A Whiskey Sour is three ingredients and a shake, and every reputable spec agrees on the first rule: the lemon juice is fresh. That single decision separates the drink from the sour-mix version that defined the 1970s and 1980s and is the reason the cocktail revival had to rescue it. After the lemon come the choices — simple or rich syrup, egg white or none, bitters in the tin or on the foam, a cherry or a twist — and each one changes the glass in a predictable way. This is the ingredients hub: what each component is, what it does, what to buy and what to avoid, with a dedicated guide for every one.

The cards above go to the deep-dives; the summary below is the shopping list with reasons.

The Short Version

• Whiskey: 2 oz straight rye, 100 proof if possible. Bourbon is the equally traditional alternative.
• Lemon: ¾ oz, squeezed that day. Difford's prefers a full 1 oz.
• Syrup: ¾ oz 1:1 simple, or ½ oz rich 2:1 — the two are not interchangeable ounce for ounce.
• Egg white (optional): about ½ oz, pasteurized; or 1 oz aquafaba. With it, the drink is commonly called a Boston Sour.
• Bitters (optional): 2–3 dashes of Angostura on the foam, or Difford's 3 dashes in the shake.
• Garnish: lemon wheel and cherry on the rocks; lemon twist and bitters on the foam up; the IBA's orange half-slice and cherry if you want the flag.
• Glass: a rocks glass over fresh ice, or a chilled coupe.

1. The Whiskey

The drink's backbone, and the component with the most room for error in the other direction: a sour will swallow a soft whiskey whole. Lemon and sugar together make up almost half the pre-dilution volume, and the shake adds roughly an ounce of water on top, so proof matters more than age or price. The house build asks for straight rye at 100 proof if possible; PUNCH's 2017 judging panel found rye the stronger choice against egg white, and its winning drink was built on a 100-proof rye. The 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas's guide allows "Bourbon or rye," and the IBA, Difford's and PUNCH all default to bourbon, so the bourbon version is in no sense wrong — it is rounder and sweeter.

The buying criteria, the proof discussion and the consensus-scored shortlist are in the Bottle Library; the under-$30 and $50+ fields in budget and premium; the bourbon case in the bourbon Whiskey Sour recipe.

2. The Lemon

Difford's specifies freshly squeezed lemon juice and the IBA fresh lemon juice (PUNCH simply lists lemon juice), and the drink's history explains why fresh matters: pre-packaged sour mixes date to the early 1900s, were mass-marketed from the 1940s and defined the drink's dark decades, until Dale DeGroff's Rainbow Room and the late-1990s craft bars put fresh juice back behind the bar. Fresh means hours, not days. America's Test Kitchen found tasters preferred lemon juice rested about four hours in the fridge over just-squeezed — a compound called limonin adds depth — but past roughly six hours bitterness begins to dominate. The 1887 Thomas recipe measured by the fruit ("the juice of half a small lemon"); the modern measure is ¾ oz, or 1 oz in Difford's build, which raises the sugar to match. How to juice, how to store and the tools that make it painless are in the fresh lemon juice guide.

3. The Syrup

Sugar is the sour's third leg and the easiest to get subtly wrong. A 1:1 simple syrup is equal volumes of sugar and room-temperature water, shaken until dissolved — no heat needed. A rich 2:1 syrup is made gently over low heat, cooled and fine-strained, and refrigerated it keeps about six months. The two are not interchangeable ounce for ounce: Difford's measures rich syrup at 1.35 times the sweetness of simple (65.1 versus 48.0 Brix), so 20 ml of 2:1 equals 30 ml of 1:1 — which is why the house recipe gives ¾ oz simple or ½ oz rich. Difford's argues for rich syrup because 1:1 adds five to eight percent of unwanted water; PUNCH's recipe uses 1:1 and its contest favorites have used both. Honey syrup at 3:1 is the Gold Rush and Penicillin sweetener; PUNCH's Brown Derby uses 2:1; maple is the Maple Whiskey Sour. Each is covered, with conversions, in the syrup guide; the general method is in the simple syrup recipe and honey syrup guide.

4. The Egg White

Optional in a Whiskey Sour, mandatory in a Boston Sour, and the ingredient that divides bartenders. About ½ oz — roughly one small egg's white — is the amount PUNCH, Difford's and Morgenthaler all use; the IBA says "few drops." It adds a meringue-like foam, a softer mouthfeel and a visual snap that one of PUNCH's judges admitted was "really showy" even while preferring his sour without it. Two practical points. First, safety: the FDA warns that fresh eggs may carry Salmonella and advises pasteurized eggs for raw-egg recipes, particularly for children, older adults, pregnant women and anyone immunocompromised — Difford's specifies pasteurized egg white in every egg spec. Second, substitutes: about 1 oz of aquafaba (unsalted chickpea liquid) per drink, dry-shaken 10–12 seconds, or a commercial foamer such as Fee Foam. The dry shake, the reverse dry shake and the full safety discussion are in the egg white guide.

