Celebrate the chilly Fall and Winter season by sipping this delicious Maple Bourbon Sour at home!
It’s a festive twist on the classic sour cocktail, featuring bourbon whiskey, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, Angostura bitters and cinnamon stick garnish.
This slightly sweet bourbon cocktail is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes!
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What Is A Maple Bourbon Sour?
The Whiskey Sour is a classic mixed drink containing whiskey, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup. The iconic cocktail goes back centuries, first mentioned in old mixology texts as far back as the 1870s!
The Maple Bourbon Sour is a variation of the classic whiskey sour. The popular craft cocktail features American bourbon for the whiskey and substitutes simple syrup for maple syrup.
Garnished with a festive cinnamon stick, this seasonal cocktail is the perfect drink to serve in Fall or Winter. The holiday spices and magic of maple make this popular whiskey drink a favourite at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
You May Also Enjoy These Sour Cocktail Recipes…
- Cranberry Whiskey Sour Cocktail
- Peach Whiskey Sour Cocktail
- Hawaiian Whiskey Pineapple Sour Cocktail
- Fresh Tart Cherry Whiskey Sour Cocktail
- Scotch Sour Whisky Cocktail
- Irish Whiskey Sour Cocktail
What Is Maple Syrup?
Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees.
In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring.
Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the sap, which is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.
Maple syrup was first made by Indigenous peoples of Northeastern North America. The practice was later adopted by European settlers and total modern production methods are used to “tap the sap.”
Almost all of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Canada and the United States. Quebec is the largest producer, responsible for 70 percent of the world’s output. We visited Ontario’s top maple producer when exploring the Oxford County Cheese Trail.
Maple syrup is often used as a condiment at brunch for pancakes, waffles, French toast, or porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking and as a sweetener in cocktails.
High quality maple syrup has a clean, complex maple flavour with hints of caramelized sugar, vanilla, and prune. Maple pairs nicely with the subtle sweetness of bourbon whiskey.
Maple Bourbon Sour Recipe Ingredients
Our Maple Bourbon Sour recipe is quick & easy to make, always prepared with quality ingredients:
- Bourbon: we tested this recipe with Evan Williams, Larceny and Yellowstone bourbon.
- Lemon Juice: always use fresh lemon juice instead of citrus concentrate as it is off putting and overly tart.
- Maple Syrup: sweetens the cocktail giving it a unique vanilla and caramel flavour.
- Angostura Bitters: adds a slight bitterness to the drink which helps balance out the sweet maple.
- Garnish: decorate the rocks glass with a festive cinnamon stick.
Best Bourbon For A Maple Sour
An American whiskey, bourbon is made from corn.
In fact, to be called bourbon whiskey, the spirit needs to be made from at least 51% corn, aged in a new oak barrel and produced in America. It has no minimum aging period and needs to be bottled at 80 proof or more.
Popular Bourbon brands include Ezra Brooks, Wild Turkey, Maker’s Mark, Evan Williams, Larceny, and Elijah Craig.
Cocktail Recipe Tips
This Maple Bourbon Sour recipe is easy to make at home, ready to serve in under 5 minutes.
It’s best to prepare this classic American cocktail with bourbon but it also works well with Scotch, Irish whiskey or Canadian rye.
The recipe below serves one person. If you’re hosting a large gathering feel free to multiply the ingredients by the number of guests and muddle the drink in a punch bowl or jug.
Store the bourbon bottle in your freezer so when guests arrive it is well chilled.
Serve the drink in a handsome rocks glass, similar to what you’d use for an Old Fashioned.
We like to garnish the glass with a cinnamon stick but you can also add fragrant orange peel or cocktail skewer filled with plump bourbon cherries.
Some whisky sour cocktails, like the Boston Sour, use an egg white, which is shaken with the ingredients to create a creamy foam. Feel free to add egg white to this recipe to achieve a frothy egg white, which with rise to the top of the glass.
You can make a vegan Maple Bourbon Sour by substituting the egg white with aquafaba.
That depends on how you make it. If you use a foamer or an egg white, it’s best to serve it neat so that the foam doesn’t stick to the ice and look unappetizing. If you’re not foaming your sour, go ahead and add a big ice cube to your drink to help keep it cold. Just don’t serve it with lots of small ice cubes or they’ll melt and dilute your drink.
Is A Bourbon Sour Served Neat Or On The Rocks
This really depends on how you decide to make it.
If you use a foamer or an egg white, it’s best to serve the cocktail neat so that the foam doesn’t stick to the ice and look unappetizing.
