We are going back to the basics today. There is a reason classics are classics. It is like a blue blazer, oxford cloth shirt and khakis, it is never the height of fashion, but it is never really out of style. It is easy to overlook them. I know I am guilty of that. I see something shiny and suddenly I am down a rabbit hole of liqueurs I had never heard of a year ago and bitters crafted my monks atop a mystical mountain using techniques whispered to them by the raven when the world was young. Not today though, today I am making one that your grandpa might have ordered as he bellied up to the bar in his seersucker suit and straw boater. So, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make the Amaretto Sour.

Amaretto is a sweet almond liqueur perfect for desserts that my wife loves and that I tend to forget about. There are also amaretto cookies made by DiSaronno that are not to be missed. Seriously, skip the drink and go for the cookies. It really is a lovely liqueur, but a bit too sweet for my taste usually, so I have to find something to temper it, enter today’s drink.

Grab your tins and pop in 1 1/2 ounces of Amaretto, I went with DiSaronno; 3/4 of an ounce of bourbon, Hudson Whiskey Baby Bourbon for me; 3/4 of an ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 ounce of simple syrup, 2-3 drops of 18-21 Bitters Ginger Lemon Tincture and 3/4 of an ounce of egg white or aquafaba. Add ice and shake to the beat of “Puttin’ on the Ritz“, cause this drink is faux fancy and you haven’t listened to that one in way too long. When your tins are chilled and feeling super duper, strain from one to the other and discard the ice. Go again with a hard dry shake, maybe do a little tap dancing around the kitchen, you do you. Strain into something pretty and classic and garnish with a paper thin lemon wedge.
This one is lovely as ever, still a bit sweet for my tastes, but a nice after dinner drink. Laura loved it, which was kind of the point. She’d had a long day and this was honestly the best thing I could think of to do for her. I had to scramble, the kid had already done the dishes. It is easy to forget just how nice amaretto is, in moderation. I am going to have to track down some of those cookies to have with coffee. 

That is the thing about the classics, it is easy to forget how good they really are. Sometimes, you forget that they even exist, but they always feel right. When you put on the navy peacoat, when you pick up that Stratocaster or, in my case, Les Paul, or belly up to the diner counter for coffee and pie, it’s like a little piece of home. Not fancy, not trendy, but always appropriate. There is a certain comfort in that, a familiar nostalgia. If it weren’t for that familiarity, that comfort food for the soul, would any of us still lace up our Chuck Taylor’s? I don’t know, they don’t have any support, they aren’t sexy, but there is just something about them. Maybe what they lack in arch support they make up in emotional support and perhaps that is enough. What ever it takes to help you get through the day. There is nothing wrong with feeling good, like a familiar old leather jacket, wrap yourself in comfort and be classic. Stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.