ClassicsAll year

Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour is bourbon, fresh lemon and sugar shaken with egg white until it carries a thick, quiet foam. The white softens the citrus and gives the drink its velvet texture, and a few drops of aromatic bitters on top add spice to every sip. Balanced, bright and easy to love.

  • GlassRocks
  • MethodShaken
  • Ingredients4
  • Prep5 min
  • DifficultyMedium
Whiskey Sour

Ingredients

Making a batch?
Servings
Five drops of aromatic bitters on the foamGarnish
Total volume—

Directions

  1. Add the bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white to a shaker.
  2. Dry shake without ice to build the foam.
  3. Add ice and shake again until cold.
  4. Double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.

ToolsJiggerShakerHawthorne strainerFine strainerRocks glass

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History

Sailors carried spirits and citrus for centuries, but the Whiskey Sour first appears in print in Jerry Thomas's 1862 Bar-Tender's Guide, the first American cocktail book. The sour formula of spirit, citrus and sugar became one of the backbones of bartending. It slid into bottled sour-mix territory in the late 20th century, and fresh juice brought it back.

Making a batch? Scale it for a crowd, add dilution water, and see how many bottles to buy.
Quick sizes
How are you making it? ⓘ Batching includes dilution water. Pre-batched cocktails need added water to replace the melt from stirring or shaking. We use Jeffrey Morgenthaler's standard: 18% for spirit-forward drinks, 25% for shaken.

What you'll need to buy

Based on 750ml bottles (25.4 oz), rounded up.

Bottle math, generally

750ml bottle25.4 oz
2 oz pours per bottle12 cocktails
1.5 oz pours per bottle16 cocktails
1 oz =29.6 ml
This recipe per 750ml of spirit—

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