The formula
Spirit + fresh citrus + sugar (roughly 2 : 1 : 1), shaken hard — often with egg white for a silky foam.
The sour is the mother of mixed drinks: a spirit balanced against fresh citrus and a touch of sugar, shaken hard and cold. Get the roughly 2:1:1 ratio in your hands and the whole family opens up — bourbon makes a Whiskey Sour, pisco the Peruvian classic, brandy a Sidecar, amaretto a nutty crowd-pleaser. Egg white is optional but transforms the texture into something silky and cloud-topped.
Start with the original, then work outward.
21+ United States (19th-century sour tradition) · American
Bourbon, fresh lemon and a little sugar, shaken hard — with or without egg white for a cloud-soft foam. The template for every sour, and one of the most satisfying balances of strong, sweet and tart in the whole canon.
21+ American cocktail bars (via Italian amaretto) · Italian-American
The grown-up amaretto sour: nutty almond liqueur balanced with fresh lemon, a splash of bourbon for backbone, and egg white for a silky foam. Sweet-tart, almond-scented and far better than the neon bar version.
21+ Lima, Peru · Peruvian
Peru's frothy, bright national drink: pisco, fresh lime, sugar and egg white, shaken to a silky foam and finished with bitters. The dry-shake trick for that signature cap.
21+ Paris / London (around World War I) · French / British
A pre-war classic and the brandy sour perfected — cognac, orange liqueur and fresh lemon, shaken cold and served up. The ratio, the sugar-rim question, and why good brandy matters.
21+ Santiago de Cuba (the Daiquirí beach and mines) · Cuban
The real daiquiri — white rum, fresh lime and sugar, shaken cold and served up. No blender, no slush. Three ingredients, perfect balance, and the benchmark of a good bartender.
21+ American cocktail bars (late-1800s, Chicago/New York) · American
A whiskey sour with a dramatic float of dry red wine sitting like a sunset on top. Bourbon or rye, fresh lemon and sugar below; tannic red wine above — the same great sour, made striking and a little more complex.
21+ American bars (via Japanese Midori) · Japanese-American
The bright-green retro sour: sweet Midori melon liqueur balanced with fresh lemon and lime, lengthened with a splash of soda. A vivid, nostalgic crowd-pleaser — sweet-tart, low-proof and unmistakably '80s.
21+ London dry gin, classic sour template · British
The crisp, botanical sour: gin balanced with fresh lemon and a little sugar, shaken hard with egg white for a cloud-soft top. The clean, aromatic cousin of the whiskey sour — and the backbone of half the gin canon.
Back to the full Drinks collection or the Drinks guide.