Sour Cocktails
Explore 49 Sour cocktail recipes.
Sour cocktails run on a three-part formula that's older than most cocktail traditions — spirit, citrus, sweetener, in proportions that pull against each other rather than line up. The Amaretto Sour is the friendliest doorway in: almond liqueur softens the citrus, lemon and an egg-white shake build the texture, and you end up with something halfway between an aperitif and a dessert. The Boston Sour is a Whisky Sour with the egg white added, which turns the head into a velvet layer and gives the drink some body.
The Whiskey Collins stretches the same sour idea long with soda; the Closing Argument and Cosmonaut both lean into more aromatic spirits over the same base. The pattern across the list is that the sweetener is doing structural work as much as taste work — it pulls the citrus into a register the spirit can sit in, and the spirit pulls the citrus back from being purely tart. Most are shaken, most run quick, most reward a fresher lemon or lime than the supermarket variety.
Egg white in a sour is optional but almost always rewarded — a properly dry-shaken sour ends up with a half-inch of foam at the top that smells different from the body of the drink and changes how the first sip lands.
Our top Sour cocktail
Chambord Vodka Sour
Vodka, Raspberry liqueur, Soda water, Lemon juice, Ei
More top Sour cocktails
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Lemon-lime soda, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Lemon juice, Aromatische bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino kersenlikeur, Red vermouth, Lime juice
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rabarberlikeur, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Pineapple juice, Agavesiroop
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikeur, Lemon juice, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Lime juice, Pineapple juice, Banaan
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Lemon juice, Gembersiroop, Mint leaves
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Vlierbloesemlikeur, Galliano, Lime juice, Lemon juice, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple sec, Lime juice
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Green Chartreuse, Lime juice, Maraschino kers
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Lemon-lime soda, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Lemon juice, Aromatische bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino kersenlikeur, Red vermouth, Lime juice
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rabarberlikeur, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Pineapple juice, Agavesiroop
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikeur, Lemon juice, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Lime juice, Pineapple juice, Banaan
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Lemon juice, Gembersiroop, Mint leaves
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Vlierbloesemlikeur, Galliano, Lime juice, Lemon juice, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple sec, Lime juice
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Green Chartreuse, Lime juice, Maraschino kers
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup
More top Sour cocktails
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Lemon-lime soda, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Lemon juice, Aromatische bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino kersenlikeur, Red vermouth, Lime juice
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rabarberlikeur, Amaretto, Lemon juice, Pineapple juice, Agavesiroop
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikeur, Lemon juice, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Lime juice, Pineapple juice, Banaan
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Lemon juice, Gembersiroop, Mint leaves
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Vlierbloesemlikeur, Galliano, Lime juice, Lemon juice, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple sec, Lime juice
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Green Chartreuse, Lime juice, Maraschino kers
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Lemon juice, Sugar / simple syrup
Explore every Sour cocktail
Want to go deeper? Browse the full Sour collection and filter by only what you can make right now, mocktails, base spirit and more — all on our results page.
Browse all Sour cocktails