Bourbon · around 1860, USA

Whiskey Sour

Bourbon, lemon, sugar and an egg white for the foam: the Whiskey Sour is the template for half of all cocktails.

Sweet5

Sour7

Bitter1

Strong7

Fresh5

Ingredients

6 cl bourbon
3 cl fresh lemon juice
2 cl sugar syrup
1 egg white or 2 cl aquafaba

Glass: Tumbler with ice or a coupe
Garnish: Drops of Angostura on the foam, lemon zest

Method

Shake all ingredients without ice (dry shake) so the foam forms.
Add ice and shake hard once more.
Strain over fresh ice or into the coupe.
A few drops of bitters on the foam, zest over the top.

The sour is the formula of spirit, citrus and sweetness, and the Whiskey Sour is its best-known representative, printed in 1862 in the first bar book in the world. The egg white came later and turns the drink into something velvety that still tastes of whiskey.

The Whiskey Sour is the test of a bar's care: the foam has to hold, the balance between sour and sweet has to be right, and the bourbon must not disappear. In Vienna and Munich it is made spicier with rye.