Sour Cocktails
Explore 51 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, Himbeerlikör, Sprudelwasser, Zitronensaft, Ei
More top Sour cocktails
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Limonade, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Aromatic bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino-Kirschlikör, Red vermouth, Limettensaft
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rhabarberschnaps, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Ananassaft, Agavensirup
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikör, Zitronensaft, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Limettensaft, Ananassaft, Banane
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Zitronensaft, Ingwersirup, Minzblätter
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Holunderblütenlikör, Galliano, Limettensaft, Zitronensaft, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple Sec, Limettensaft
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Grüne Chartreuse, Limettensaft, Maraschino-Kirsche
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Limonade, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Aromatic bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino-Kirschlikör, Red vermouth, Limettensaft
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rhabarberschnaps, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Ananassaft, Agavensirup
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikör, Zitronensaft, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Limettensaft, Ananassaft, Banane
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Zitronensaft, Ingwersirup, Minzblätter
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Holunderblütenlikör, Galliano, Limettensaft, Zitronensaft, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple Sec, Limettensaft
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Grüne Chartreuse, Limettensaft, Maraschino-Kirsche
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup
More top Sour cocktails
Green Tea
Peach schnapps, Whiskey, Limonade, Sour mix
Amaretto Sour
Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Aromatic bitters, Ei
The Emerson
Gin, Maraschino-Kirschlikör, Red vermouth, Limettensaft
Jeffrey Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour
Bourbon, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup, Ei
Dolcevita
Whiskey, Rhabarberschnaps, Amaretto, Zitronensaft, Ananassaft, Agavensirup
Vanilla vodka sour
Vanilla vodka, Vanillelikör, Zitronensaft, Ei
Pineapple Tequila Sour
Tequila añejo, Limettensaft, Ananassaft, Banane
Firebrand
Bourbon, Fernet-Branca Liqueur, Zitronensaft, Ingwersirup, Minzblätter
Copenhagen Sour
Akvavit, Holunderblütenlikör, Galliano, Limettensaft, Zitronensaft, Peychaud's Aromatic Bitters, Ei
Kamikaze Shot
Vodka, Triple Sec, Limettensaft
Closing Argument
Mezcal, Grüne Chartreuse, Limettensaft, Maraschino-Kirsche
Kahlúa Sour
Coffee liqueur, Zitronensaft, Zucker / einfacher Sirup
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