Amaretto Sour Cocktail History and Recipe

As well as the classic sour’s basic ingredients of lemon or lime juice, a syrup or some other sweetener, and an optional egg white, the addition of the distinctive almond flavor of amaretto definitely makes for an unusual cocktail.

What is Amaretto?

To start with the amaretto itself, this is an Italian liqueur which is mostly made from almonds, although it can also be made from almond kernels, apricot stones, or peach stones, all of which contain the chemical, benzaldehyde. This chemical tastes and smells like almonds, and is used, for example, as an artificial flavoring in baking.

Amaretto is traditionally drunk neat as a digestif after dinner, though it can be used in cocktails and in cooking. You can also put it in your coffee, and as with many digestifs it can be used in desserts, or simply poured over ice cream. It’s usually in the range of 21-28% ABV (42-56 proof).

The word itself, amaretto, is the Italian for ‘a little bitter’ and is the diminutive form of amaro, which means ‘bitter’. This is not to be confused with the amaro drinks, which are bitter because they also use bitter herbs. Amaretto is a different beast, with some amarettos being on the sweeter side, depending on the type of almonds used.

The History of Amaretto

Amaretto is said to have originated in the town of Saronno in northern Italy, roughly midway between Turin and Verona. One legend has it that in 1522 a church in Saronno was having frescoes painted by an artist who was a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci. He needed a model for the Madonna and chose a young widowed innkeeper. She was so grateful that she gave him some apricot kernels that she had soaked in brandy as a gift, and that was the birth of amaretto. Well, it sounds good.

Amaretto Sour History

As with amaretto, no-one knows for sure who came up with the first recipe for an Amaretto Sour. It was somewhere in the USA and sometime in the 1970s, when Italian liquors were starting to get better-known in America.

It was common then in bars to have a sour mix readily available, so if a customer asked for a then-fashionable Whiskey Sour, the bartender simply used the whiskey and the mix. Some bartender somewhere clearly wondered what it would taste like if you also added amaretto, or substituted amaretto for whiskey, and the cocktail was born.

Amaretto Sour Cocktail Recipe

There’s no single established recipe for the Amaretto Sour. Some recipes include another spirit, such as bourbon or whiskey, to produce something that is basically a Bourbon or Whiskey Sour but with amaretto added. For a pure Amaretto Sour, try the following:

1.5 oz amaretto
0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup

Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, then strain and serve it in a chilled sour glass. Garnish with an orange or lemon twist or slice. Some people like to add a cherry. You could also use a martini glass – anything with a long stem that you can hold so that your hand doesn’t warm up the cold drink.

If you want to add an egg white, then after straining into a glass, put everything back into the shaker for a second shake without ice, to really mix and froth up the ingredients before pouring into the chilled glass.

If you prefer the visual approach, you can also see the recipe here:

 

Buying Amaretto

You can find several Amarettos at Caskers, and at Master of Malt. If you want to buy ready-made simple syrup rather than make your own, the widest choice is at Drizly.