Vodka Sour

A Vodka Sour is a classic cocktail that belongs to the family of sours and an essential for any home bartender. It follows the same recipe as a classic Whiskey Sour, which was the original sour, but is made with vodka instead of whiskey.

A Vodka Sour taste is the perfect balance of sweet, tart and tangy. It combines fresh pressed lemon juice and simple syrup together with egg whites to create a frothy, creamy head and delightful mouthfeel. But then there’s the smoothness of Vodka.

When you make a sour with whiskey or amaretto, the spirit usually takes center stage. However, in this case of vodka, it plays a balancing role in this cocktail, allowing the other ingredients to shine. But make no mistake, the smooth, subtle but distinct flavors of Absolut Vodka make one of the best drinks around.

To talk about the history of the Vodka Sour, or any Sour for that matter, we have to go back to the Whiskey Sour.

The first record of a Sour cocktail appears in 1856, with the Whiskey Sour being one of the earliest. In fact, the first written mention of a Whiskey Sour appeared in a Wisconsin newspaper in 1870, but it’s believed that sailors may have consumed it before that. The original Whiskey Sour recipe included Whiskey, Simple Syrup, and Lemon Juice. The addition of Egg White dates back to before 1922, where it was mentioned in a cocktail book.

The basic recipe for a Sour includes a base spirit (e.g. Gin, Vodka, Whiskey), citrus (e.g. Lemon or Lime Juice), and sweetener (e.g. Honey, Simple Syrup, Agave etc.). So, while the Whiskey Sour was arguably the first, over time, the “Sour family of cocktails” has seen countless variations, including the Pisco Sour, Amaretto Sour, and New York Sour, to name just a few. 

As Vodka gained popularity in the 20th century, bartenders started incorporating it into classic recipes, giving rise to the Vodka Sour.

• Wet shake, first, then dry shake
  When making a Sour, Rico recommends starting with a ‘wet shake’ followed by a dry shake. What this means is shaking the cocktail ingredients with Ice, then straining out the Ice and shaking again without any ice.

  “You want to emulsify the proteins to achieve a velvety, thick, creamy texture with a nice head,” Rico explains. By performing a wet shake followed by a dry shake, you also eliminate the need for fine straining, as you’ve already removed the ice. You can then just pour the Cocktail directly from the Shaker into your Rocks Glass.

• Two-Three dashes of Aromatic Bitters
  “The Aromatic Bitters are going to give you some freshness, some nice clove essence. Basically, it smells and tastes like Christmas,” says Rico.

• Sweeten to your liking
  If you find the drink too tart, add more Simple Syrup. Conversely, if it’s too sweet for your taste, increase the Lemon Juice or reduce the Simple Syrup. It’s your drink, after all.

• Make your own Aquafaba
  If you decide to make your Vodka Sour with Aquafaba instead of Egg Whites like we recommend making your own Aquafaba. Why? Because when you make anything fresh and from scratch, it’s generally always better. And yes, Aquafaba is easy to make.
  
  “You’ll need to soak raw chickpeas in water overnight, which is going to hydrate them. Once you’ve let these soak overnight, get rid of all the water,” explains Rico. 
  
  “Next you want to cook your chickpeas. Once they’re done, you want to strain the Chickpeas and that’s going to leave you with the cooking liquid. Put that cooking liquid back on heat and you want to reduce it by half then you’re going to have Aquafaba.” 

  Read this article to learn all you need to know about the Egg White substitute, Aquafaba.

Being that the Vodka Sour belongs to the sour family of cocktails, you could more or less follow the same recipe for a Vodka Sour and then simply swap out the spirit for another of your choice (i.e. gin, bourbon, pisco and so on). Here are a couple of our favorite vodka sour variations with mango vodka.

• Mango Sour
  This Sour variation follows the exact same recipe as the one on this page but uses Absolut Mango (Mango Flavored Vodka) instead and is then garnished with a Mango Wedge to add a delicious tropical twist.

  The smoothness of Mango works so well with the luscious creaminess provided by the Egg Whites (or Aquafaba). Exotic and delicious, here’s how to make a Mango Sour.

• Absolut Cinnamango Sour
  Take the Mango Sour above, add a pinch of Cinnamon, then garnish with a Mango Wedge and a Cinnamon Cane. What you get is flavors of zesty Lemon, soft, juicy Mango and the spiciness of Cinnamon. And yes, it’s incredible. Here’s how to make a Cinnamango Sour.

  Don’t miss our Sour Cocktail Collection, where we highlight 10 sours every home bartender needs to know how to make.

• As with all Sours, we recommend serving the Vodka Sour in a Rocks Glass. After shaking your cocktail, place one large Ice Cube in the bottom of your glass before pouring the cocktail into the glass.

• To garnish, we recommend the classic combination for Sours – a Lemon Wedge and a fresh Cherry. Trust us, it doesn’t get better than that combo.
  
• Like many other sour cocktails, a couple of dashes of Aromatic Bitters work wonderfully in a Vodka Sour too.