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The tequila sour is a refreshing sweet tart drink with a frothy foam topping—like a mashup of a 1920’s sour cocktail with a margarita!
Here’s a tangy and refreshing drink that you need in your life: a tequila sour! It’s essentially a mashup between a 1920’s sour cocktail with a margarita. This tasty drink has vintage vibes and a whole lot of lemon lime flavor.
Think of it as a Boston sour and a classic margarita recipe, with some bitters thrown in for extra flavor. Alex and I are big fans of sour cocktails, and absolutely love the refreshing flavor and creamy, frothy foam in this drink. It’s worth trying—stat!
Ingredients in a tequila sour
A tequila sour is one in the family of sour cocktails. Sours are three parts: liquor, citrus, and sweetener. A common equation for a sour is 2 ounces spirit, 1 ounce sour, 1 ounce sweet. Of course, there are all sorts of variations on the theme! This is the basic formula, but it’s tweaked across different cocktail recipes. The most classic of the sours are the Whiskey Sour and Pisco Sour, and even the classic Margarita is a sour. The ingredients in a tequila sour are:
- Tequila
- Lime juice
- Lemon juice
- Agave syrup or simple syrup
- Angostura bitters
- Egg white
How to make a tequila sour (basic steps)
The tequila sour is made like any classic sour cocktail. Because it has an egg white foam, it has an extra step to make the foam topping. Here are the basic steps (or jump to the recipe):
- Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake for 15 seconds without ice.
- Add ice to the cocktail shaker and shake again for 30 seconds.
- Strain into a glass and garnish. It’s classic to garnish a sour with a cocktail cherry: though it’s not required, we like doing if for a little flair.
Trick to egg white foam: a dry shake
Egg whites have been traditionally added to sour cocktail for about a century. The foam adds a fun texture on top, makes a rich, creamy flavor, and tones down the tang of the citrus). How to get the very best egg white foam? It’s called a Dry Shake, meaning you’ll shake the ingredients first without ice. This lets the protein in the egg begin to form foam instead of being diluted by the ice.
Then you’ll add the ice and shake again. This cools the drink and strengthens the foam. Strain it into the glass and you’ll get a thick, white frothy layer. This technique is used in egg white cocktails like the Gin Fizz, Clover Club, Boston Sour, Gin Sour, and Vodka Sour.
Best tequila for a sour
Any type of tequila works for this tequila sour, mid-priced tequila and above is best. Look for 750 ml bottles in the range of $22 to $35.
We like using tequila reposado (aged tequila) in this drink, because it adds more nuance to the flavor with subtle notes of vanilla and caramel. But you can also use tequila blanco: it has a more straightforward flavor!
Angostura bitters seal the deal
For the very best tequila sour, we recommend topping with bitters. Angostura bitters are popularly used in cocktails to add a complex and bitter undertone. They take a drink from one-note to extraordinarily complex with just a few drops!
In this drink, we added the bitters to the cocktail itself: you’ll see some egg white cocktails also place the bitters drops on top of the foam.
Frequently asked questions
Aquafaba, the liquid in a can of chickpeas, can work as a binder similar to an egg. Two tablespoons of aquafaba is equal to one egg white, you can use 2 tablespoons of aquafaba in this recipe as an equivalent to the actual egg white. It makes for the same type of foam!
Angostura bitters are one of the most popular in drinks and easy to find. They get the name from their manufacturer: the House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. (Read more here.)
Other cocktails that use Angostura bitters are the Old Fashioned, Toronto, Manhattan, Trinidad Sour and Champagne Cocktail.
Tequila Sour
The tequila sour is a delightfully refreshing sweet tart drink with a frothy foam topping! It’s a mashup of a 1920’s sour cocktail with a margarita.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Shaken
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) tequila reposado
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
- ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) lime juice
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar or simple syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 1 egg white*
- For the garnish: Cocktail cherry and lime wedge
Instructions
- Add the tequila, lemon juice, lime juice, syrup, bitters, and egg white to a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake for 15 seconds.
- Add the ice to the cocktail shaker. Shake again for 30 seconds.
- Strain the drink into a glass; the foam will collect at the top. Serve with a lime wedge and a cocktail cherry.
Notes
*Substitute 2 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas) for a vegan variation.
More sour cocktails
Sour cocktails are a family of cocktails with base liquor, sour, and sweet elements. This extends to lots of different cocktails, even if their name doesn’t contain the word “sour”! Here are some of our favorites:
- A Tom Collins is also known as a gin sour: is light and bubbly with soda water.
- The Gin Fizz is a classic sour with a frothy egg white foam topping.
- The Daiquiri is a sour featuring rum, lime juice, and sweetener.
- The Sidecar is one of the best classic cocktails of all time, a balance of Cognac, Cointreau and lemon.
- The New York Sour floats a layer of red wine on top.
This recipe is way to sour for my taste. I would suggest ½ ounce Agave Syrup or Simple Syrup.
This is my new favourite cocktail!! Absolutely delicious.
Made your tequila sour recipe – wow – delicious! Just added a wee bit more simple syrup. Definitely going to make again.
I only have Blanco and Anejo tequila on hand. Will either of those work or only Reposado?
Any tequila you like will work!
Can you leave out the egg white and still have it taste good following the rest of the instructions?
Yes!
Not vegan at all! Great drink though!!
For vegan, use the aquafaba substitute listed in the recipe!