Your Cart is Empty
OCTOBER BOXES SOLD OUT - ORDER NOW FOR NOVEMBER CLUB DELIVERY
Illustration — AI-generated. Not documentary photography.
A whiskey sour is bourbon, fresh lemon, and sugar, shaken hard with ice. Made from scratch, it's tart and bright, with the bourbon still front and center. The neon version from a bottle of sour mix is a different animal, and it's the reason a lot of people think they don't like this drink.
All you need is a lemon, a shaker, and five minutes. Egg white is optional, and we'll get to that argument after the recipe.
In this piece: The whiskey sour recipe · Getting the balance right · The egg white question · Why we use Pursuit United Triple Mash Bourbon · Three whiskey sour variations · FAQ: whiskey sour questions
| Makes | 1 drink |
| Prep time | 5 minutes |
| Glass | Rocks glass with fresh ice, or a chilled coupe |
| Garnish | Cocktail cherry, or drops of Angostura bitters on the foam |
The ratio is 2 parts whiskey, ¾ part lemon, ¾ part syrup. That's a middle-of-the-road sour. If your lemons are very tart, or you like it sweeter, push the syrup to a full ounce. If it tastes like candy, drop it to ½ oz.
Squeeze the lemon yourself. Bottled juice tastes flat next to fresh. One lemon gives you enough for a drink or two.
Shake harder than feels necessary. You're chilling the drink, watering it down a little, and beating air into it all at once, and a lazy shake leaves it warm and thin.
This is the one real split in how people make a whiskey sour. The International Bartenders Association's official spec lists egg white as optional, and both versions are classic. With it, you get a thick layer of white foam and a silky texture. Without it, the drink is lighter and a little sharper. Some bars call the egg white version a Boston sour.
The egg doesn't add much flavor. A raw-egg smell can show up on the foam, which is why a few drops of Angostura on top are a popular garnish. That's the version in the photo at the top, finished with a lemon wheel on the rim.
If raw egg gives you pause, carton pasteurized egg whites foam well. Aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas, works the same way and keeps the drink vegan.
Pursuit United Triple Mash Bourbon is a four-grain bourbon made by blending rye-recipe bourbons with wheated ones. Wheat as the second grain tends to make a bourbon softer; rye adds spice. A sour needs a little of both, something round enough to make friends with the sugar and enough spice to come through the lemon.
It's 88 proof, which is on the gentle side. That's why our spec uses a full 2 oz instead of the 1½ you'll see in a lot of recipes. At $50, it's a bottle you won't feel bad about shaking up with lemon.
The same bourbons we'd reach for in an Old Fashioned make a good sour, and they're all on our bourbon for an Old Fashioned page.
Make the classic without egg white and strain it over fresh ice. Then pour about ½ oz of dry red wine slowly over the back of a spoon so it floats in a dark layer on top. Our full New York Sour recipe walks through it.
Shake 2 oz bourbon, ¾ oz lemon juice, ¼ oz simple syrup, and 2 teaspoons of cherry preserves hard with ice. Double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, meaning you pour it through the shaker's strainer and a small mesh strainer at the same time, so the bits of fruit stay behind. Garnish with a lemon peel. The preserves do most of the sweetening, which is why the syrup drops.
Shake 2 oz bourbon, ¾ oz lemon juice, ½ oz maple syrup, and 1 dash Angostura with ice. Strain over fresh ice, then dust a pinch of ground cinnamon across the top instead of shaking it in, so you smell it before you taste it. Finish with a lemon peel. It's the one to make once the leaves turn.
Do you need egg white in a whiskey sour? It's optional. The egg white adds foam and a silky texture without changing the flavor much. Leave it out and you still have a classic whiskey sour, just with a lighter body. Carton pasteurized egg whites or aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) work if you'd rather skip a raw egg.
What's the best whiskey for a whiskey sour? A bourbon you like at somewhere around 88 to 100 proof. Lemon and sugar are loud, so a whiskey at the 80-proof minimum can get lost and a barrel-proof bottle can taste hot. Rye works too and makes a sharper, spicier sour.
Can you make a whiskey sour with sour mix? You can, but fresh lemon and simple syrup take two minutes and taste far brighter. Bottled sour mix usually leans sweet and tastes more like candy than citrus.
What's the difference between a whiskey sour and a New York sour? A New York sour is a whiskey sour with about half an ounce of dry red wine floated on top. It looks layered in the glass, and the wine adds dry, fruity tannin to the first few sips.
For a new bourbon to shake with every month, see the Bourbon-of-the-Month Club.
