First, shake without ice ( dry shake), then add ice and shake again. For this, add Whiskey, lemon juice, syrup, and egg white to your shaker. To get a pretty float, you first have to mix your drink without the port wine. When executed right, the port wine float will create a deep red layer between the foamy egg white top and the golden bottom. But generally, aquafaba is an excellent substitute and creates a nice foamy top. It's not my first choice for this cocktail. If you can't or don't want to add egg whites, there's a vegan alternative called Aquafaba. It's part of the drink and elevates it from good to outstanding. If you skip the egg white, you'll miss out on this beautiful creamy, frothy texture on top of this fantastic cocktail.

I know, some people are reluctant to use raw eggs as a cocktail ingredient. You can create your Continental Sour with egg white and without, and it is not exactly a question of flavor. Once you start drinking port, you might end up wanting more. It tastes exquisite, is not too expensive, easy to get, and you can enjoy it neat, out of the fridge, as well. I strongly recommend a tawny port - my favorite for this cocktail is the Sandeman Tawny Port. When choosing the right type of port, it's usually between ruby and tawny. Instead, you can consider adding a high-quality port wine. A decent mixing-Bourbon like Bulleit does the trick. So don't waste your most expensive Bourbon. The sweet vanilla aroma works exceptionally well with port wine.Ĭonsequently, because this base spirit is somewhat sweet and the float is too, you need to balance this out by using less syrup or more acid.Īlso, as port wine is relatively heavy, it hides the nuances of the Whiskey used in the cocktail. Today, a fine, contemporary Continental Sour contains Bourbon. That still works quite well with the red wine in a New York Sour. So the 19th-century version of a Continental Sour (remember, this refers to the early version with any sort of red wine) was based on Rye Whiskey. After that, Bourbon Whiskey became more popular and a synonym for American Whiskey. Rye or Bourbon Whiskey in a Continental Sour?īefore prohibition, Rye Whiskey was the liquor of choice when creating cocktails. But there are also some things to keep in mind regarding the other components. That means using freshly squeezed lemon juice only. To make the drink perfect, you should pay attention to detail, though. The Continental Sour is a gorgeous composition of Whiskey, lemon, port wine, sugar syrup, and egg white. But that's not the only difference to a NY Sour, which you can see in the recipe. They made it a delicious Continental cocktail by adding port wine instead of dry red wine and creating the Continental Sour. At least until a bar in Berlin brought it back to life. In return, the Continental Sour vanished. The New York Sour, made by floating dry red wine onto a Whiskey Sour, was born. Everything was all called claret, a traditional term for Bordeaux.Īs the drink became more popular, the composition of the recipe also improved, and the name changed. There was no distinction between red wine and port wine. Origin of the Continental Sourīack in the 19th century, the Continental Sour was created by adding any red-colored wine into a Whiskey Sour. The cause for this confusion is that both cocktails originate from the same drink, which was unfortunately also called Continental Sour. And if you're familiar with port wine, you will know that they taste significantly different. The difference between the two cocktails is that one asks for port wine, the other for dry red wine. You can find this info on many websites, but it's simply not correct. First and foremost, the Continental Sour is not a New York Sour.

Whiskey sour recipe