<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Published in the September 2012 issue No drink formula could be simpler: booze, lemon or lime juice, sweetener, done. And none has given us so much: the whiskey sour, the daiquiri, the collins, even the sidecar and the margarita \u2014 all sours. And none can be so awful: either tooth-strippingly tart or candy-sweet instead of what it&amp;#039;s supposed to be, which is dry and complex.  Now, we don&amp;#039;t want to make balancing a sour sound like molecular biology. But the sour is machined to a finer tolerance than other drinks, so it takes a little management. Like this: Although most bartenders these days balance out the citrus with an equal portion of simple syrup \u2014 a 50-50 mix of sugar and water \u2014 what you want to use is granulated sugar. If you look through old bar books, you&amp;#039;ll notice that the pre-Prohibition masters of the art, although fully versed in the use of simple syrup, made sours with plain sugar.  There&amp;#039;s a reason for that. A drink with superfine sugar stirred into lemon juice is clean and vibrant. A modern drink with, say, three quarters of an ounce each of citrus juice and syrup has a slick, almost plastic texture. Score one for the wisdom of the ancients. If you use quality spirits \u2014 we like bolder ones here, such as American whiskey, cognac, gin, or rich, funky rum \u2014 a well-balanced simple sour will always be perfect. Of course, perfection can sometimes be a little dull. The traditional way to fancy up the drink is to replace the sugar or syrup with a liqueur. This can be delightful, to be sure (see the margarita and the sidecar), but it presents its own challenges in balancing the drink, good liqueurs being less sweet ounce per ounce than syrup, and it also makes for a significantly stronger drink \u2014 not always what you want from a sour. Or you could deck it out like they did in the 1880s, when someone figured out that if you make a simple sour and, pouring carefully over the back of a spoon, float a half ounce or so of good dry red wine over the top, it gives the drink a hell of a &amp;quot;snap,&amp;quot; as a Chicago bartender put it at the time. (Ironically, in time the drink became known as a &amp;quot;New York sour.&amp;quot;) Plus, it looks spectacular.  Basic Whiskey Sour &amp;amp;gt; Stir 1 level tsp superfine sugar and \u00BE oz lemon juice together in a cocktail shaker. (It&amp;#039;s easier to dissolve the sugar without the booze.)* &amp;amp;gt; Add 2 oz American whiskey of any kind. &amp;amp;gt; Fill shaker with ice, shake like a jackhammer operator, and strain into chilled cocktail coupe. Drink. Repeat.  New York Sour &amp;amp;gt; Stir 1 level tsp superfine sugar and \u00BE oz lemon juice together in a cocktail shaker. &amp;amp;gt; Add 2 oz straight rye whiskey. &amp;amp;gt; Fill shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into chilled cocktail coupe. &amp;amp;gt; Carefully float \u00BD oz cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine over the top by pouring it slowly out of a small container over the back of a bar spoon. *If this is too tart for your taste, better to pull the citrus back to \u00BD oz than increase the sugar. That stuff will kill you. WHAT DAVE&amp;#039;S DRINKING:  BOLS BARREL-AGED GENEVER ($50) You used to make gin and whiskey pretty much the exact same way, except for the gin you threw in some juniper berries and sometimes a handful of hops. That was a few hundred years ago, before the English came up with the far lighter and more botanical style we know as London dry gin. The Dutch still make much of their gin the old way. When barrel aged, it&amp;#039;s a wonderfully mellow drink \u2014 with just a hint of juniper to spice it up \u2014 that gives a sour the body and richness of whiskey and the brightness of gin. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/a15392/sour-cocktail-0912/>