Amaretto Sour
Almond and lemon, velvety.
Amaretto meets fresh lemon juice in a soft, fragrant sour, with egg white adding a silky foam. A touch of bitters balances the sweetness of the almond.
- Aperitif
- Shaken
- Glass
- Rocks glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Light
- Time
- 4 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Amaretto
60 ml
-
Lemon juice
30 ml
-
Angostura bitters
1 dash
-
Egg white
15 ml
Garnish
- Lemon slice
- Maraschino cherry
Proportions
How to make
- Chill an old fashioned glass.
- Pour the amaretto into the shaker.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Add a dash of Angostura.
- Add the egg white.
- Shake with ice.
- Strain back into the shaker, without ice.
- Dry shake again to build the foam.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Fine strain into the glass.
- Garnish with lemon and a cherry on a pick.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
According to the most widespread account, the Amaretto Sour was born in the United States in 1974, devised at the request of the American importer of Amaretto di Saronno (now Disaronno) to promote the liqueur: two parts amaretto to one of lemon. There is no period document to prove it, however, and the drink is missing even from encyclopaedic 1970s books such as Jones' Complete Barguide of 1977. It does appear in the 1980s, for example in Mark Torre's The Bartender's Cherry (1987), by which time fresh lemon had largely given way to commercial sour mix. Long dismissed as a 'disco drink', it was revived in 2012 by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, who added high-proof bourbon.
Sources (4)
Taste profile
- Sweet
- 4 out of 5
- Sour
- 3 out of 5
- Creamy
- 2 out of 5
