The Story Behind The Brandy Holiday Sour

Like me, you’d probably love to just sit down and rest after hosting a lavish Thanksgiving dinner for all your family and friends. Alas, the festive season is just getting started. Now it’s time to prep for all the remaining holiday celebrations, and the best thing to do while prepping is have a cocktail.

Today I am sharing a recipe that is perfect for you and your friends/family to make at home as part of your own personal holiday happy hour, or to consume while working in the kitchen. In the past I’ve created several varieties of sours that have incorporated a broad variety of spirits such as gin, whiskey, bourbon, and even tequila. But this time, I’m going with brandy.

This particular bottle of brandy has been sitting on my bar shelf collecting dust over the past few months, and I decided it was finally time to put it to work. Making a cocktail with brandy may be frowned upon in certain social circles, as it’s a spirit distilled from wine and is traditionally served neat at room temperature. In the spirit (pun intended!) of Beautiful Booze, I felt it needed to be elevated from a sipping spirit and incorporated into a fun festive cocktail. For this cocktail I mixed an assortment of juices including cranberry, orange, and lemon, then added simple syrup plus an egg white. The cranberry and orange juices add a holiday flavor that will have your friends asking for a second –and possibly a third!– round.

Ingredients

1.5 ounces of brandy
½ ounce of orange juice
½ ounce of cranberry juice
½ ounce of simple syrup
½ ounce of lemon juice
1 egg white
1 cup of ice
1 orange slice and dried rose petals, for garnish

Directions

In a cocktail shaker, add brandy, orange juice, cranberry juice, simple syrup, lemon juice, and egg white.
Shake for 20 seconds, then add ice and shake again until chilled.
Strain mixture into serving glass.
Garnish with an orange slice and dried rose petals.