If you’ve been reading me for long, you know I love the late 19th/early 20th century classics – those beautiful, boozy belts from the golden age of drinking.
Well, I’m abashed to say there is a venerable classic I’ve so far neglected to put forward. A serious lapse on my part, corrected here and now.
No one knows who invented the Whiskey Sour, but we do know it’s been around for more than 160 years because it was published in something called The Bar-Tender’s Guide in 1862. Endurance like that speaks of a lot of satisfactory sipping.
This is a typical sour recipe – meaning it’s made from a base spirit augmented by lesser amounts of a sweet ingredient and a sour ingredient. The base here is bourbon, but you could also use rye. The sweetener is simple syrup, and the sour is typically lemon juice. Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, makes hers with half lemon and half lime, and I agree. This combo is still sour enough, but gives the drink a softer, more rounded flavor.
Many recipes also call for adding egg whites to the mix. Doing this gives the drink a lightly slippery mouthfeel which I don’t care for, and besides, who wants to delay happy hour while the bartender separates an egg or two? I’m fine with adding egg whites if you want to, but I say it’s optional (and Ina agrees).
This is a perfect drink to warm up a cold winer night. And it’s not bad in warm weather either. Shake up a few before the ice melts …
Whiskey Sour
2 oz bourbon (or rye)
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
Combine, shake, and serve straight up. Add a cherry if you’d like.