A whiskey sour is yours for the making year-round. It’s refreshing enough to keep up with a spritz during the warm summer months, and so appropriate during the colder seasons of the year. Even if you’re not a whiskey fan (which breaks my heart), you might still find yourself swooning over a well-crafted whiskey sour. It’s that good! The secret is using fresh ingredients.

It’s such an easy cocktail to make at home, and perfect for entertaining guests. There’s nothing better than hearing that ooh! from your guest when you hand them a coupe glass filled with whiskey sour goodness.

To get started, you’ll need some bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and one small egg (optional, but more on this in a bit).

The best whiskey sour ingredients

To use egg white or not

Have you ever seen that amazing layer of foam resting gently at the top of a cocktail? Yeah, you can thank egg white for that. To some, using raw egg whites in a cocktail is a novel concept (although this has been a trick of bartenders for nearly a century).

Bartenders use egg whites in cocktails, like the whiskey sour, to give it a rich, creamy texture along with a smooth head of foam. To stay on the idea of fresh ingredients, use an organic, pasteurized egg white, as it will be consumed raw (most egg whites sold in the U.S. are pasteurized). If you’re curious about it altering the flavor, just know that egg white is flavorless. It also helps to reduce the acidity from the citrus and bind the flavors together. It enhances the presentation of your whiskey sour, too. Remember, we’re not settling for anything less than an ooh! from you and from your guest.

If you still feel like shaking up your cocktail with raw egg white is just too much to stomach, then feel free to leave it out!

Stirring vs shaking a cocktail

When it comes time to make the whiskey sour (which is the best part), you’ll want to shake it. A general rule of thumb is if a cocktail contains only spirits, then you want to stir. If a cocktail contains juice, dairy, or egg white, then you shake it.

Whiskey Sour

Makes 1 cocktail

2 ounces bourbon whiskey

1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 ounce simple syrup

1 pasteurized egg white from a small to medium egg

Ice

1 maraschino cherry

1. Build the cocktail. Place the bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Do not add ice yet.

2. Dry shake the cocktail. Seal the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. (This is referred to as a “dry shake.” It’s good for incorporating the egg white before adding ice to the shaker.)

3. Shake again with ice. Add ice, seal again, and shake for 7 to 10 seconds more to chill.

4. Strain the cocktail. Fit a Hawthorne strainer over the top of the shaker and pour the cocktail through a fine-mesh strainer into a rocks or coupe glass. This is referred to as a “double strain” and this method is used to catch any ice shards or pulp from the fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Add ice if desired.

5. Garnish and serve. Garnish with a speared maraschino cherry.

Recipe note

Consuming raw egg whites will always come with some inherent risks. That’s why we recommend using pasteurized eggs, which are gently heated, to reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses. All egg products in the United States are pasteurized, as required by the USDA— so you’re good to go as long as you stick to eggs from the grocery store (don’t use ones that come straight from the farm).

(Elliott Clark is a contributor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.)

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