Ah, the Amaretto Sour. A true guilty pleasure cocktail. Heavenly marzipan lemon cake in glass. But certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “craft cocktail.”
At first the Amaretto Sour was left behind by the cocktail rennaissance, condemned to languish in wood-paneled 1970’s living rooms with the likes of the Grasshopper, Brandy Alexander, and Rusty Nail. But modern bartenders have managed to find something respectable in even the most unbalanced of retro cocktails, and the Amaretto Sour is an early example of this. As its rehabilitator Jeffrey Morgenthaler so eloquently put it: there are no bad drinks, only bad bartenders.
Morgenthaler always liked the Amaretto Sour, and he got tired of hearing it used as an example of how bad cocktails were pre-1995. So he decided to create a version of it worthy of a place on the menu at modern craft cocktail bars. And how else to do this but to add a healthy pour of high-proof bourbon into the mix? This touch really elevates the Amaretto Sour, grounding it and keeping it from straying into the realm of the cloyingly sweet. His recipe made the Amaretto Sour respectable again. And, if you ask me, even more delicious.
Amaretto Sour
1.5 oz. amaretto
3/4 oz. high-proof bourbon
1 oz. lemon juice
1 tsp. simple syrup (2:1)
1/2 oz. egg white
Reverse dry shake: combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain, dump ice, and return the cocktail to the shaker. Shake for at least 15 seconds. Pour into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with a brandied cherry and an orange twist.
Recipe by Jeffrey Morgenthaler via Modern Classic Cocktails by Robert Simonson.