The whiskey sour is among those classic cocktails that are suitable for sipping year-round. While frozen drinks like the Miami Vice and cold weather warmers like the soothing hot toddy more or less keep to their obvious seasons, whiskey sours are made for optimal imbibing any time. Their three standard ingredients — rye whiskey or bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup — are also a basic enough canvas to remain open to adaptation should you want to catch the tipple up with the actual calendar. And fall flavors like cinnamon are particularly conducive to the whiskey sour’s existing profile.
Bourbon and whiskey are already often associated with autumn, warming as they can be. Their amber hue even approximates that of blazing, fallen leaves, for goodness sake. And their frequently detected notes of caramel and vanilla recall some other tastes of this crisp time of year. So cinnamon blends right in, provided you introduce it properly.
Read more: 12 Bourbons You Should Leave On The Shelf
Making cinnamon whiskey sours at home
A whiskey sour is served with a cinnamon stick – vasanty/Shutterstock
The most obvious way to spice up your whiskey sour is by swapping the simple syrup with a cinnamon variety. Simple syrup is easy enough to make in its neutral form by heating equal parts of water and sugar in a saucepan. A few cinnamon sticks will imbue the blend with their essence.
Once the cinnamon simple syrup is cooled, you’ll use it in the same proportions as you would for a traditional whiskey sour. That’s typically going to amount to 2 ounces of the booze, ¾ ounce of the lemon juice, and about ¾ ounce of the sweetener. You can tick the latter up a bit to taste, but do it slowly to keep it all from turning to a kind of liquid candy. Use the cinnamon sticks to garnish the first few rounds. You can store the syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about a month thereafter.
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