here, a traditional shape for sours, helps keep the foamy head together.

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