Luxury Lockdown Cocktail Club: how to make a Whisky Sour with Gianfranco Iozzi of Novikov, Mayfair

The hospitality industry has been hit harder than most by the UK’s ongoing lockdown, but as a social bunch, the people who work in it have been keeping spirits high. While the doors to restaurants and bars remain closed, chefs and bartenders have continued to experiment and create from their own homes, many of them sharing the results with the rest of us. And how grateful we are for the inspiration.

A new website, hospitalitydelivers.org, rounds up online masterclasses and content from some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and bartenders - from Gordon Ramsay’s #RamsayIn10 weekly 10-minute Instagram cook-alongs and Jason Atherton's ‘Social Kitchen Isolation’, to Artesian Bar’s Instagram tutorials and Nyetimber’s champagne masterclasses.

One popular Instagram Live tutorial comes courtesy of Gianfranco Iozzi, senior bartender at Mayfair’s Novikov bar, who every Friday demonstrates how to prepare classic cocktails using everyday kitchen equipment.

This week, Iozzi joins the Luxury Lockdown Cocktail Club to demonstrate how to make a Whisky Sour. Traditionally, the cocktail is made with bourbon, but in this version Iozzi uses 8O8 single-grain whisky, whose name is inspired by the TR-808 drum machine used in electronic music.

“The Whisky Sour is one of our most requested classic cocktails at the Novikov Lounge bar,” says Iozzi. “Thanks to its silkiness and complexity from the use of egg white, it’s very palatable, even for those who are not fans of whisky. The texture of the drink gives you a sense of satisfying fullness much like a beer, with a slight dryness towards the end.”

If you’re still not sold on whisky, the cocktail can be made with almost any spirit, liqueur or aperitif as its base ingredient. “It’s one of the most versatile cocktails out there,” says Iozzi.

Watch Iozzi in action shaking up the cocktail at his home in the video below, and let us know in the comments how yours turned out.

Whisky Sour

Ingredients

50ml whisky

25ml lemon juice

20ml sugar syrup (1:1 caster sugar to water) or teaspoon(s) of caster sugar to taste (note that when the drink is chilled, the perception of sweetness will be less)

25ml egg white - approximately one egg (optional)

2 dashes angostura bitters (optional)

Method

Add lemon juice, whisky, sugar syrup, angostura bitters and egg white to a cocktail shaker

Add ice and shake vigorously for 12 seconds

Separate liquid from ice and dispose of ice

Shake the liquid again for 12 seconds (known as a ‘dry shake’)

Stir gently to incorporate the foam

Strain into a rock glass over ice.

Previously on the Luxury Lockdown Cocktail Club

• Dukes Martini with Alessandro Palazzi

• Espresso Martini with Mickael Perron of The Lanesborough’s Library Bar

• Avocado Margarita with Francisco Oropeza of One&Only Palmilla

• Mint Jule with Mandarin Oriental Marrakech’s Samir El-layfi​

• Royal Salute Kensington with Scarfes Bar's Martin Siska

• Strawberry Red Pigeon with Coupette's Andrei Marcu

• Raspberry Daiquiri with Scott Stroemer of Pacific Standard Time

• Summer Spritz with Artesian’s Anna Sebastian

• Home Collins with The Connaught’s Agostino Perrone

• Coriander Sour with Erik Lorincz of Mayfair bar Kwant

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