White Lady Sour

The White Lady is one of those cocktails that looks polite, tastes bright, and then quietly reminds you that gin is doing most of the heavy lifting. At its core, it’s a classic sour—gin, orange liqueur (Cointreau is the usual suspect, though I used a locally-produced triple sec instead), and fresh lemon juice—clean, sharp, and very much not here to mess around with syrupy sweetness.

It traces its roots back to the early 1900s and was famously refined by Harry Craddock at the Savoy, where it shed an early brandy-based version and settled comfortably into its now-iconic gin-forward form. Shaken hard and served up in a chilled coupe (or a rocks glass, as pictured), the White Lady is all about balance: citrus snap up front, botanicals through the middle, and a dry, elegant finish. Add egg white if you like a little silkiness; skip it if you want things brisk and linear.

Bottom line: the White Lady is classic for a reason. It’s restrained, confident, and unapologetically grown-up—proof that you don’t need a long ingredient list to make a cocktail feel timeless.

White Lady Sour

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Difficulty: Easy

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Total time

5

minutes

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

US Metric

• 1-1/2 oz 1-1/2 Dry gin

• 2/3 oz 2/3 Triple Sec

• 2/3 oz 2/3 Lemon Juice

• 1/2 oz 1/2 Simple Syrup

• 1/2 1/2 Egg White

Directions

• Add all ingredients to a shaker (no ice) and ‘dry shake’ for 10-15 seconds
• Add ice and shake hard until shaker is frosty
• Double strain into a chilled coupe
• Garnish with a lemon twist

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Equipment

• 
  Stainless Bell JiggerBuy From A Bar Above
• 
  Stainless Boston ShakerBuy From A Bar Above
• 
  Stainless Hawthorne StrainerBuy From A Bar Above
• 
  Stainless Fine Mesh StrainerBuy From A Bar Above
• 
  Silicone Bar MatBuy From A Bar Above

Notes

• Elegant, brisk, and a little stronger than it looks

Cocktail Recipes from Bourbony.co

@bourbony.co