Whiskey Sour with a Reverse Dry Shake
2 oz Burnside Oregon Oaked Bourbon
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 Egg White
pinch Salt
5-6 drops Angostura Bitter
Shake Whiskey, Syrup, Juice and Salt WITH ice and then double strain out the ice and any pulp and return drink to the mixing glass. Add the Egg White and dry shake (no ice) until the cocktail is nice and foamy. Pour into a shilled Coup glass and garnish with a pattern of Angostura drops.
Tonight I followed along with the Cocktail Chemistry dude as he did a live class on a very nicely tweaked Whiskey Sour. I’m not sure if this is the first time I’ve made a Whiskey Sour with an Egg White (technically a Boston Sour) but by all the gods, it’s the best Sour I’ve ever made. As someone who generally doesn’t like Sours, usually only using Lemon or citrus very sparingly and often only with Egg Whites, this really made my evening. He also suggested adding a bit of Saline Solution or a pinch of salt to draw out some extra flavor and I must say that I will be adding a wee bit of salt in these from now on.
When you add Egg White to a cocktail you have to do a dry shake, a vigorous shake without ice, to make sure that the Egg blends in and froths up properly to get that awesome texture that Egg Whites bring to a cocktail. Generally you add everything to the shaker, give it a mix without ice to foam it up, then add the ice to chill and dilute, then strain it into your glass. The “Reverse Dry Shake” here has toy do all of the early shaking without the Egg WITH ice which is then removed before adding the Egg and dry shaking afterwards. This would seem to give it an extra froth which makes a little sense if you figure that some of that initial foaminess might get dulled by the secondary shaking with ice.
I still cheated and used a milk frother in the mixing glass, though I did do it after the first shaking after removing the ice. This is also the first time I’ve tried to decorate my drink by swirling the drops of bitters. My fist attempt at a skull and crossbones almost worked, I’ll get better with time.
