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New York Sour.
You know how it goes; you’ve had some friends over for dinner and at the end of the evening there’s a quarter of a bottle of red wine left over (yes, yes, but let’s just pretend that’s actually true). Options: chug it before bed (looks bad), make a coq au vin (meh) or chuck in the fridge to use the next day in a really nice cocktail? I thought so. The drink in question is a modified Whisky Sour but given the name it should definitely be a bourbon or rye based affair. Because we’re going to add some wine we can boost the lemon and syrup components up to a 2:1:1 ratio and serve it in a double Old Fashioned glass. Since you’re a person of impeccable taste no doubt the leftover wine is something like a nice punchy cabernet sauvignon, merlot or malbec. Oh, good – because we really don’t want a wishy-washy red wine for this. We’re basically just going to make a Whisky Sour at the 2:1:1 ratio and then float some red wine on top. Simple but visually attractive as well as pretty damn tasty. The decision on whether to use egg white (or chickpea juice) or not is yours to make but I prefer my New York Sour without (but my Whisky Sour with). The biggest issue with the New York Sour is how to drink it. There are two options; with a straw, in which case it tastes like a Whiskey Sour followed by a glass of red wine or without a straw, whereby it’s like drinking a glass of red wine followed by a Whiskey Sour. I prefer the third way; ruin the beauty and mix it up. Not pretty but Goldilocks would surely be proud. The combination is just right with the tannic qualities of the wine – this is why we prefer a ballsy one – fusing with the freshness of the Whiskey Sour to create something with a lot more depth and complexity. And using leftovers. Score.
New York Sour.
2oz / 60ml bourbon of choice (or rye if you prefer – it’s more New Yorky).
1oz / 30ml fresh lemon juice.
1oz / 30ml sugar syrup (1:1).
Shake with ice and strain into a DOF glass containing a large block of ice.
Carefully float 0.75oz / 22.5ml of red wine on the surface – using a teaspoon bent into and L-shape makes this pretty easy.
Toast Frank Sinatra (1915-1998). Obviously.
Options:
Shake with 0.75oz / 22.5ml of egg white or chickpea juice for a creamy head.
Skip the block of ice, in which case you might need a smaller glass.
