The Amaretto Sour Cocktail is sweet, yet not overly sweet, and maintains the sophisticated air of a classic Sour. It also is one of the most celebrated drinks based on Amaretto, the almond-flavored liqueur from Italy. The distinctive taste makes it a brilliant and unique sip.
Quick Facts Amaretto Sour Cocktail
- Method: shaken
- Flavor profile: sweet
- How to serve it: over ice
- Best glassware: rocks glass
- Alcohol content: ~ 17 % ABV, 17 grams of alcohol per serving
The recipe follows the general approach of all sour cocktails but calls for a split base for better balance.
Equipment
- 1 Cocktail Shaker
- 1 Jigger
- 1 Hawthorne Strainer
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Amaretto
- 0.75 oz Cask-proof Bourbon
- 1 oz Fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Simple syrup
- 1 pcs Egg white
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker without ice and shake for 10 to 15 seconds.1.5 oz Amaretto, 0.75 oz Cask-proof Bourbon, 1 oz Fresh lemon juice, 1 tbsp Simple syrup, 1 pcs Egg white
- Add ice and shake again until your drink is chilled.
- Strain into an old fashioned glass.
- You can use two Maraschino Cherries and/or lemon peel twist as a garnish.
Nutrition
Recommendations for the Ingredients
Looking at the list of ingredients of the Amaretto Sour recipe, it is pretty straightforward. Yet, the split base (Amaretto and Bourbon) makes it a little more complex than your standard recipe:
- Amaretto Liqueur: I like to use Disaronno. It's the bestselling brand for a good reason. It has a fantastic balance of sweetness of almonds and apricots and a slight bitterness.
- Cask-proof Bourbon: A high-ABV liquor is necessary to counter the sweetness of Amaretto in this Sour. Thus, barrel-proof is the way to go. Wild Turkey's 101, for instance, is excellent value for money.
- Lemon juice: Always use freshly squeezed lemon juice in your cocktails. It may sound like a minor thing, but this will make or break your drink. If you want to know why, read more about lemon juice in cocktails.
- Simple syrup
- Egg white: for a nice foamy top
- Maraschino cherry: these aromatic cherries are the perfect garnish because they complement the Amaretto brilliantly.
How to Make the Best Amaretto Sour
For the perfect version of this drink, you have to perform a dry shake. That technique makes it easier for the egg white to emulsify, resulting in a thicker and stronger foam.
That means, you add all ingredients into your shaker and shake without ice for about 20 seconds. Only then do you add ice cubes and shake for another 15 seconds to chill everything properly. -Because you shake shorter with ice than you usually would, consider cooling all elements in the fridge beforehand.
If you are not quite happy with how your drink turned out, perform a reverse dry shake for an even thicker foam.
Further, stick to the approach of the split base to avoid getting an unbalanced drink. But let me explain in more detail.
Why Make it a Split Base?
Traditional Sour drinks are based on spirits. Using Amaretto makes things different. It is a liqueur and, as such, has a lower ABV and tastes a lot sweeter.
If you use the same ratio for an Amaretto Sour recipe as you do for, let's say, a Whiskey Sour, your result will definitely turn out way too sweet. Thus, you need a dry, high-proof spirit to balance the sugar and add a bit of bite.
You could also use rum to balance the almond liqueur, but Bourbon is the most common and also our preferred way to make this drink. The person who came up with this idea was Jeffrey Morgenthaler, by the way.
Variations
One of the most popular variations of the Amaretto Sour recipe is applying the formula of a Stone Sour. By adding orange juice, the cocktail gets a rich and even fruitier.
If you like the idea of oranges but don't want to bring another juice to the recipe, replace the simple syrup with homemade orange syrup. That will also bring some extra flavor but also sweetness. Definitely not our favorite variation of this recipe, but palates are different...
Related Cocktails with Amaretto
If you now have an open bottle of Amaretto at home and wonder what you can do with it apart from making Amaretto Sour Cocktails, try one of the following:
- The French Connection
- The Alabama Slammer
- The Godfather Cocktail
- The Blow Job Shot
For a better overview, check out the 9 best Disaronno Cocktails. Also, for more inspiration, check out our favorite Sour Cocktails.