Whiskey Sour
We at Drink Spirits have been doing a lot of sampling and research to come up with the perfect summer cocktail to celebrate the 4th of July. The criteria we came up with for the drink:
- It had to be easy drinking
- Good for hot weather
- Easy to make
- Ingredients that you could easily get during the summer
- It had to be delicious
Sorting and sifting through the various spirits categories, we decided that bourbon would be the perfect base spirit for a hot summer day. There are so many great bourbons out there that are affordable, so it seemed like a great place to start. There are a ton of bourbon drinks out there, with the simplest being the way Maker’s Mark Master Distiller Kevin Smith does it:
“Pack a highball glass with as much ice that will fit into it and then fill the glass with bourbon.”
Our favorite, and the one we’ve picked for our 4th of July Cocktail, is the whiskey sour. Easy to make and amazingly delicious, the whiskey sour is a perfect cocktail that perfectly balances sweet, citrus and strong into a drink that is always a surefire hit.
The whiskey sour is very easy to make and the secret to a great whiskey sour (aside from using fresh lemon juice) is to measure precisely all the ingredients. This isn’t a cocktail to eyeball. (We recommend the Uber Bar Tools Pro Jig.)
Whiskey Sour Recipe:
1 1/2 oz of Bourbon or Rye Whiskey (we recommend Buffalo Trace)
3/4 oz of simple syrup
3/4 oz fresh lemon juiceAdd all the ingredients into a Boston Shaker, add ice, and shake vigorously for 10 count. Strain into an old fashioned glass (we like it over ice), garnish with an orange slice and a cherry (together they are called a flag).
If you really want people to go WOW, add a float of Chambord (which is basically a teaspoon lightly layered on the top), which is a black raspberry liqueur that gives the whiskey sour a sweet, fruity note.
Whatever you decide to drink, we at Drink Spirits wish you a happy 4th.
at 10:21 am
Belatedly getting around to commenting that your article helped bring back the venerable whiskey sour into my lexicon of drinks. Had so many poor ones in my youth, primarily made from execrable prepared mixes with cheap whiskey added, that it had fallen out of usage for me. The dynamic Portland bar and cocktail scene, however, has helped bring the classic drink back, thank goodness.
One version I would nominate, and suggest you try, is the excellent Tamarind Whiskey Sour at Pok Pok. I recently had one and immediately classed it as the best whiskey sour I’d ever had (and absolutely, deliciously perfect with the SE Asian Chicken Wings!).
at 10:33 am
I’ve actually had the Tamarind Whiskey Sour at Pok Pok, it is fantastic especially paired with their wings!! I often go to the Whiskey Soda Lounge to have it and wings, less of a wait than Pok Pok up the street