Amaretto Sour Cocktail Recipe
Almond liqueur balanced with lemon and a silky egg-white foam.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 16%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Amaretto45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Bourbon20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice25 ml (0.8 oz)
- Simple syrup10 ml (0.3 oz)
- Egg white1 piece
How to Make It
- Dry-shake all ingredients without ice.
- Add ice and shake again until cold.
- Strain into a rocks glass over ice.
- Garnish with lemon and a cherry.
Garnish
Lemon and cherry
What it tastes like
The citrus acidity leads, the sweetness is pronounced 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 heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Amaretto
- A liqueur of almond and apricot kernel. It is distinctly sweet, so recipes using it either drop the simple syrup or halve it.
- Bourbon
- American whiskey made from at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak. The corn gives sweetness, the barrel vanilla; swap in rye and the drink turns noticeably spicier.
- 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.
- Simple syrup
- One part sugar to one part water, stirred until it dissolves — no need to boil it. Keeps a month in the fridge. No syrup? Use the same amount of honey, loosened with a little water.
- 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
A retro favourite revived by bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler's 2012 upgraded recipe.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Amaretto Sour mixed?
- It is shaken and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Amaretto Sour?
- Roughly 16% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Amaretto 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 Amaretto Sour hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.