Drink · 4 min · 1 rocks glass
Scotch sour
Lemon against scotch, which is sharper and smokier than a bourbon sour. A little honey suits it better than plain syrup.
The sheet · 1 rocks glass · 4 min
easyWhy tonight. Lemon against scotch, which is sharper and smokier than a bourbon sour. A little honey suits it better than plain syrup.
What it needs
Nothing confirmed on your shelf yet — this list is the whole ask.
- scotch
- lemon
- simple syrup
Method
- 2 oz blended Scotch, ¾ oz lemon, ¾ oz simple syrup, shaken hard.
- Blended, not single malt, and certainly not the peated bottle unless you are aiming at a Penicillin.
- Strain over one big cube rather than up. Scotch opens as it dilutes, so this is a drink that improves in the glass.
- Honey syrup instead of sugar turns it into something noticeably better, and it is the same amount of work.
An educational pour, not a reprint of a licensed spec. No allergen or alcohol-safety claim.
Cook or pour it, then edit the shelf if you emptied a bottle or used the last of something.
Why each of these is on the list
What the ingredients are actually doing
- scotch
- Malt, smoke or both depending on the bottle, and it does not sit quietly under other ingredients.
- lemon
- Acid you add at the end, not the start.
- simple syrup
- Sugar already dissolved, which is the only form of sugar that works in a cold drink.
Missing one of them? The substitutions are written against those jobs rather than against a chart, so they say what each replacement costs this dish in particular.
Cooks from the same box
If you bought for this, you can already make these
Shares scotch, lemon
Scotch highball
The Japanese highball idea: lots of ice, soda last, one lift. Peel if you have it.
Shares lemon, simple syrup
Amaretto sour
Amaretto, lemon and egg white. Amaretto is very sweet on its own, so this needs more lemon than a standard sour.
Shares lemon, simple syrup
Aperol sour
Aperol carries its own bitterness, so this needs less sugar than a standard sour. Egg white makes it look like sunset.
Shares lemon, simple syrup
Brandy sour
The sour template on cognac, which is rounder and more fruit-driven than whiskey. It takes less sugar than you expect.
Next
Cook it, then tell the shelf what you used.
The ranking is only as honest as the shelf behind it. Empty the cream, and everything that leaned on cream should stop being offered.