Whiskey Sour Cocktail Recipe

The Whiskey Sour is designated an IBA (International Bartenders Association) Official Cocktail.

What this illustrious title means is that it is one of the classic and most frequently made cocktails around the world, one of the standard cocktails that any self-respecting bar-person should know how to mix together with their eyes closed.

The IBA considers this a before-dinner cocktail. Who are we to argue?

If you want to make this cocktail the way the IBA specifies, then…

What you need

• 4.5cl (3 parts) Bourbon whiskey
• 3.0cl (2 parts) fresh lemon juice
• 1.5cl (1 part) Gomme syrup
• dash egg white (optional)

What you do

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour all the ingredients into it. Then shake it, baby, shake it! Then, strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass (essentially a whisky tumbler). Garnish with a maraschino cherry and half an orange slice.

As with many things in life, recipes get adapted over time to suit different tastes. If the recipe above doesn’t make your taste buds tingle, rest assured that there are many more out there on the big ol’ world wide web.

A variation, for example, using Scotch (and therefore technically a Whisky Sour!) consists of:

• Double Scotch
• Juice of half a lemon
• Half a teaspoon of sugar

Mix the ingredients together. Then, as with the IBA recipe, fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour the mixture into it. Then strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass and top up with soda water as required.

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What goes well with cocktails? More cocktails! Click here to return from the Hot Toddy page to the Whisky Cocktail Recipes page.