Amaretto Sour — Amaretto Sour proves that almond liqueur can anchor a

The Amaretto Sour proves that almond liqueur can anchor a real drink, not just a dessert in a glass.

Ingredients

• 2 oz amaretto
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup to round out the sweetness
• 1 egg white
• maraschino cherries
• Garnish: a lemon wheel
• Garnish: a couple of maraschino cherries

Method

Grab your shaker and add the amaretto, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white. Here’s where technique matters — you’re going to dry shake first. That means shaking without ice for about ten seconds to emulsify the egg white. This pre-foam step is crucial for getting that thick, stable head. Now add ice and shake hard for another fifteen seconds. You want aggressive agitation to build maximum foam and get the drink ice cold. Double strain into your glass — that means using both your shaker strainer and a fine mesh strainer to catch any ice chips or egg white chunks. The drink should pour with a beautiful white cap that holds its shape.

Serve

Serve this in a rocks glass over fresh ice. Float the lemon wheel on top and drop in those maraschino cherries — the visual contrast against the white foam is part of the appeal.

Pro Tip

The pro move here is using a quality amaretto. Disaronno works fine, but try Lazzaroni if you can find it — the deeper almond flavor makes a noticeable difference. And if you’re nervous about raw egg, pasteurized egg whites from a carton work perfectly and actually foam more consistently than fresh. Some bartenders add a quarter ounce of bourbon to give the drink more backbone, which transforms it into something closer to Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s famous variation.