5. The Bitters

Not in Thomas's recipe and not in the IBA's, but a fixture of the modern drink in one of two places. Difford's builds 3 dashes of Angostura into the shake, alongside two optional drops of saline. PUNCH's 2024 contest saw nearly every entrant dash Angostura across the egg-white foam instead (one used Peychaud's) — the judges noted that it masks any egg or aquafaba aroma as well as decorating the surface. The classic bottle and how it behaves are covered in the Angostura guide; the wider category in aromatic bitters.

6. The Garnish

Three traditions, matched to the serve. The IBA specifies a half orange slice and a maraschino cherry — the flag — with optional orange zest. Difford's skewers a lemon wheel and a Luxardo cherry as a sail on the rocks serve and uses a lemon twist alone on the up Boston Sour. Modern bars finish the egg-white version with an expressed lemon twist and a pattern of Angostura dragged through the foam. Thomas's 1887 instruction was simply "ornament with berries." Which suits which version, and how to do the bitters art, is in Whiskey Sour garnish.

7. The Shaker, the Ice and the Glass

A Whiskey Sour is a shaken drink, and the shaker is doing real work: chilling, diluting and — with egg white — building foam. Shake hard with plenty of ice until the tin is painfully cold; PUNCH's Steve Schneider shakes egg drinks with a single 2-by-2-inch cube, and Difford's adds a grapefruit peel to the tin of its Gold Rush (its "regal shake"). Difford's fine-strains every serve, up or over ice, to remove ice shards and lemon pulp. Then the glass: a rocks glass over fresh ice (Difford's default; the no-egg classic), a chilled coupe (PUNCH's judges' preference, especially with egg, because foam breaks down quickly on ice), or the old stemmed sour glass. The IBA names a cobbler glass; the 1887 Thomas recipe used a claret glass. Technique is in how to shake a Whiskey Sour; glassware in best Whiskey Sour glass; the no-shaker fallbacks in Whiskey Sour without a shaker.

The Shopping List

Building the Shelf for Under $60

A bonded rye around $26.99, a bag of lemons, a pound of sugar, a bottle of Angostura (it lasts years), a jar of proper cherries and a pair of rocks glasses lands well under $60 and makes a Whiskey Sour most bars would be happy to serve. Add a carton of pasteurized egg whites and a fine strainer when you want the Boston Sour. The budget rye guide ranks the under-$30 field; shakers and strainers are in the shop, glassware here. The technique that turns the shelf into a drink is in the Workshop.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the ingredients in a Whiskey Sour?

Whiskey (2 oz), fresh lemon juice (¾ oz) and simple syrup (¾ oz), shaken with ice — optionally with about ½ oz egg white and a few dashes of Angostura on the foam. Rye or bourbon; both are original.

What is the most important ingredient in a Whiskey Sour?

Fresh lemon juice. Every reputable spec calls for it; bottled juice and sour mix are the reason the drink spent decades in disrepute. Juice the lemons the same day you drink.

Simple or rich syrup for a Whiskey Sour?

Either, if you adjust. Rich 2:1 syrup is 1.35 times sweeter than 1:1, so ½ oz rich ≈ ¾ oz simple. Difford's prefers rich because 1:1 adds 5–8% unwanted dilution; PUNCH's recipe uses 1:1.

How much egg white goes in a Whiskey Sour?

About ½ oz — roughly one small egg's white. PUNCH, Difford's and Jeffrey Morgenthaler all use ½ oz; the IBA says a few drops. Use pasteurized egg white, or 1 oz of aquafaba.

Do you put bitters in a Whiskey Sour?

Optional. Difford's shakes 3 dashes of Angostura into the drink; most modern bars dash it across the egg-white foam instead, which also masks any egg aroma. Thomas's 1887 recipe and the IBA's have none.

What tools do I need to make a Whiskey Sour?

A shaker, a Hawthorne strainer, a fine mesh strainer for the up serve, a jigger with quarter-ounce marks and a citrus press. A lidded jar will shake a no-egg sour in a pinch.

Frequently Asked Questions (Voice Search)

What kind of lemon juice goes in a Whiskey Sour?

Freshly squeezed, the same day. Juice rested a few hours in the fridge is fine — America's Test Kitchen tasters preferred it at about four hours — but past six hours it turns bitter.

How many dashes of bitters go in a Whiskey Sour?

Two or three dashes of Angostura on the foam, or three in the shake if you follow Difford's. None is also correct.

What glass do you serve a Whiskey Sour in?

A rocks glass over fresh ice, or a chilled coupe when served up — especially with egg white, which breaks down faster on ice.

Can you make a Whiskey Sour without egg white?

Yes. The IBA lists egg white as optional and Jerry Thomas's 1887 recipe has none. Shake hard, strain over fresh ice, lemon wheel and cherry.