Whiskey Sour garnish: what to do with that foam

A Whiskey Sour made with egg white gives you something almost no other cocktail does: a firm, pale surface that holds whatever you put on it.

Most drinks swallow a garnish. This one displays it. Which makes it the best drink in the book for anyone who wants to make something look good without much skill.

Get the foam right first

No foam, no garnish. The technique is the dry shake.

1. Put the whiskey, lemon, sugar syrup and egg white in a shaker with no ice and shake hard for 15 seconds. This is where the foam is built.
2. Add ice and shake again for another 15 to 20 seconds to chill and dilute.
3. Strain into a glass and let it settle for a few seconds before you garnish.

Skipping the first shake is the single most common reason a sour comes out flat. Ice from the start chills the egg white before it has a chance to aerate, and you get a thin drink with a scummy layer instead of a proper head.

If raw egg is not for you, aquafaba works: three teaspoons of the liquid from a tin of chickpeas. It behaves almost identically and tastes of nothing.

Three bitters, dragged

The classic finish. Three drops of Angostura across the foam, then drag a toothpick or a skewer through them to pull the dots into a pattern.

It takes five seconds, costs nothing, and it is the reason this drink looks like it was made by someone who knew what they were doing. The bitters also add a genuine note of spice to the first sip, so it is not purely decorative.

Petals, for something softer

A pinch of dried edible florets sits on the foam without breaking through, and the colour against a pale surface does a lot. Two or three petals, scattered from a little height rather than placed.

Dried works and fresh does not, because fresh flowers carry moisture that sinks straight through the foam. A $15.99 pouch lasts a very long time at a pinch per drink, and keeps for up to 24 months.

Dried citrus, on the rim

A dried lemon wheel sat on the edge of the glass echoes the lemon in the drink and gives you some height. This is the one to use if you have already done bitters and want a second element without crowding the surface.

Pick two of the three. Bitters and a lemon wheel, or petals and a lemon wheel. All three at once and the foam disappears under garnish.

The recipe

Ingredients (per serve)

• 60ml bourbon or whiskey
• 30ml fresh lemon juice
• 15ml sugar syrup
• 1 egg white, or 3 tsp aquafaba
• Angostura bitters, F N Lemons dried lemon slice or edible florets

Method

1. Dry shake the whiskey, lemon, syrup and egg white with no ice for 15 seconds.
2. Add ice and shake again for 15 to 20 seconds.
3. Strain into a rocks glass or coupe and let the foam settle.
4. Finish with three dots of bitters dragged into a pattern, or a pinch of petals.

Need sugar syrup? Here is how to make it in three minutes.

Everything we make is handcrafted in small batches here in the Waikato. Browse the edible florets, with free shipping on orders over $100.