Whiskey Sour Recipe
A Whiskey Sour is the bartender's handshake: bourbon, fresh lemon, a touch of sugar and a cloud of egg white foam. Get the ratio right and it turns silky, tart and warming all at once, a drink that has anchored American bars since the 1860s.
Ingredients
- 2 ozbourbon
- 0.75 ozfresh lemon juice
- 0.75 ozsimple syrup
- 0.5 ozegg white (optional, for foam)
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Garnish
- Lemon wheel
- Brandied cherry
- Few drops of Angostura bitters on the foam
Equipment: Shaker, jigger, strainer, citrus juicer, rocks glass
Method
- Chill a rocks glass by filling it with ice and setting it aside.
- Combine bourbon, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and the egg white in a shaker without ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds to aerate the egg white, a technique called a dry shake.
- Add ice to the shaker and shake again for 10 to 12 seconds until the tin is frosty and cold.
- Strain into the chilled rocks glass over a large cube, or strain into a coupe if you prefer it served up.
- Let the foam settle for a moment, then dot the top with Angostura bitters and garnish with a lemon wheel.
About the Whiskey Sour
The Whiskey Sour is one of the oldest named cocktails in the American canon, appearing in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 bartender’s guide as a simple mix of spirit, sugar and citrus. Sailors had been cutting whiskey with lemon and sugar for decades to make rough spirits drinkable, and the formula traveled from the sea into saloons. The egg white arrived later as a refinement, turning a sharp punch into the silky, foamy drink modern bars serve.
Nailing it comes down to balance and temperature. Use fresh lemon juice, never bottled, and taste your simple syrup so you can nudge the ratio toward tart or sweet. The dry shake is the step most home bartenders skip: shaking without ice first builds the foam structure, and the second shake with ice chills and dilutes it properly. A high proof bourbon, around 90 to 100 proof, holds up against the lemon and sugar without tasting thin.
- Always dry shake first, then shake with ice, for a stable foam cap.
- Fresh lemon juice is non-negotiable; bottled juice flattens the drink.
- If you skip the egg white, add 0.25 oz more simple syrup to soften the acid.
- Use one large cube in the rocks glass so dilution stays slow.
