Thyme Will Tell Sour

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (67 ratings)

Glass:

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
1 fresh Fresh thyme
2 oz Bourbon whiskey
12 oz Maple syrup
12 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and thyme sprig.

How to make:

  1. MUDDLE thyme (strip leaves from stem) in base of shaker.
  2. Add other ingredients, SHAKE with ice.
  3. FINE STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish:

  1. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  2. Garnish with a thyme sprig.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

Thyme and maple syrup add extra interest to a Whiskey Sour. Some may want to add egg white.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe discovered at The Sea Fire Grill in Manhattan, New York City.

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Carolyn  Rush ’s Avatar Carolyn Rush
26th November at 00:39
I followed the advice of the previous comments and increased the thyme 5X, and let it steep in the bourbon overnight.
Great flavor! The thyme was a definite presence, but not overwhelming.
Michael Cronin’s Avatar Michael Cronin
5th October 2024 at 19:24
This was tasty. I used a local bourbon finished in maple syrup casks along with homemade maple syrup, thyme and eggs white from the backyard flock. Let the thyme steep in the bourbon for about 20 minutes. I will use more for the muddle next time.
Michael Z’s Avatar Michael Z
18th September 2023 at 00:49
Agree with both the statements below. Add and muddle more thyme.
After muddling, I soaked the ingredients for some time before shaking.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
16th May 2023 at 15:46
The thyme is all on the nose (sprig). What's stopping y'all from muddling more?... Getting rid of the last of my bonded rye, I used half rye, half bourbon; still good. Since this was tasty, I'll make it again, but start playing with it by using 5x the muddled thyme... (16 May 2023, 11:46a)
15th September 2020 at 19:33
Tasty but i didn't feel the thyme in the drink. Maybe instead of just muddling the thyme in the shaker, let infuse the thyme in a bottle of bourbon a few days or week before ;)