If you’re not foaming your sour, go ahead and add a big ice cube to the drink to help keep it cold. Don’t serve it with small ice cubes or they’ll melt quickly and dilute your drink.
How To Make A Maple Bourbon Sour
- In an ice filled cocktail shaker add bourbon, lemon juice, maple syrup, and bitters.
- Shake for 30-45 seconds until cold.
- Strain into an ice filled rocks glass.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick
Full recipe instructions are in the recipe card below.
What To Serve with a Bourbon Whiskey Sour?
A bourbon maple sour is a refreshing welcome drink for Fall gatherings and holiday parties.
We like to serve the cocktail with simple snacks like Nakladany Hermelin Czech Marinated Camembert Cheese, Crispy Fried Cajun Shrimp Boulettes, Burrata Bruschetta Crostini with Tomato Chutney, and Nuts and Bolts.
Best Bartender Tools & Cocktail Equipment
Before hosting a swanky Maple Bourbon Sour party you’ll need to ensure you have the best bartender tools and cocktail equipment.
- Cocktail Kit: cocktail kits are the perfect gift for newbie mixology fans as they include basic bartender tools like a jigger, shaker and spoon.
- Cocktail Shaker: a bartender’s best friend. Purchase a premium cocktail shaker to muddle or shake up your favourite pink gin cocktails.
- Cocktail Glassware: make sure your bar is stocked with a selection of unique glassware to show off your favourite cocktail creations.
- Hawthorne Strainer: this unique strainer features tightly wound coils and perforated holes. It keeps ice and other large ingredients like lime wedges in your cocktail shaker rather than in the glass.
- Bar Spoons: slender and long bar spoons are a must-have when stirring drinks.
- Bottle Opener: easily open bottles of beer or cider with the flick of your wrist or purchase a corkscrew for fine wine.
- Pouring Spout: once you’ve opened a new bottle of gin insert these affordable pourers to make cocktail assembly a breeze.
- Cutting Board: purchase a petite cutting board for your bar to slice garnishes or citrus wedges like lime, orange, lemon or grapefruit.
- Ice Bucket: chill bottles of gin quickly in an ice bucket or keep by the bar when muddling gin mixers into cool creations.
- Ice Crusher: fans of the Mint Julep love an ice crusher.
- Ice Cube Kit: we suggest purchasing a selection of ice cube trays. Silicone styles are our favourite as they’re easy to clean and are available in various shapes and sizes.
- Jigger: use a jigger to accurately measure spirits, juices, syrups and shrubs.
- Juicer: invest in an electronic juicer or buy an affordable hand-held to easily juice fresh citrus like lemons and limes.
- Muddler: fans of the Mojito love a sturdy muddler to mix mint and lime. Muddler’s are handy for any cocktail featuring ingredients that need a pounding like fresh herbs or citrus wedges.
- Citrus Peeler & Zester: adorn your craft cocktails with a thick citrus peel or finer ribbons of lime or lemon zest.
- Rimmer: Bloody Mary and Caesar lovers should outfit their bar with a handy rimmer for salting and sugaring glassware.
You May Also Enjoy These Whiskey Cocktails…
- Bourbon Blackberry Bramble Cocktail
- Apple Cider Bourbon Mule Cocktail
- Irish Mule Ginger Beer Whiskey Cocktail
- Whiskey and Coke Cocktail
- Whiskey and Sprite Cocktail
- Holiday Christmas Old Fashioned Cocktail
- Wheat Beer and Whiskey Cocktail
- Ginger Whiskey Pear Cocktail
- Iced Irish Coffee Cocktail
- Blueberry Buck Whiskey Cocktail
- Berry Lemonade Summer Whiskey Cocktail
- Fresh Whisky Orange Juice Cocktail
- Classic Scotch Old Fashioned Cocktail
- Whiskey and Ginger Ale Cocktail
- Perfect Rob Roy Scotch Manhattan Cocktail
- Whiskey and Ginger Beer Cocktail
- Irish Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail
- Bushmills Cocktail Irish Whiskey and Apple Juice
How To Make The Best Maple Bourbon Sour Cocktail
Maple Bourbon Whiskey Sour Cocktail
Equipment
- Jigger
- Cocktail Shaker
- Rocks glass
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bourbon Whiskey
- 1 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 oz Maple Syrup
- 4 dashes Angostura Bitters
- Cinnamon Stick garnish
Instructions
- In an ice filled cocktail shaker add bourbon, lemon juice, maple syrup, and bitters.
- Shake for 30-45 seconds until cold.
- Strain into an ice filled rocks glass.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Nutrition
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