Easing into the holidays ...
Something about the incoming holiday season puts us in mind of comforting drinks – something you'd enjoy sipping by the fire as the turkey cooks. Or afterward as a nightcap. An Amaretto Sour is just the ticket. Sweet and sour at the same time, with the flavor of almonds that puts us in mind of marzipan and Christmas cookies.
There are a great many Amaretto Sour recipes out there, but we aren't crazy about most of them. Most are too heavy on the almond flavor and far too sweet. Ours is a recipe we adapted from several others we found here and there, and we like it because it also contains Bourbon. The whisky balances the sweet almond flavor of the Amaretto and also gives the drink a very adult kick.
And because the recipe is very simple – equal parts of three ingredients – you can make one or twenty at a time just as easily.
Amaretto Sour (ala KateDavidHomes)
- 1 part Amaretto*
- 1 part Bourbon
- 1 part fresh lemon juice
Stir with ice in a mixing glass until it's freezing cold and serve over fresh ice in an on-the-rocks glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry.
Simple, satisfying, and slightly sentimental.
* A word about Amaretto.
Generally we don't insist that our friends use top-shelf spirits in their cocktails because the subtle flavor differences between one brand and another tend to get lost in all the other flavors in the mix. For instance, we use the cheapest brandy available for our Sidecars. It works just fine, and we don't waste good sipping brandy. However, we make an exception for Amaretto. The cheaper ones tend to have an artificial, chemical-ish flavor on the back end, so we suggest you spend a little more and get some of the better stuff – like Disaronno or Lazzaroni.
