Whiskey Sour
The Whiskey Sour is a relatively easy cocktail to make… and even easier to drink. A Sour cocktail is comprised of a spirit (in this case, whiskey), lemon juice, and simple syrup and can be made traditionally with egg white foam, but not always. Before you gag at the thought, the egg white doesn’t infuse flavor, but instead gives it a textural component of a thick, velvety layer at the top. An alternative to egg white is aquafaba — the liquid that you get from canned chickpeas / garbanzo beans — as it is a common substitute in vegan cooking and will still foam-up nicely. What you do with the chickpeas / garbanzo beans is completely up to you (homemade hummus is my go-to), and you can keep store the aquafaba in a sealed container in the refrigerator safely for a few days or freeze it for another time. Regardless, any cocktail that has an egg white or aquafaba requires an extra step of shaking the contents without any ice (a.k.a. a “dry shake”); this allows the ingredients to mix and emulsify and create a dense foam. However, if you still remain unconvinced, simply skip the egg white / aquafaba and go straight to shaking the ingredients with ice. Regardless of whether or not you serve it “up” in a chilled coupe cocktail glass or “on the rocks,” you will have a delicious cocktail to sip and enjoy. However, no matter your preference your cocktail will benefit from shaking the cocktail with clear ice regardless of how it is served. Garnish and presentation differ depending on how you prepare the cocktail (the stripe of Angostura would not translate in the absence of the froth from the egg white at the top), but generally a maraschino cherry or lemon wheel are typically found in most iterations of the cocktail. But don’t take my word for it, make one and try it for yourself!
Whiskey Sour
In your shaker, combine the simple syrup, lemon juice, and bourbon whiskey.
0.75 oz of Simple Syrup
1 oz of Lemon Juice
2 oz of Bourbon Whiskey
0.5 oz of Egg White (or Aquafaba)
Add the egg white and perform a dry-shake (without ice) to emulsify and incorporate it into the cocktail. Next, carefully uncap your shaker, add ice and shake until it develops a frost. Double-strain the contents (by pouring them from the shaker through a fine mesh strainer) into your chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a stripe of Angostura bitters and a skewered maraschino cherry.
TIP(S):
Chill your cocktail glassware — to extend the life of your Whiskey Sour, place your coupe cocktail glass(es) in the freezer for at least 15 minutes for them to be sufficiently. For more immediate use, you can place ice water in your coupe cocktail glass during the preparation.
