Amaretto Sour
4.5 485 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a old-fashioned glass
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of aromatic bitters (atomised) and skewered lemon slice wheel and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry (sail).
Method
- 3 SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
- 4 STRAIN back into shaker.
- 5 DRY SHAKE (without ice).
- 6 FINE STRAIN into ice-filled glass.
Garnish
- 7 Spray aromatic bitters over foaming cocktail using an atomiser and garnish with lemon and maraschino cherry sail.
Flavour profile
11.8% alc./vol. · 1 standard drink · 233 calories
History
Sweet and sour - frothy with an almond buzz. Extra dashes of bitters help balance the drink and add flavour. When made with freshly squeezed lemon juice this can be a great cocktail.
The Amaretto Sour, notably absent from comprehensive cocktail books of the 1970s like Stanley M. Jones' 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide, emerged in the 1980s. It appears in publications such as Mark Torre's 1987 The Bartender's Cherry, and possibly in its 1984 first edition, though a copy has not been located. Amaretto Sour 1 shot Amaretto Di Saronno® /Amaretto ½ splash Orange Juice Fill with Sour Mix Shake Orange Flag Garnish Sour/Highball Glass V/O: without Orange Juice It is believed the Amaretto Sour was created in 1974 at the request of the US importer for "Amaretto di Saronno." The initial recipe called for a two-to-one ratio of amaretto liqueur to lemon juice. However, by the time it gained popularity in the 1980s, the trend of using commercial sour-mix instead of fresh lemon juice had influenced the drink, as demonstrated by the recipe in The Bartender's Cherry. Consequently, during the cocktail renaissance of the 1990s and 2000s, the Amaretto Sour was often dismissed as a "Disco Drink." Thankfully, Jeffrey Morgenthaler revived the cocktail in 2012 by incorporating bourbon, creating his signature Amaretto Sour.