CLASSIC COCKTAIL · 1850–1889
Whiskey Sour
Bourbon, lemon and sugar shaken to a silky foam and finished with bitters.
1870Historical classicResearched
Sours descend from punch and the first known recipe appears in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 Bar-Tender’s Guide, which includes brandy, gin and rum sours. The earliest mention of a Whiskey Sour is in a Wisconsin newspaper, the Waukesha Plain Dealer, in 1870. It became one of the cardinal points of American drinking, later embellished with egg white and a red-wine float.
THE RECIPESilky, tart and warming
Ingredients
- Bourbon60 ml
- Lemon juice30 ml
- Simple syrup20 ml
- Egg white1
- Angostura bitters and cherryto garnish
Method
Dry-shake the bourbon, lemon, syrup and egg white, then shake again with ice. Strain over ice into a rocks glass, add a few drops of bitters and a cherry.
Rocks glass · ice · foam, bitters and cherry