A sour is a traditional family of mixed drinks. Common examples of sours are the margarita and the sidecar. Sours belong to one of the old families of original cocktails and are described by Jerry Thomas in his 1862 book How to Mix Drinks. Sours are mixed drinks containing a base liquor, lemon or lime juice, and a sweetener. Egg whites are also included in some sours.
The gin sour is a traditional mixed cocktail that predates prohibition in the United States. It is a simple combination of gin, lemon juice, and sugar. Adding carbonated water to this turns it into a gin fizz. It was popular during the 1940s, and Kevin Starr includes it in "an array of drinks that now seem period pieces, evocative of another era."
White Lady is essentially a sidecar made with gin in place of brandy. What makes it different from the simple gin sour is the switching of sugar for triple sec. The cocktail sometimes also includes additional ingredients, for example egg white, sugar, or cream. The classic concoction is most commonly served in a Martini cocktail glass. When an egg white is added a champagne coupe is preferable; the silky foam clings more pleasingly to the curved glass. It is disputed who originally invented the drink. There are at least two different opinions: first that it was devised by Harry MacElhone in 1919 at Ciro's Club in London. He originally used crème de menthe, but replaced it with gin at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1929. But The Savoy'sHarry Craddock also claims the White Lady. The recipe appears in his Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930. Joe Gilmore, former Head Barman at The Savoy, says this was one of Laurel and Hardy's favorite drinks. In John le Carré's 1965 novel The Looking Glass War, British spy and main protagonist Fred Leiser's favorite drink is a White Lady, and he makes several attempts to get other agents to try the cocktail. In Dorothy Sayers' mystery novelHave His CarcaseLord Peter has a White Lady when he hears about his "Lady" Miss Harriet Vane being in trouble again.
Pisco sour
The classic Pisco Sour recipe contains pisco brandy, fresh lime juice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, and bitters. It is shaken, strained, and served straight in a cocktail glass then garnished with the bitters. The addition of egg white creates a foamy head when shaken before serving. While pisco sour is flavoured with key lime by default, pisco is combined with other fruit to create mango sour, maracuya sour, lucuma sour and so forth. Peru has a National Pisco Sour Day in mid-February, and Chile has Pisco Day in mid-May.
Whiskey sour
The whiskey sour is a mixed drink containing bourbon whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, and optionally a dash of egg white to make it a Boston Sour. It is shaken and served either straight or over ice. The traditional garnish is half an orange slice and a maraschino cherry. A notable variant of the whiskey sour is the Ward 8, which often is based with either bourbon or rye whiskey, both lemon and orange juices, and grenadine syrup as the sweetener. The egg white sometimes employed in other whiskey sours is generally not included in this variation.
Other sours
Amaretto Sour: Amaretto liqueur, lemon juice and sometimes egg white, bitters or sugar syrup.
Brandy Sour or Brandy Daisy : brandy, clear or orange curaçao, sugar, lemon juice, shaken and strained into a wine glass.
