Elder Sour
Dry shake ∙ 5 min ∙ 10.6% ABV ∙
The Elder Sour is an egg-white sour built on elderflower liqueur, shaken with fresh lime and finished with a dash of orange bitters. Delicately floral and honeyed up front, the lime cuts in tart and clean, while the egg white leaves a silky, pillowy foam to soften the finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Elderflower liqueur 60 mlLime juice 30 mlEgg white 15 mlOrange bitters 1 dash
- Strain back into the shaker
- Dry shake (without ice) to emulsify
- Fine strain into the ice-filled glass
- Garnish with a lemon wheel and a maraschino cherry on a skewer
Tips
- Shake the elderflower liqueur, lime juice and egg white with ice first, then strain the liquid back into the empty shaker.
- Add ice only for the second shake and shake hard for 15-20 seconds to chill and dilute properly, producing a stable, silky foam.
- Fine-strain into the old-fashioned glass over one large cube to avoid ice shards breaking up the delicate egg white foam.
- Add the optional dash of orange bitters directly onto the finished foam before placing the lemon wheel and cherry so the aromatics stay on top.
History
The Elder Sour is credited to a British drinks writer, who created it in London in 2006. It emerged as part of a wave of cocktails built around elderflower liqueur, a category that gained wide popularity in bars after the French elderflower liqueur St-Germain launched in 2007. The drink follows the classic sour template, pairing the floral liqueur with citrus and egg white in place of a base spirit, and is cataloged among the sours family of cocktails alongside other elderflower-based drinks the same writer developed around the same time, such as the Elderflower Daiquiri.
FAQ
What is a famous sour cocktail?
The Whiskey Sour is the most famous sour cocktail, built on the classic sour formula of spirit, citrus, and sweetener. The Elder Sour follows the same structure but swaps the base spirit for elderflower liqueur, with egg white added for texture and a dash of orange bitters on top.
What kind of alcohol is elderflower?
Elderflower liqueur is a sweet, low-proof liqueur flavored with elderflower blossoms, typically around 15-20% ABV, and it serves as the base spirit in the Elder Sour rather than a traditional base spirit like whiskey or gin.
What is in an Elder Sour?
Elderflower liqueur, fresh lime juice, and pasteurized egg white, double-shaken and served in an old-fashioned glass with an optional dash of orange bitters on top. It is garnished with a lemon wheel and a maraschino cherry.
Is an Elder Sour shaken or stirred?
Shaken, using a double shake. It goes with ice first to chill and dilute, then back into the empty shaker for a second shake without ice, which is what emulsifies the egg white and builds the foam.
What glass is an Elder Sour served in?
An old-fashioned glass, garnished with a lemon wheel and a maraschino cherry.
What alcohol is in a sour cocktail?
A sour cocktail traditionally uses a base spirit such as whiskey, gin, or pisco combined with citrus juice and a sweetener. The Elder Sour departs from this by using elderflower liqueur itself as the base spirit, which is both the alcohol and the sweetening element in the drink.
