Akvavit Sour Cocktail Recipe
Caraway-heavy aquavit shaken with lemon and egg white — savoury where a whiskey sour is sweet.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 20%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Aquavit50 ml (1.7 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice25 ml (0.8 oz)
- Honey syrup20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Egg white1 piece
How to Make It
- Shake everything without ice to build the foam.
- Add ice and shake again until cold.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Lay a dill sprig on the foam.
Garnish
Dill sprig
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, it has a green, botanical backdrop and it wears a foam cap.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A stemmed, shallow coupe. The stem keeps your hand's warmth away from the drink, and the wide bowl carries the aroma to your nose. Served without ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Fresh lemon juice
- Freshly squeezed lemon; one lemon gives 30-40 ml. It can swap with lime, but lemon is softer and less aromatic, so use a touch more.
- Honey syrup
- Three parts honey to one part warm water. Neat honey seizes up in a cold drink, which is why it gets loosened first. Heavier and more aromatic than simple syrup.
- Egg white
- Egg white adds texture, not flavour. Shake it first without ice (a dry shake), then again with ice. The vegan swap is chickpea water, in the same quantity.
The Story
Aquavit is drunk cold and neat at Nordic holiday tables; putting it in a sour is a bar-side argument that it deserves more than that.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Akvavit Sour mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Akvavit Sour?
- Roughly 20% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a Akvavit Sour be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Akvavit Sour hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.