The blueprint for a sour is simple: spirit, sugar, and citrus. The trio has been a longstanding piece of drinking repertoire, providing the foundation for many classic and modern-day cocktails – the penicillin, daiquiri, and margarita, to name a few. 

Sour variations are countless: first recorded in the 1800s, sailors used a whiskey sour to fight against scurvy at sea. The gin sour followed, a lighter, mellow alternative to the citrus-blasting whiskey version. Peru later debuted their own version, a pisco sour, in the 1900s, using their signature spirit, pisco, as the base. Bartenders continued to riff on the three-ingredient recipe, crafting sweet Amaretto sours, mouth-puckering, fresh-tasting gimlets, and the bourbon-forward Sidecar. 

Today, we’ve got our own version, the Aperol Sour. Using the same formula – spirit, sugar, citrus – this cocktail combines zesty, orange-forward Aperol, and gin, for a floral, barley-bitter, refreshing cocktail. (For a super-smooth, frothy cocktail, add in an egg white!) Made bright and light by the lemon juice, this cocktail is simple and utterly delicious. 

Aperol Sour

Ingredients 

1 ½ oz Aperol

1 ½ oz gin (We used Wigle Whiskey’s Dutch-style gin.)

¾ oz lemon juice

1 bar spoon of simple syrup

Egg white (optional, for foam)

Lemon wheel, for garnish

Instructions

Add ice to a coupe glass and set aside. Add Aperol, gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white, if using, to a shaker. Add ice and shake (until frothy, if using an egg white). Dump out the ice in the coupe and strain the cocktail into the chilled glass. Garnish with citrus and sit down to enjoy…perhaps with a saucy, spicy bruschetta. Recipe below!

Heirloom and Spicy Chili Bruschetta

RECIPE AND STORY BY MAGGIE WEAVER/ PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BRYCE / STYLING BY JUSTIN MATASE