Blood Orange Bourbon Sour

Jump to Recipe

I distinctly remember the first time I saw someone being served a Whiskey Sour at one of my favorite local haunts. My husband and I were having a date night when he noticed my face light up with intrigue as I couldn’t stop staring at our neighboring table’s freshly served beverages. Being a man who works hard to live by the “happy wife, happy life” philosophy, he instinctively got up (with no prompting from me) walked to the bar and made a request along the lines of “she’ll have whatever they’re having”! Which needless to say, made me one delighted wife!!

Admittedly, probably what fascinated me most about the whiskey sour was the egg foam topping (honestly, put a topping on anything and I think “yayyyy! looks so fun!”), but the rest of it tasted pretty great too and I was excited to start experimenting with making these at home! My first few attempts were actually abysmal and so I abandoned my pursuit as a bartender for quite awhile because I was wasting way too much liquor….until I couldn’t get the idea of a pink drink out of my mind! (I know, weird, who takes up brain space thinking about pink drinks, right?) Though their name can be a little off putting, blood oranges produce the most amazingly beautiful juice that range in color from light orangey pink to gorgeous magenta tones and I just knew they could be the perfect base for a Bourbon Sour! So I dove back into my experimenting (and researching, turns out they’re already a thing and I didn’t devise an original cocktail-darn!) and landed on this Blood Orange Bourbon Sour concoction that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Just remember, drink a cocktail, then drink an entire glass of water, that’s the rule!

This Blood Orange Bourbon Sour has 5 ingredients:

1. Bourbon-my go-to is Woodford Reserve
2. Blood orange juice, freshly squeezed
3. Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4. Simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar)
5. Egg white (optional)

I know the raw egg white takes some people out of their comfort zone and I get it. I have taken my fair share of food science classes and know there are risks when we eat foods with raw proteins like cookie dough and steak tartare. So you should know there are substitutes out there like aquafaba (the liquid in a can of legumes, but it is most often associated with canned chickpea liquid), pasteurized egg whites, powdered egg whites and others. I have not experimented with any of these yet so I would love your feedback and comments if you have any.

But let me tell you why you want some kind of egg foam (or substitute foam) as your drink topper. It’s the foam that adds the rich, silky, creaminess to your cocktail while at the same time toning down a bit of the acid. I think it’s really the foam that takes this cocktail to the next level!

To make this cocktail you will need a shaker, and a strainer is helpful too! I like to dry shake it first, meaning add all the ingredients to the shaker and shake for about 20-30 seconds. Then, add ice and shake until well chilled, another 15-20 shakes. Strain into a coupe glass or your glass of choice and garnish with a slice of blood orange. Enjoy!! And then drink your glass of water please!