Whisky sour/sour mix recipes

Good morning gents. Well, we finally have some fall weather approaching in cattle country so the mind starts wandering toward the slightly heavier drinks. Now with beer, I stick to dark ales year round. Well, except for whatever that Belgian white beer thing with an orange slice in it. I can't remember the name. However, when the weather is humid and hot, I stick pretty much to the gin and whatever gets mixed with it. I am not a big drinker but do like quality ingredients . Life is too short to indulge in cheap women or cheap booze.

I have been thinking about one of the old standbys, Whiskey sour. I pretty much get that with a drink using a sweetened mixer, you don't buy a $50 small batch bourbon to mix with it. I suspect something like Maker's Mark or one of the mild Irish whiskeys would do or should you have something with a bit more snap to it for a whiskey sour? This also brings us to the mixer itself. I tried a quick google but man, the sour mix recipes are all over the place. Some use both lemon and lime while some use only lemon. Some use copious amounts of sugar where some use a LOT less. Can someone point me to some reference that would have a "classic" sour mix formula? I do not like the syrupy mixed drinks. The sugar overwhelms me. So an honest sweet AND soure mix would do. Thanks guys. BTW, I am wide open to suggestions for a whiskey to mix with this.

Regards, Todd

I love Whisky Sours.

For me, they go well with both wheated bourbons and ryes, but not as well with many other bourbons, as I find the corn sweetness and oiliness that many great bourbons exhibit can detract from the interplay of lemon and sugar and the clean, tart palate it leaves in the finish. I don't like the more aged whiskies in Sours, as the wood detracts from the clean flavors and palate.

I suggest:

wheated bourbons:

straight rye:

Would you consider squeezing a lemon and adding sugar instead of a mix? I think the drink goes from good enough to excellent if you make a Sour from real, fresh ingredients. The sweetness will be fully in your control if you make it this way - and you'll feel like you really made something, not just poured out some mix.

Here is a basic recipe:

I recommend mixing sugar syrup instead of granulated sugar, unless you can find the really fine sugar. Otherwise its very difficult to get all the sugar to dissolve, and it can make for an inconsistent drink and particularly disrupt the flavor of your final sip. This doesn't mean you need a lot of sweetness in your drink, you just need enough to balance the flavor of the lemon. I prefer 3:2:1 bourbon-to-lemon juice-to-sugar syrup, and make my sugar syrup 1:1 (boil 1 cup (8oz) water to dissolve 1 dry cup sugar).

I will firmly agree with the need to squeeze a fresh lemon though. You'll be shocked at how much better squeezing fresh citrus makes your cocktails.

castlecraver said:

I recommend mixing sugar syrup instead of granulated sugar...

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Yep, I do too. But the most important thing first - real, fresh lemon.

Some people think that if they have to go buy simple syrup, they might as well walk further down the aisle and get a bottle of sweet/sour mix (and making simple syrup at home is way too involved just to have a drink). If simple syrup is the breaking point that leads one to the Dark Side of a sweet/sour mix bottle, then granular sugar it is.

But, simple syrup is very easy to make:

In a saucepan:

1. Boil Water
2. Add Sugar
3. Stir for about 15 seconds, till dissolved

I use a ratio of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water, but it really doesn't matter very much.

Roger

Hey Roger and Pat. Thanks for the tips. Indeed, fresh squeezed lemon juice is just what I had in mind. I reread my post and found it sounded like I was asking what to mix with a pre made mixer. Nah, I was just thinking of a home made mixer to use instead of the stuff from the store. Read any of their labels. High fructose corn syrup and a bunch of stuff I don't even recognise. I readily discovered long ago that no matter what the brand, something lacks in the bottled juices. I picked up two pounds of lemons this morning with this very thing in mind. I tend to agree with the simple syrup approach too. Much easier to control the ratios. Pat I like your 3-2-1 ratio. A very decent staring point to be sure. Roger, thanks for that list of whiskeys. I did not think about the more aged bourbons being a bit too oily or woody for this drink but your analysis makes sense to me. I will take a quick look around for some of the brands you mentioned. Thanks again chaps.

