A Simple, Proper, Whiskey Sour

Go to most any bar and ask for a whiskey sour, and the Bartender will usually give you a shot of rail whiskey in a rocks glass with ice, hit it with sour mx off the gun, then top off with soda, throw a swizzle in it, and send you on your way.

save the sour mix for the long island ice tea.

here is how to do it from scratch and open your mind, and taste buds to what it should be.

2 parts whiskey. your choice here, but in my opinion.. do not use anything top shelf sipping whiskey.. geez man.. yer making a cocktail here, don't waste your money or good bourbon whiskey on a cocktail. but still, for stuff around the house. the same rule applies to cooking with wine, never cook with anything you wouldn't drink outright.

in this case. my house whiskey is Virginia Gentleman.  decent, good flavor. and its actually made about 45 minute up the road from me. in Spotsylvania county Virgina. I actually know the guys there, and we use their three year old spent barrels in our wood aging program at the brewery. mid price, decent,  a sipper, or a mixer.

next up.. one part simple syrup.   Simple syrup should be made from scratch.. the ratio is one part water, two parts white sugar. boil to dilute. allow to low boil for about three minutes before killing the heat. let cool. store in a glass jar for further use. I use a old molasses jar

then, one part lemon juice.

the preference is the fresh juice of one lemon. but an ounce of pre-squeeze is okay.

btw, when ever I say a "part"? in this context, I mean an ounce. or, shot... a double of whiskey, single,single SS, and lemon.

combine all in a rocks glass, swizzle, add the ice, then top with soda, then swizzle again..

A classic, vintage cocktail. done right? a beautiful thing.

I'll have to get some more whiskey to explain the proper old school mint Julip

Comments

[keniff]

Hey Beergnome, you are virtually a neighbor. You must be near Richmond.

Yea, no soda in a proper sour but it is a variation also with a vodka lemon sour. My wife likes the fizz and the stretch on the drink from the soda. I prefer mine "neat" if you will.

And the addition of the egg white adds that beautiful foamy mouth feel like velvet...Also, give a try using cracked or crushed ice in a shaker and strain...it changes everything.

People fret the raw egg thing way too much. If you do the research you will find that in America the odds are very small you will get sick from it.

From the incredible egg website FAQ's:

"Scientists estimate that, on average across the U.S., only 1 of every
20,000 eggs might contain the bacteria. So, the likelihood that an egg
might contain Se is extremely small – 0.005% (five one-thousandths of
one percent). At this rate, if you’re an average consumer, you might
encounter a contaminated egg once every 84 years."

And that does'nt even mean you will get sick. A person with a good immune system eats potentially dangerous bacteria more often than they think and never gets sick.

[Beergnome]

Hey Keniff! yep, I have modified my personal recipe since this was posted and was schooled. I often use egg white to fizz it up and add to the mouth feel. I made this quick little instructable as a one off , late at night, under influence, for a contest :D I prefer mine neat as well.

I live in lakeside, and work in a brewery in manchester if that helps you narrow down the local connection.

[keniff]

You are about 45min form me Bro. I’m in Troy=15&64 Zion
crossroads area.

I have been drinking this mixer from Ripe https://www.drinkripe.com/Store/productView.asp?ProductId=3&categoryID=3

Recently.

It’s an all-natural very good product. It’s expensive to
have shipped but high quality and makes is really easy. But 6 of their products
for the best deal.

I make a double using 3 parts Ripe lemon sour, two parts
whiskey, an egg white and a splash of 80 proof orange liquor (not the pretender
known as triple sec). Shake vigorously with ice cubes, not crushed, strain in
to a small rocks glass (with no rocks) and eat maraschino cherries on the side
as I sip.

I found Ripe researching for the best bottled bloody Mary
mix and theirs ranks high. I ordered some of that and others from their web
site, but I haven’t tried any of the others yet.

Ripe’s whiskey sour recipe employs ice in the glass like
your recipe here but no soda.

Cheers!

Sorry, this web site breaks up all my paragraphs. I use word for an editor and this site doesnt cope well with copy and paste apparently

[drunkinCO]

You made a whisky collins - AKA John Collins. There's no soda in a "proper" sour. Nice work...

[Beergnome]

too true, it's amazing how the addition , or addition of any ingredient can change the name or nature of a drink.
there are also those that say it is not a whiskey sour unless one adds a couple of teaspoons of egg white to the shaker