Why the Amaretto Sour stopped being sweet: fresh lemon, bourbon and egg white, with a balance builder

The Amaretto Sour has a bad reputation, and it earned it. For years it was made with a sweet-and-sour mix from a gun, and it tasted like almond sweets dissolved in lemon squash. Then a few bartenders went back to the idea, changed three things, and the drink turned out to be a genuinely good sour. Here is what they changed and why each change matters.

The spec

This is the widely published modern version, credited to bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, who put it in print around 2012. Other bars scale it a little differently, so treat it as the common one rather than the only one.

The glass is a small, heavy rocks glass, chilled first. The twist matters: the peel oil lands on the foam and is the first thing you smell.

Where the drink came from

The Amaretto Sour is usually dated to the 1970s. One commonly repeated account says it was introduced to the public in 1974 by the importer of a leading amaretto brand, as a way to sell the liqueur, and that the early version was roughly two parts amaretto to one part lemon juice. It really took off in the 1980s, when most bars replaced the lemon with bottled sour mix, which is where the "sticky and sweet" reputation comes from. The exact origin is murky, so take any single tidy origin story with a pinch of salt.

The 1974-style two-to-one is not the problem. Sour mix was.

Play with the balance

Amaretto is already sweet (a typical bottle is around 21–28% ABV and very sugary), so this drink lives or dies on how much acid and how much spirit you put against it. Move the sliders, or tap a preset, and watch the glass and the readout.

Why the three changes work

Fresh lemon instead of sour mix. Sour mix is sugar, acid and flavouring in a bottle, so you cannot control the balance. Fresh lemon gives you a clean acid that cuts through the liqueur, and you decide how much.

Bourbon in the mix. Amaretto is sweet and fairly low in alcohol, so on its own the drink is soft and a bit flat. A measure of bourbon adds dryness, oak and vanilla and lifts the strength, which is why it stops tasting like a dessert. A higher-proof bourbon (50% or more) keeps its flavour even after the ice melts into it.

Egg white and the dry shake. Egg white does not taste of much. What it adds is texture: a silky body and a foam that carries the lemon-peel aroma. Shaking first with ice chills and dilutes the drink; shaking again without ice, the dry shake, whips the white into a stable foam. If you avoid raw egg, use pasteurised white, or a few dashes of a foaming bitters product, or aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas).

The small spoon of rich syrup is there for a reason too: a touch of dark sugar adds a toffee note and a bit of texture without making the drink much sweeter.

Variations, including alcohol-free

• Lower alcohol: use 45 ml amaretto, 15 ml bourbon and a little more lemon. It is softer and about as strong as a glass of fortified wine.
• Alcohol-free almond sour: 30 ml orgeat (almond syrup), 22.5 ml lemon juice, 30 ml cold, strong black tea for the dry tannin that bourbon would give, and the egg white. Shake, then dry shake, and serve over ice. Taste it and adjust the lemon, because orgeat brands vary in sweetness.
• Bitter twist: add 2 dashes of aromatic bitters on the foam for spice and colour.

A reminder: this is a short, sweet drink that is easy to drink fast. One is a drink, not a head start. Pace yourself and eat something.