Amaretto Sour
A richly sweet, almond-forward sour transformed by fresh lemon and egg white into something far more nuanced than its reputation suggests.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz amaretto liqueur
- 0.75 oz cask-proof bourbon
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- Angostura bitters, to garnish
Instructions
- 1Dry shake all ingredients without ice to build foam.
- 2Add ice and shake again until well chilled.
- 3Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and dash bitters on the foam.
Origin & Story
The Amaretto Sour became a staple of American bars in the 1970s as Italian amaretto liqueur gained popularity, though the original recipe — just amaretto and sour mix — was often cloyingly sweet. Bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler famously rehabilitated it in 2012 with a recipe adding cask-proof bourbon to balance the sweetness and egg white for texture, turning a dismissed bar relic into a craft cocktail bar staple.
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