A bourbon sour is a type of sour and a classic bourbon cocktail. If you know how to make a sour, you are off to a great start. The sour is one of the core recipes a bartender will know how to make and adapt. In this case you are just taking the standard sour formula of two parts spirit, one part sweet and one part sour and making it with bourbon and lemon.
That is a great place to start, of course, but we want to take it to the next level. So we’ll also take a look at a few ideas for tweaking and adapting the recipe.
What’s in a Bourbon Sour?
This drink contains bourbon, of course, as well as an acid and a sugar. Two parts bourbon, one part sugar, one part fresh squeeze lemon juice.
An egg white is optional. It will round out the drink and help make it more balanced. You can also make a successful sour without it. If you do decide to use an egg white you’ll want to dry shake your drink before you add ice. This will help make a stiffer, frothier foam on the drink.
Whiskey – Bourbon or Rye
So, some of you are probably wondering – is a whiskey sour made with Bourbon, rye. Is it a different drink if you use a different whiskey?
First of all, to be perfectly clear. Bourbon is a category of whiskey. So, a Bourbon sour by definition is a whiskey sour. It doesn’t matter if you make it with Canadian whiskey, Irish whiskey or Japanese single malt it would still be a whiskey sour. On the other hand, if you do use one of those other whiskies it will not in fact be a Bourbon Sour.
So, Bourbon vs. rye, or some other whiskey? Does it matter? Of course it does. The type of whiskey you choose will have a strong influence the flavour of the cocktail.
How to Make a Bourbon Sour
This drink contains lemon juice so you are going to shake it. If you are making it with egg white that will change your approach a little bit. That explanation is coming up. If you don’t use egg white it’s a simple double shake and fine strain.
Bourbon Sour With Egg Whites
One of the first and most common adaptations is to make a bourbon sour with egg white. In fact this has become so common that many people assume that this is the way it should be made. It used to be that the bourbon sour egg white combination was known as a Boston Sour. These days most people just call it a Bourbon Sour.
Egg white as an ingredient is all about the texture. Okay, it’s also all about the really cool foam on top of the drink. But the texture is where it has an impact. Egg whites do a couple of cool things in a whiskey sour.
One of the things that happen is that proteins in the egg white bind with tannins in the oak in a whiskey. That makes the drink taste less astringent and more balanced. The other thing egg whites do is to make a drink taste a little more dry.
The really cool thing about this in a bourbon sour is that the sour is a drink that is all about balance. Getting that balance between sugar and acid is hard enough. With the big oaky flavours present in Bourbon that can be even more challenging. Egg whites can round all those elements out and balance everything out.
A Note of Caution about working with raw eggs: When you add egg whites to a cocktail they are raw. Raw eggs may contain salmonella. To put that in context about one in 20,000 eggs contains salmonella. In a sour there should be enough lemon juice to kill any salmonella, but it pays to understand the risks.
Vegan Foamer
If you’re not comfortable using raw egg whites in your drink, vegan foamer is an excellent option. Vegan foamer is, more often than not, made with aquafaba. Besides being an incredibly fun word to say, aquafaba is also the liquid that comes from chickpeas.
One of the other fun things about aquafaba is that it works really well as a vegan foamer. In other words, adding chickpea water to your cocktail gets the same result as adding egg whites.
Unfortunately, for most of us popping open a can of chickpeas every time we want a drink is not feasible. Thankfully, the fine folks at Ms. Betters Bitters make a vegan foamer called Ms. Betters Miraculous Foamer.
Other Tips for Making the Best Bourbon Sour
Salt – I picked this one up from Dave Arnold. Adding a tiny bit of salt can really bump up the flavour in a sour. The trick is to use less than what you can taste. A little goes a long way here. Also, using saline is helpful, as the salt is already dissolved and will be incorporated into your drink.
I also like to add just a drop of aromatic bitters to a sour. Again, like salt, not so much that you know it’s there. It adds some complexity to your cocktail without influencing the flavour too much.
Amaretto
Bourbon Sour
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- 1 orange slice (to garnish)
- 1 cocktail cherry (to garnish)
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add Bourbon, lemon juice and simple syrup.
Put the top on the shaker and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
Strain the liquid into a clean shaker tin and add the egg white or vegan foamer.
Put the top on the shaker and shake again for 20-30 seconds.
Pour liquid into a rocks glass filled with ice.
Garnish with a cherry and a slice of orange.