I’m continuing my series on quarantine cocktails - boozy concoctions that can be made using commonly available ingredients from your pantry. While reviewing previous posts for ideas, I discovered a serious omission. In three years of blogging, I’ve covered a wide range of drink-related topics: oddball liqueurs, travel-inspired recipes, favorite bars, home-made bitters and syrups and shrubs of various flavors. Yet, somehow, I have not written about the most common type of cocktail: the sour.

Sours are made from the trifecta of booze, sweetener, and tart citrus juice. A number of beloved favorites, like the daiquiri (rum, simple syrup, lime), the margarita (tequila, triple sec, lime), and the gimlet (gin, simple syrup, lime), follow this script. In fact, the last two quarantine cocktails I described - the Bee’s Knees and Gold Rush - are also sours.

As is today’s drink: the Whiskey Sour, a tried-and-true classic cocktail that dates from the Civil War era. Bourbon combines with simple syrup and lemon juice to create a refreshing sweet-tart sipper. Like all sours, you have permission to adjust the amounts of citrus and sweetener to suit your palate. But please, in the name of all that is holy, do not use a commercial sour mix as a shortcut! The real stuff is easy to prepare and tastes so much better.

Below are recipes for two versions of the Whiskey Sour. The first is a stripped-down minimalist take on the drink, while the second includes egg white and bitters to add richness and spice to the mix. Make one of each, compare them, and let me know which you prefer!

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Whiskey Sour (version 1)

• 2 oz. bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark) or rye (Rittenhouse)

• ¾ oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• ¾ oz. simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)

• maraschino cherry, to garnish (optional; I used homemade)

• half-wheel of orange (optional)

• cocktail shaker, Hawthorne strainer, ice, cocktail skewer, double rocks glass

Steps

• combine all ingredients except garnishes in the cocktail shaker

• half-fill with ice and shake vigorously until well chilled

• strain into glass, add ice, skewer garnishes and add to drink

Whiskey Sour (version 2)

• 2 oz. bourbon or rye

• ¾ oz. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• ¾ oz. simple syrup

• egg white from one small or medium egg (alternative: ½ oz liquid egg whites)

• two dashes Angostura bitters

• cocktail shaker, Hawthorne strainer, ice, double rocks glass (with ice) or chilled coupe (without ice)*

Steps

• combine all ingredients in the cocktail shaker

• shake vigorously without ice until foamy**

• half-fill with ice and shake until well chilled

• strain into glass; add ice if using double rocks glass

*a chilled cocktail served over ice is ‘on the rocks’; without ice is ‘up’

**this technique (shaking without ice) is called a ‘dry shake’