What Is an Amaretto Sour
An amaretto sour is a straightforward sour cocktail that combines amaretto liqueur, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and an egg white. The result should be a pale golden drink with a thick foam head and a sweet-tart balance. Disaronno is the most common brand used in the standard recipe, though various other amaretto producers exist. The drink is essentially a variation of the classic whiskey sour, substituting amaretto for bourbon. Here is the basic method. You need 1.5 ounces of amaretto liqueur, 0.75 ounces of fresh lemon juice, 0.5 ounces of simple syrup (1:1 ratio), one large egg white, and ice. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Do not add ice for the first shake. Close the shaker and shake it hard for about 15 seconds. This dry shake emulsifies the egg white. After that, open the shaker, add a generous amount of ice, and shake again for another 10 to 12 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a few dashes of bitters on top of the foam if you want. The timing here matters more than most people think. A dry shake without ice is non-negotiable if you want real foam. If you throw ice in first and shake, the egg white just gets cold and never fully aerates. The foam will be thin and weak. The second shake with ice chills everything and gives you the texture you want.
I ran into a problem with a batch of egg whites that had been sitting in the fridge for four days. The foam collapsed almost immediately after shaking. The cocktail tasted fine but looked flat. I switched to a half-spoon of clear glycerin in the shaker and the foam held for over an hour. Glycerin is a legitimate stabilizer that bartenders use. It does not change the flavor noticeably at that dosage. You get about three to four drops per drink.
Technical Notes and Common Problems
Most people use Disaronno Originale as the default amaretto, but it is actually an apricot-kernel flavored liqueur with added sugar. The alcohol content sits at 28% ABV, which is lower than most spirits. This means the drink tastes sweeter and less spirit-forward than a whiskey sour. If you want more alcohol presence without adding another spirit, you can reduce the simple syrup to 0.25 ounces and bump the amaretto to 2 ounces. Using bottled lemon juice instead of fresh is the single biggest mistake I see. Bottled lemon juice has a different acid profile and a flat flavor that makes the cocktail taste dull. Fresh lemon juice costs almost nothing extra and changes the result completely. Squeeze the lemons yourself. It takes thirty seconds. The egg white is optional but highly recommended. A splash of aquafaba from a can of chickpeas works as a substitute, but the texture is thinner and the foam lacks the same silkiness. If you are serving this to someone who avoids raw eggs, use pasteurized egg whites from a carton. They are readily available at most grocery stores now and perform nearly the same in a shaker.
Get the Full Details
The drink has real limitations. The foam degrades within twenty minutes. If you make a batch for a group, it will look separated and unappetizing quickly. Make individual drinks to order. Also, the sweetness level of amaretto varies by brand. Some are noticeably thicker and more syrupy than others. Taste your specific bottle before locking in a recipe. A heavier amaretto may only need 0.25 ounces of simple syrup instead of the standard 0.5.
