It’s National Whiskey Sour Day! What is a Sour, you may ask? The sour is a cocktail category that includes many of the most popular drinks we know and love today. The Daiquiri and the Margarita are both excellent examples of Sours.
Sadly, it’s amazingly easy to mess up a good sour. The name implies that the sour component be predominant, but regretfully, I’ve had my share of disgustingly sweet ones. The Whiskey Sour is no exception.
Personally, I prefer a recipe of 2:1:1/2 ratio for my sours, as in 2 parts strong, 1 part sour, 1/2 part sweet. I think this yields a more balanced cocktail than a 2:1:1 ratio, and one that leans towards the sour side, as intended. There is often a debate on whether or not to use egg whites in a Whiskey Sour. I personally tend to make them with egg whites if I want something with a more complex mouthnfeel, but if I want something more refreshing and straightforward, I stick to the no-egg white version. It’s really just a matter of personal preference.
There are lots of ways to change things up with a sour recipe. You can switch out the sugar, entirely or in part, for liqueurs, fortified wines, or syrups. For this sour I wanted to use two things that you’ll find everywhere in the Pacific Northwest in late summer: nectarines and hops. The ratio I used for this one was a 2:3/4:3/4, since the hops made the syrup a bit tart and I didn’t want to overwhelm the drink with tartness. Hope you enjoy!
Late Summer Sour
2 oz Bourbon
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Nectarine Hops Syrup*
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1 Egg White
Instructions: Shake all ingredients in a shaker tin without ice until egg whites are frothy (at least 30 seconds). Add ice, and shake. Strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a Hop cone.
*Nectarine Hops Syrup
1/2 oz Fresh Hop Cones
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
Instructions: In a small sauce pan, bring the ingredients to a boil. Lower temperature and simmer for 5 minutes. Once cool, strain off solids. Strain again with a fine mesh strainer and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
For more recipes like this, check out fern + shaker, and follow @fernandshaker on Instagram.
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