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Sours: A Classic Cocktail FamilyWhiskey Sour, Daiquiri, Margarita, Amaretto Sour and more!The Sours belong to one of the classic families of alcoholic beverages. Here's what you should know about them and how to make them.
When looking at modern bartender's guide, it's hard to believe that mixed drinks are a relatively recent invention. Until Prohibition in the US (1920-1933), alcohol was drunk straight and most mixed drinks were invented in the mid-19th Century when Jerry Thomas began popularizing them. Jerry Thomas: The Father of American MixologyJerry Thomas is known as the father of American mixology, and is credited with inventing and popularizing many classic recipes as well as establishing bartending as a creative profession. His book, The Bar-Tender's Guide or How To Mix Drinks , originally published in 1862, is still considered a valuable resource today as it contains classic techniques and recipes such as the Fizz, the Flip and the Sour. But it wasn't until Prohibtion in the early part of the 20th Century that mixed drinks really became popular. ProhibitionDuring the Roaring Twenties, alcohol consumption was strictly prohibited (unless you had a medical prescription) and so it was illegally made (illicit breweries and bathtub moonshine operations) or imported from Canada, the Carribbean and Mexico. Often, this illegal alcohol was unprocessed and very harsh, so it became common to "cut" it with other ingredients to make it easier to drink. SoursOne of the recipe groups Jerry Thomas collected for his book was the Sours. Simply put, a Sour is typified by the addition of lemon or lime juice and a sweetener (fruit juices, Triple Sec or simple syrup) to a base liquor. Jerry Thomas listed six Sour recipes in The Bar-Tender's Guide: the Whiskey Sour, the Brandy Sour, the Gin Sour, the Santa Cruz Sour (using Santa Cruz rum), the Jersey Sour (using Applejack, a strong liquor made from apple cider) and the Egg Sour (using brandy and an egg). The best-known sour is the Whiskey Sour, which is also known as the Bourbon Sour. The basic recipe for it is as follows: Whiskey Sour
Pour the whiskey, lemon juice and sugar into a martini shaker and stir to dissolve. Add ice to the shaker and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange wheel and a cherry, if desired. If you wish you can make a truly original whiskey sour and add an egg white to your recipe - just be sure to shake it very, very well to mix it. This basic recipe has evolved over the past century and a half, and now includes the Daiquiri, the Kamikaze and the Margarita, as well as the Sidecar and the Cosmopolitan. The Daiquiri switches whiskey for rum and lemon juice for lime juice, while a common recipe for the Margarita uses tequila, Triple Sec (or Cointreau) and lime juice, and the Cosmopolitan uses vodka, Triple Sec, sugar, cranberry juice and lime juice. The Kamikaze
Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled martini shaker and shake. Strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Drop in a lime wedge before serving. The Sidecar
Shake all ingredients in a martini shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an orange wedge. But perhaps the tastiest ancestor in the Sour family is the Amaretto Sour. Not only does it use the very basic sweet-sour combination, it pays tribute to the simplicity of the original Whiskey Sour. Amaretto Sour
Chill a sour glass (old-fashioned will do) and wet its rim with lemon juice before dipping it in sugar. Shake the Amaretto and lemon juice in a martini shaker filled with ice and strain into a sour glass. Add ice, an orange slice and a maraschino cherry if you wish.
The copyright of the article Sours: A Classic Cocktail Family in Beverages is owned by Catherine Solmes. Permission to republish Sours: A Classic Cocktail Family in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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