An amaretto sour is the ultimate blend of sweet amaretto, sharp lemon and bitter Angostura. But when so many different flavours come together, you’ve got to make sure you balance them right. Here’s our foolproof amaretto sour recipe to impress your friends, family and customers.
The amaretto sour is the underdog of the cocktail world, and it often gets a bad rap for being too sweet. But here at European Bartender School, we’re huge fans of this drink. And we also believe if it’s done right, it can be one of the best cocktails out there.
Nailing this recipe is all about choosing the best amaretto sour ingredients and mixing them up right. This makes for a cocktail that is equal parts sweet, sharp and bitter. The result? Nothing short of cocktail magic.
Amaretto Sour ingredients
We won’t blame you for not knowing what’s in an amaretto sour. This cocktail has a pretty mysterious flavour, and it can be hard to identify every element. So let’s break it down:
You’ll need…
(Makes 1 cocktail)
- A rocks glass
- 1 scoop of cubed ice
- 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 15ml (½ oz) egg white (for a vegan alternative, use aquafaba)
- 60ml (2 oz) DeKuyper Amaretto
- 30 ml (1oz) fresh lemon juice
- 10ml (½ oz) sugar syrup
- A lemon wedge for garnish
- A cherry for garnish
Steps
Step 1: Gather your ingredients
Get all your ingredients and put them into a shaker without ice. This is an important step if you want your amaretto sour to foam up nicely.
The secret to a good foam is the egg white, or if you’re making it vegan, aquafaba. This sounds fancy, but is super easy to come by. All it is is that viscous liquid leftover from cooked chickpeas. We’d recommend using the aquafaba from a can of pre-cooked chickpeas, rather than cooking them yourself, just because this ensures a perfect consistency.
For the amaretto, we always go for DeKuyper. This Dutch liqueur has a slightly more citrusy flavour than the Italian Disaronno. This, paired with its fruity, floral aromas and biscuity aftertaste really helps cut through the often-too-sweet amaretto taste.
Step 2: Dry shake
Now you’ve got all your ingredients in a shaker, you know what to do: give it all a good shake. To get the right amount of foam, you should shake for at least 30 seconds. And if you want a really good foam (and a nice little workout), shake for up to 60 seconds.
There are two reasons why we dry shake it first. To foam it up, you need to shake it for a long time. But the downside of shaking it for too long with ice, is that it gets too diluted. So by dry shaking before wet shaking, we create a great foam, and then cool it down separately without diluting it.
Step 3: Shake & strain
Next, shake up your ingredients again, but this time with ice cubes. Shake it for around 10 seconds – you just want to chill the ingredients, not make more foam than you need.
Then, strain your ingredients into your rocks glass over fresh ice cubes.
Step 4: Garnish
Tie it all together with a wedge of lemon and a cherry. Now, enjoy your creation.
If you nailed this amaretto sour recipe, chances are you have a bit of a knack for bartending. To build your skills even more, check out our bartending school, designed to arm you with professional skills you can take behind any bar, anywhere in the world.
