Birmingham Sour

If you visit cocktailbars once in a while, the New York Sour won’t be a complete stranger to you. It’s a perfectly crafted whisky sour with a float of bold red wine. It takes some skill and experience to serve this drink Instagrammable. You need a good layer of egg whites (or a substitute) and the red wine can’t mix too much with the rest of the drink. 

I can easily imagine that such a delicate serve wasn’t really possible in speakeasy bars, during the prohibition. It would be more likely something like this drink, the Birmingham Sour. 

This drink contains the same ingredients, but with a completely different cocktail as a result. 

Yes, you should read that again. 

While the New York Sour gives you a separate taste experience between the wine and the rest of the cocktail, the Birmingham Sour mixes the flavours from the start. This means the typical notes from the wine are strongly diluted but added directly to the flavour profile of the cocktail. Interesting at least.

Since my wife and I are both Italy fans, I picked a bottle of good quality Chianti Classico for the red wine. And of course, we enjoyed the rest of the bottle with a good meal. 

Birmingham Sour

Ingredients

60 ml Rittenhouse Rye whiskey

30 ml Freshly s6queezed lemon juice

20 ml Cane sugar syrup

10 ml Perano Chianti Classico 2019 (Red wine)

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker with lots of ice. Shake hard and fine strain in an Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

New York Sour - The Capian Edition

The New York Sour is a semi-classic variation on the Whisky Sour (or Bourbon Sour). It’s basically a normal whisky sour with egg white foam, with an extra float of red wine which settles more or less below the foam layer. 

I have tried several New York Sour recipes in the past years, but often for me, it’s slightly too bitter. That of course depends on the red wine used for the float. When my friends at PresentDa launched a campaign for Château Prieuré Sainte Anne, I was immediately intrigued. Could this 90% Merlot wine be the perfect wine for my New York Sour float? 

Château Prieuré Sainte Anne is full of red fruits, the 10% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes add more tannins and a slight smokiness. The wine had aged for a year in oak barrels to add that slight note of wood. Château Prieuré Sainte Anne is served at several Michelin star restaurants. 

New York Sour – The Capian Edition

Ingredients

50 ml Whisky / Bourbon

30 ml Lemon juice

10 ml Honey Syrup

Egg white (or aquafaba)

Château Prieuré Sainte Anne (Merlot wine)

Method

Add the egg white, whisky, lemon juice and syrup to a shaker without ice. I recommend adding the spring of a hawthorn strainer (it works like a whisk). Give it a good shake for 10 seconds. Open the shaker and add a few ice cubes. Shake again for 12 to 14 seconds. Strain over fresh ice in a tumbler. Hold your barspoon just above the foam layer and carefully add some red wine. Garnish with dehydrated orange.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Port of New York

My foodblogging better half loves to cook and bake. Some days she shouts from the kitchen to ask if I can use an eggwhite… That calls for a nice sour cocktail. 

A well-known variation of the Whisky Sour is the New York Sour. It’s more or less the same whisky sour, but with a red wine float carefully added on top. I mixed up another variation, switching the red wine for a nice and fruity red port. 

This absolutely is not the same drink as a New York Sour. Port is a bit heavier and richer than red wine, so it won’t stay on top as a nice float… it will turn your drink into something that almost reminded me of a psychedelic 70s lava lamp 😉. 

So, this drink might not look like a million dollars, but the taste is excellent. At first I was in doubt to use it for the blog, but my wife actually loved the strange look of it. So here it is…  

Port of New York

Ingredients
50 ml Douglas Laing Timorous Beastie
30 ml Lemon juice
10 ml Honey syrup
Eggwhite
A splash of Graham’s Six Grapes Port

Method
Add everything but the port to a shaker without ice. Give it a good dryshake. Add some ice and shake again to cool the drink. Double Strain in a tumbler with fresh ice. Add a splash of port wine on top. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.