If the classic smoky, tangy whiskey sour is your favourite winter tipple, then the jam sour – essentially a whisky sour with (you guessed it!) jam and soda – is all set to become your favourite summer drink. Sure, jam in a cocktail sounds a bit weird, but the breakfast martini contains marmalade, and it’s a classic, so why the hell not use jam in a whisky-based drink? The jam gives it a sweet roundedness that highlights the whiskey’s smokiness, and the soda lightens up the whole shebang and gives it a refreshing vibe, lifting it out of the moodily lit lounge room and into the sunshine. So what are you waiting for – go jam one in your cakehole!
INGREDIENTS
2tsp apricot jam
20ml fresh lemon juice
5ml sugar syrup
50ml whiskey (I used Johnnie Walker)
1 dash orange bitters
soda water, to top up
lime slice, to garnish
GLASS
Old-fashioned or other short tumbler
METHOD
Add the jam, lemon juice and sugar syrup to a shaker and shake really hard. Add whiskey and orange bitters, plus enough ice cubes to half-fill the shaker, and shake even harder. Fine-strain into a glass that’s about a third full of ice. Top with soda, garnish and serve.
RECIPE BY
Adapted from Dan Murphy’s Cocktail Discovery Guide (edition 2), which suggests you use a Collins glass and a grapefruit garnish, and whichever jam you fancy (but not an actual jam fancy, since that is a biscuit, and while adding jam to a cocktail sounds weird enough, adding a biscuit would probably just be gross).