Whisky Sour Recipe — The Classic Done Properly

Whisky sour cocktail — Mr L's ready-to-drink whiskey sour

Few cocktails earn their place on every bar menu on earth. The whisky sour has been doing it since the 1860s — three ingredients, five minutes, and a drink that makes you look like you know exactly what you're doing. Here's how to make it properly, plus the bottles to make it with.

Whisky sour ingredients

  • 50 ml bourbon — Buffalo Trace is the bartender's pick; Jack Daniel's works a treat too. Browse the full bourbon collection.
  • 25 ml fresh lemon juice — bottled won't cut it; one lemon does two drinks.
  • 15 ml sugar syrup — or dissolve two teaspoons of sugar in the lemon juice.
  • Optional: one egg white — for the silky 'Boston sour' foam.
  • Optional: a dash of aromatic bitters — we stock Peychaud's and Fee Brothers in the bitters collection.

How to make a whisky sour

  1. Add the bourbon, lemon juice and sugar syrup to a shaker. Using egg white? Add it now and shake hard without ice for 15 seconds — the famous dry shake that builds the foam.
  2. Fill the shaker with ice and shake again until properly cold, about 15 seconds.
  3. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass (or serve it 'up' in a coupe).
  4. Garnish with an orange slice and a cocktail cherry, plus a dash of bitters over the foam if you're feeling fancy.

That's the classic 3-2-1 ratio — three parts whisky, two parts lemon, one part sugar. Nail that and you can riff forever.

Three easy twists

The Amaretto Sour: swap half the bourbon for amaretto — sweeter, nuttier, and hugely popular. The New York Sour: float a little red wine on top for the two-tone showstopper. The zero-effort sour: our ready-made whisky sours from Mr L's and Tails are shaken by professionals — just pour over ice.

Whisky sour FAQs

Which whisky is best for a whisky sour? Bourbon — its vanilla sweetness balances the lemon perfectly. A blended Scotch makes a drier, more grown-up version. Explore the whisky collection and experiment.

Is raw egg white in cocktails safe? It's standard bar practice with fresh, refrigerated eggs — but you can skip it, or use 15 ml of aquafaba (chickpea water) for the same foam, vegan-style.

Whisky sour or whiskey sour? Both are right — 'whiskey' for American and Irish bottles, 'whisky' for Scotch. The drink doesn't mind either way.

Everything above is in stock at The Bottle Club with next-day UK delivery — start with the bourbon collection and you're one shake away.

Share this article