Strong · sour
Whisky sour
Bourbon, lemon and sugar over ice. The warm handshake of welcome drinks, for the nights when nobody wants fizz.
- Pour
- 105 ml
- Strength
- Strong
- Best for
- Dinner parties, Winter holidays
- Season
- Autumn, Winter
- Fizz
- None
- Ahead
- Fully made ahead
The welcome pour
One glass, 105 ml
Rocks glass over a big cube of ice. Garnish: half a slice of orange and a cherry, the IBA way, or just the orange.
The spec, according to the IBA: 45 ml bourbon, 25 ml fresh lemon juice and 20 ml sugar syrup, shaken with ice; egg white is optional. We leave the egg out, which is what makes the drink batchable.
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Bourbon | 45 ml (1.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Fresh lemon juice | 25 ml (1 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 20 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Cold water, in the jug only (stands in for the shaker’s melt) | 15 ml | in the jug |
The jug
How much for your party
One welcome drink per guest plus a 15% spare. Sparkling wine and soda are counted here but stay in the fridge until the door.
| Ingredient | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Bourbon 1 × 700 ml bottle (750 ml in the US) | 650 ml 22 fl oz | in the jug |
| Fresh lemon juice | 350 ml 12 fl oz | in the jug |
| Sugar syrup (1:1) | 280 ml 9.5 fl oz | in the jug |
| Cold water (stands in for the shaker’s melt) | 210 ml 7 fl oz | in the jug |
| The jug holds 1.5 L (6.5 cups), which is 2 1.5-litre jugs filled to 85%. | ||
Make it
In the jug, then at the door
Ahead. Everything goes in the jug: bourbon, lemon, syrup and 15 ml of water per glass. Chill it hard for at least two hours.
At the door. Pour 105 ml over a large cube of ice in a rocks glass. If you have the hands, shaking each glass for ten seconds and straining it over fresh ice is better still; then leave the water out of the jug.
Keeps. Two days in the fridge, though the lemon is best on the day it was squeezed.
- Make the syrup a day ahead: equal weights of sugar and hot water.
- Squeeze the lemons a few hours before the party and strain them.
- Mix bourbon, lemon and syrup in the jug at 45, 25 and 20 ml per glass, plus 15 ml of cold water per glass, which stands in for the melt a shaker would have added. Bartenders who serve batched drinks over ice use about 15% water; served without ice they go to 20% or more.
- Refrigerate. Freeze a tray of large cubes, one per glass; small ice melts too fast and turns the second half of the drink watery.
- At the door: cube, pour, orange. No shaking needed, because the water is already in.
The alcohol-free twin
Black tea sour
This one is our own. Punch magazine's alcohol-free sour uses a non-alcoholic whiskey, and if you have a bottle of one, the IBA proportions work unchanged. Most kitchens do not, so we build the same sour on strong, cold black tea: it brings the tannin and colour that bourbon would, and honey syrup rounds it out.
Brew the tea strong, cool it, then batch it with lemon and honey syrup in a jug. Pour over a big cube of ice like the original. It needs no added water, because it is not spirit.
Reference: punchdrink.com
This twin is our own recipe, not a published one. We say so wherever that is the case.
| Ingredient | Per glass | When |
|---|---|---|
| Strong black tea, cold (two bags per 250 ml, brewed 5 minutes) | 45 ml (1.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Fresh lemon juice | 25 ml (1 fl oz) | in the jug |
| Honey syrup (1:1 honey and hot water) | 20 ml (0.5 fl oz) | in the jug |
Why it works at the door
Whisky sour, in three paragraphs
A sour is the oldest template in the book: strong, sour, sweet. The whisky sour is the one most guests already know, which is worth something at a front door, where an unfamiliar drink needs explaining and a familiar one just needs handing over. It is the winter answer to the spritz: same welcome, no bubbles, a little more warmth.
It is also the least crowd-friendly drink on this site, and we say so on the finder. A proper sour is shaken, one at a time, and shaking forty sours while guests arrive is a job for a hired bartender. The batch version fixes that by putting the shaker's water in the jug and pouring over one large cube. It is a very good drink. It is not identical to the shaken one, which has a lighter texture, and if you use egg white you lose the batch entirely, because egg white has to be shaken fresh.
Bourbon is the IBA's spirit and the sweetest choice. A rye makes it drier and spicier; a blended Scotch makes a gentler, smokier sour. All three batch the same way.
Questions hosts ask
Can I batch a whisky sour?
Yes, without egg white. Mix bourbon, lemon and sugar syrup at the IBA's 45-25-20 ml, add 15 ml of water per glass to replace the shaker's melt, chill, and pour over large ice at the door.
Why no egg white?
Egg white gives a shaken sour its foam, but it has to be shaken hard and fresh for every glass, and a jug of it separates. The IBA lists it as optional, so the batch leaves it out.
How strong is a whisky sour?
Strong for a welcome drink: Difford's Guide puts its version at about 16% ABV in the glass, roughly the strength of a fortified wine. Pour it small, 105 ml over ice, and offer the black tea twin alongside.
Next to it on the tray