Clarified New York Sour
Author: Emily Li
Price: $12 ~ $25
Dishes to pair with the Clarified NY Sour: Fruits (preferably figs, dates, or grapes), Steak, Fig and Arugula with Goat Cheese Salad, Apple Pie
Best Places in Chicago to order a Clarified NY Sour: The Library at Gilt Bar, Lazy Bird, The Franklin Room
The first time I had a clarified New York Sour, I was fascinated by how a whiskey sour could be clear. All the whiskey sours I have had were the typical whiskey yellow mixed with egg whites, but the drink in my hand was clear, with the most gorgeous layer of red wine on top of the clear mixture. The minute the drink touched my mouth, I was met with the smoothest tasting whiskey sour, and the tannins from the red wine simply exploded in my mouth. The flavors mixed perfectly, and the clarified New York Sour quickly became my favorite drink.
First, I am going to explain what a clarified New York sour is and what clarified means. A New York sour is simply a whiskey sour mixed with red wine. Some say that the New York sour tastes like a tart as it has hints of fruit that come from the red wine. A clarified New York sour is simply a clarified whiskey sour with a float of red wine to top it off. A clarified drink is the result of milk washing a cocktail. Milk washing is essentially a step where a bartender will pour milk into the cocktail mixture to allow the milk to curdle. The curds are later strained out using a coffee filter, and the mixture that is left behind will be clear and stable. The milk also removes much of the roughness of the whiskey as it removes phenolic compounds that can be found in the alcohol.
Recipe: Clarified New York Sour
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serving Size: 3 cocktails
Ingredients
4 ounces of Rye Whiskey
* Rye Whiskey has more spice and tanginess than other whiskeys and will mix well when washed with milk
2 ounces of Simple Syrup
2 ounces of lemon juice
4 dashes of Peychaud bitters
2 ounces of milk
1 coffee filter
1/2 ounce of red wine
Instructions
In a large mixing cup, add whiskey, simple syrup, lemon juice, and Peychaud bitter and mix well
In another cup, pour the 2 ounces of milk and on top, slowly add in the whiskey mixture. (* It is important that the milk goes in before the whiskey mixture so that the entire whiskey mixture makes contact with the milk and the curdling process will happen throughout the whiskey mixture) (*It is also important that no stirring or manual mixing does not happen)
Put the mixture aside and wait for the curdling to begin
Wet the coffee filter and pour the curdled mixture into the coffee filter (*Note that initially, the liquid that comes out of the coffee filter will not be clear)
Change a cup and pour the non-clear liquid back into the coffee filter. This time around, the liquid will be clear, and you will have a clarified whiskey sour.
Stir over ice
Pour the clarified whiskey sour in a glass cup with one large, square ice cube
Then top it off with red wine ***POUR GENTLY so that the wine and the whiskey sour are separate
Drink and enjoy!!! Or marvel at the amazing process that comes out of the curdling of milk!!!