Silky Egg-White Whiskey Sour with Dry-Shake Foam

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The whiskey sour the way a good cocktail bar builds it: bourbon, juice squeezed minutes before you shake, and a rich 2:1 sugar syrup for body. A hard dry shake whips one egg white into a dense, meringue-like cap that holds a few dots of Angostura long enough to drag them into a pattern. Two drinks, about ten minutes, and it tastes like a $18 cocktail.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water

• 4 oz bourbon (100-proof bonded, such as a bottled-in-bond rye or bourbon)
• 2 oz fresh lemon juice, from about 2 lemons
• 1 oz rich simple syrup, from above
• 1 large egg white (about 1 oz), or 1 oz pasteurized egg white
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters, plus more for the foam
• ice: several large cubes for shaking, plus a big cube per glass if serving on the rocks
• 1 lemon, for a wide peel garnish (optional)
• 2 brandied or maraschino cherries (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the rich syrup: combine 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir just until the sugar dissolves and the liquid turns clear, 2 to 3 minutes — do not let it boil hard. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate in a jar; it keeps 1 month and is thick enough to give the drink real texture.
2. Chill two coupe or rocks glasses in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. A cold glass is what keeps the foam standing.
3. Roll the lemons hard on the counter, halve, and squeeze 2 oz juice. Strain out seeds and pulp through a fine-mesh sieve — pulp breaks foam. Use the juice within 30 minutes for the brightest flavor.
4. Crack the egg into your hand and let the white slip into the small half of a cocktail shaker, holding back the yolk (or measure 1 oz pasteurized white). Add the bourbon, lemon juice, 1 oz rich syrup, and 2 dashes Angostura.
5. Dry shake: seal the shaker with NO ice and shake hard for 15 to 20 seconds, until the shaker feels warm and the liquid sounds thick and slushy rather than sloshy. This is where the foam is built, so shake like you mean it.
6. Add 4 to 5 large ice cubes, re-seal, and shake hard again for 12 to 15 seconds — just long enough to chill and dilute. Over-shaking with ice melts the cubes and thins the foam.
7. Double-strain through a Hawthorne strainer and a fine-mesh sieve into the chilled glasses, pouring in a slow, steady stream from a few inches up so the foam layers on top. For a rocks-glass version, add one large cube to the glass first and strain over it.
8. Let the drinks sit undisturbed for 30 to 45 seconds so the foam sets into a firm, glossy cap.
9. Dot 3 to 5 drops of Angostura across each foam cap and drag a toothpick through them to pull a line or a simple pattern. Twist a wide lemon peel over the glass to release the oils, then perch it on the rim with a cherry if you like. Serve immediately.
10. For a second round, rinse the shaker with cold water between batches — leftover fat or residue kills the next foam.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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