Regards, Todd

Wow, while I'm not yet a whiskey drinker, I do enjoy my vodka sours. It just so happens that I have some lemons and sugar at home. While I get by and even enjoy the Schweppes Lemon Sour, you have inspired me to try my hand at mixing one up fresh.

I have a corn allergy, so I really can't drink bourboun, Canadian, or Irish whisky. I like to make mine with blended Scotch Whiskey. Actually, the only way I'll drink blended Scotch is in a whiskey sour.

Clockwork John said:

I have a corn allergy...the only way I'll drink blended Scotch is in a whiskey sour.

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I didn't know food allergies could pass through a still, but I don't doubt it.

How do you ascertain which blended Scotches are using maize for their GNS (grain neutral spirit) and which are using other grains? I wouldn't be surprised if some blended Scotches have more corn in them than many Bourbons.

Roger

If you go ahead and make the simple syrup you can experiment to find just the right level of sweetness for your sour. So start with 3 oz of whiskey, 2 oz of lemon juice, and maybe a 1/2 oz of syrup. Taste that, and decide whether it needs more sugar, lemon, or whiskey. Add new ingredients in 1/2 oz or 1/4 oz amounts, and keep track of things until it tastes perfect to you. Write down your final amounts and you'll be good to go.

BTW, I make simple syrup every few weeks and just keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge. It keeps fine and is on hand so you don't have to whip up a new batch every time you make a drink. I've not tried keeping homemade sour mix on hand, but I'd imagine it'll last at least a week in the fridge with little degradation of flavor.

Rughi said:

I didn't know food allergies could pass through a still, but I don't doubt it.

How do you ascertain which blended Scotches are using maize for their GNS (grain neutral spirit) and which are using other grains? I wouldn't be surprised if some blended Scotches have more corn in them than many Bourbons.

Roger

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I've learned what I can drink through trial and error, unfortunately. If I feel fine after drinking it, I keep drinking it. If it makes me sick to my stomach, I don't buy it again.

Clockwork John said:

I've learned what I can drink through trial and error, unfortunately...

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Eeesh. I feel for you.
Last year trial and error of my food allergies landed me in the hospital. I knew I had serious seafood allergies, but the trout spread that I thought was sun dried tomato spread put me in the ER overnight.

Roger

I ususally stick to either single malt Scotch or beer... No corn, no problems.

Rughi said:

Eeesh. I feel for you.
Last year trial and error of my food allergies landed me in the hospital. I knew I had serious seafood allergies, but the trout spread that I thought was sun dried tomato spread put me in the ER overnight.

Roger

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That's horrible. Thankfully I've never had a reaction that severe.

Here are a couple of recipes from my library. I have not tried them, but they are reliable sources.

From Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology

2oz bourbon, rye, or blended whiskey
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup

shake with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass,
garnish with maraschino cherry and half orange wheel

From Difford's Guide Cocktail#7: Classic Formula

2 shots Buffalo Trace Bourbon
3/4 shot fresh lemon juice
1 shot simple syrup
3 dashed Angostura bitters
1/2 fresh egg white

shake with ice and strain into ice filled old fashioned glass.
(you might want to shake until the drink has some texture, which may be
longer than you are used to...maybe times twice as long. I would
imagine you need to get some air into those egg whites)

For my tastes, Gary Regan's recipes are well balanced (not too sweet, sour or boozy).

Difford's tend to be boozy. I read somewhere that the Brits like to taste the liquor in their mixed drinks.

If raw egg white scare you use the pastorized stuff in the carton (there should be measurements to approximate an egg's worth of whites).

Researching this has gotten to me. I think I'll pick up some lemons and egg and give it a try.

Enjoy your whiskey sour.