Virgin Amaretto Sour mocktail recipe
Apricot, almond and lemon with a dense aquafaba foam in a cherry-garnished sour.
Method: Shake · Glass: Rocks glass · Time: 6 minutes · Difficulty: Intermediate
Ingredients
- 1½ oz apricot nectar
- ½ oz almond orgeat
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz aquafaba
- to fill ice cubes
How to make it
- Add apricot nectar, orgeat, lemon juice and aquafaba to a shaker without ice.
- Shake hard for 12 seconds to build the foam before chilling the drink.
- Add ice and shake again until the tin is very cold, then fine strain over one clear cube.
- Rest the foam for a few seconds, then add the cherry and express the orange peel over the glass.
Garnish
One dark cherry and a short orange peel
Why this balance works
Apricot gives this drink body, but it is sweeter than it first tastes. The lemon needs to stay firm enough to keep the almond from becoming pastry-like. Orgeat is more useful here than a few drops of almond extract because it brings both aroma and texture. If your nectar is already very sweet, use a scant half ounce of orgeat rather than increasing the lemon; too much acid makes the apricot disappear.
Technique to keep
Aquafaba needs a dry shake before it sees ice. That first shake lets it foam instead of merely thinning out, while the second shake chills and dilutes the base. Use a fine strainer on the pour so small ice chips do not break the foam. This is a different task from the Virgin Whiskey Sour: apricot nectar already provides body, so the goal is a shorter, denser foam rather than a very large cap.
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