Whiskey Sour Egg White Cocktail

An absolute classic dating back over a century, the Whiskey Sour Egg White cocktail is one to add to your list of favorites!

Let’s add a mainstay to your cocktail knowledge with a Whiskey Sour Egg White!

So much more balanced and delicious than what you’ll get when you order at the corner bar, this recipe is refined but simple.

A lovely balance of spirits, sweetness, and the fresh tart of lemon juice, all deepened with a frothy top.

Whiskey Sour Egg White Cocktail

This is an absolute classic!

It’s so classic, in fact, that there isn’t a definitive history around the Whiskey Sour — it’s just always been around.

There’s actually evidence of the cocktail being in the zeitgeist all the way back to the time of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.

The format is a traditional “sour” cocktail, which means a drink in which the base spirit is balanced by a sugar and a citrus.

It’s also been reimagined and remixed countless times, resulting in all kinds of different takes on a standard.

What Do Egg Whites Do in a Cocktail?

Adding egg white to a cocktail serves a few purposes.

Most noticeably, when you “dry shake” egg whites (shake without ice), they add a beautiful, frothy foam to the top of a cocktail.

Egg whites also add volume to a cocktail, along with a bit of a thickening to the texture.

And finally, the egg white smooths out the tart edges of citrus in a drink, leaving a softer and lighter feel.

Are Egg Whites Safe to Drink?

You may hear people say things like “the alcohol in a cocktail kills any bacteria in an egg,” or “the citrus cooks away bacteria.”

While, technically, there are molecular changes going on when you shake an egg with alcohol and citrus to create foam, neither the alcohol nor the citrus is capable in this situation to kill bacteria.

That being said, the risks of consuming raw eggs in a cocktail is extremely minimal. While it’s never 100% safe to consume raw eggs, if your eggs are pasteurized and you give them a rinse first, you are most likely just fine.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Bourbon. Use your favorite, or whatever bottle you have on hand! For mixing, I recommend a mid-range bottle; nothing fancy is needed here.

Lemon Juice. Always use fresh citrus juices for the best flavor!

Simple Syrup. Find a bottle at your local market or make your own!

Bitters. Angostura bitters are a great ingredients to keep handy in your home bar. You can use them in this cocktail too!

Egg White. You’ll need about one egg white per cocktail.

How to Make a Whiskey Sour Egg White Cocktail

1. Pour 2 oz bourbon, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz simple syrup and one egg white into to a shaker without ice, and dry-shake for 30 seconds. This will begin to create the froth with the egg white. If you like, you can omit the egg white completely.
2. Add ice and shake again for a few seconds until the drink is chilled.
3. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, or into a coupe without ice.
4. Drizzle 3-4 drops of bitters over the foam. If you’d like, drag a toothpick over the drops to create an artistic shape.

More Cocktails To Try

Once you’ve perfected the Whiskey Sour Egg White cocktail, be sure to try these others from our archives!

Pin or bookmark your favorites to be able to find them easily.

• French Gimlet Cocktail Recipe
• Old Cuban Cocktail Recipe
• Paloma Cocktail Recipe
• Dirty Shirley Cocktail Recipe
• Hugo Spritz Recipe
• Spaghett Cocktail Recipe (The New Aperol Spritz!)
• Tinto de Verano Drink Recipe