Last year when I celebrated Whiskey Sour Day, I recanted the tale of remembering my aunt and uncle drinking whiskey sours as their Happy Hour cocktail at our summer cottage. I recalled the box of Bar-Tender’s® brand Whiskey Sour Mix and fresh cut oranges as garnish that were part of the ritual of preparing them. I recall the blender whirring one into shape (and I still don’t know why the blender was used for this). I picture the lighted bar sign that sat on the bar countertop next to the blender. Part of the sign simply stated “The Bar is Open” while the other part was a drunken hobo figurine leaning against a lamppost whose nose was a red lightbulb which would blink when the sign was lit. Whiskey sours really bring back a flood of memories from my youth even though I never drank one until I was an adult (or almost an adult). Whiskey sours and I go back a long way.
Last year, I made whiskey sours at my sister’s house in Connecticut where I just happened to be visiting. I made it with the same special sour mix from Bar-Tender’s® which is still readily available in your grocery store. I didn’t use a blender, I just shook them up as instructed on the package. I used Canadian Club whiskey too which is the whiskey that was always around our house growing up. My parents were never big drinkers but it seemed like every Sunday night before the family dinner, they would have a Manhattan made with Canadian Club carefully crafted by my uncle, Father John (yes, he was a priest). I’m sure my aunt and uncle made their whiskey sours with Canadian Club too because my Fr. John would buy it in the big handle bottles and it was always around the summer lake house. It seemed like a natural choice to use for my own cocktail shaking. The drinks actually came out awesome. Nice and frothy and refreshing. It was fun to rediscover a great drink like this and when today rolled around, I figured I could just make myself another one after work – the perfect ending to the week. I even planned ahead and picked up the whiskey sour packages and fresh oranges from the store on my lunch break. I was ready for a whiskey sour happy hour.
Then I checked my liquor cabinet. We had no Canadian Club. How did I let this happen? I could almost see Fr. John shaking his head in disapproval. I had Scotch whiskey, Irish whiskey and a few bottles of bourbon, but no Canadian whiskey or rye to speak of. And of course at this point I didn’t feel like going on a packie run. I’d have to make due with what I had. I decided to look up a whiskey sour online to see if you can make one with bourbon and it turns out you can. In fact, it is most often made with bourbon. The Canadian Club was just a family preference, although in all my bartending jaunts, every whiskey sour I would make I would make with rye whiskey. I guess that’s why you should always specify what you want. The difference between Rye whiskey and Bourbon is that rye is made with a mash mainly comprised of rye while bourbon is made of a a mash mainly comprised of corn. More or less the same thing (although yes, there are differences in flavor and all that stuff – but for a whiskey sour, I was still in business). I went ahead and made my drink with some Maker’s Mark bourbon.
I still really like this drink. When you get a nice frothy drink on a warm summer day, it just looks and feels refreshing – I think that’s why I like margaritas too. It’s a nice mixture of textures – the cold ice, the frothy top, the smooth liquid. I could tell it had a slightly different taste because of the bourbon rather than the whiskey, although I am really not that familiar with the taste of rye that I would have been able to make the distinction had I not previously known that I was using bourbon. The key to a good sour is that you need some sweetness to balance out the sour and this mix brings in a good amount of sugar to the drink. Too much sour would just give you instant heartburn and make you pucker. This drink had a pleasant balance between the two. I remain a fan of the whiskey sour and I think I always will.
The mention of whiskey sour brings me good memories. It goes beyond the refreshment level (which I also enjoy). A good whiskey sour reminds me of those hot, sunny days of carefree youth when we would be sitting on our porch (which was also the television room) and just chilling after a full day at the waterfront. I can picture these fancy looking drinks in the hands of the adults who seemed to be enjoying them. That was adulting to me – to just relax and laugh at the end of the day. That’s what I always hope for in a good Happy Hour drink – just to achieve that sensation of fun. And thanks to National Whiskey Sour day, I got a little bit of that taste today. And I shared that with Lola too.
Next up: National Cherry Popsicle Day
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