Gin Sour is one of the classic cocktails known to be similar to Tom Collins but without the soda water.
History of Gin Sour
The history of Gin Sour cocktail goes back to the 1800s, which was a time of the beginning of cocktail creation and popularization.
While the exact year of invention of gin sour isn’t recorded, it can be found to be a twist on the original Tom Collins cocktail with removing soda water.
The road to national popularity for the Gin Sour cocktail began when in appeared in Jerry Thomas’ book “The Bartender’s Guide” in 1862.
In the book its recipe was described as:
The gin sour is made with the same ingredients as the gin fix, omitting all fruits, except a small piece of lemon, the juice of which must be pressed in the glass.
Jerry Thomas. (1862). essay. In The Bartender’s Guide (pp. 59–59). essay, Dick & Fitzgerald.
Note that the author uses reference to Gin Fix as the main cocktail which has the following recipe:
1 table spoon of sugar. 1/2 a wine-glass of water. 1/4 of a lemon. 1 do. gin.
Jerry Thomas. (1862). essay. In The Bartender’s Guide (pp. 59–59). essay, Dick & Fitzgerald.
Fill two-thirds full of shaved ice. Stir with a spoon, and ornament the top with fruits in season.
You can tell that the original Gin Sour recipe is more similar to Tom Collins than anything else. However, while the modern day recipe is quite different from the above recipe, it’s a delicious cocktail!
Gin Sour
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 1 oz Lemon juice
- 1/2 oz Simple syrup
- 1/2 oz Egg whites
- 1 Lemon twist (optional)
Instructions
- Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker
- Dry shake
- Add ice
- Shake for about 12-20 seconds
- Strain into a chilled glass
- Garnish with lemon twist (optional)
