TL;DR: The vanilla sour is a non-alcoholic cocktail made with Dry Shot Spiced Vanilla Spirit, fresh lemon juice, demerara syrup, and aquafaba dry-shaken into a silky, frothy coupe. Vanilla bitters dropped onto the foam create a visual signature. The warm spice of the kava spirit gives the sour a depth that citrus-only sours lack. Zero alcohol. Ready in 5 minutes. Serves one.
The Spiced Vanilla Spirit is rich and dark enough to hold up to lemon and foam. Add aquafaba, shake hard, and the whole thing becomes pale and silky with a warmth underneath that a standard sour doesn't have. Two drops of vanilla bitters on the foam and it looks like something from a bar with a waitlist.
Most vanilla cocktails are too sweet because vanilla flavor comes from sweetened extracts and liqueurs. The Spiced Vanilla Spirit's vanilla is dry and warm — it reads more like a barrel note than a dessert note. In a sour format, that distinction matters. The lemon doesn't have to fight through sweetness. The demerara bridges them. The result is a sour that tastes adult and considered without being precious.
Why do vanilla bitters bloom on the foam?
The oil-based bitters don't mix with the aquafaba foam's water-based structure — they sit on the surface and spread outward from where they land. Two drops, placed carefully, create circular blooms in the foam that hold their shape for several minutes. Beyond the visual, the bitters add an aromatic hit of vanilla and spice on the nose before the first sip. Both reasons matter.
Serves 1 · Prep 5 min · Glass Coupe
What you need
- 2 oz Dry Shot Spiced Vanilla Spirit
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz demerara simple syrup
- ½ oz aquafaba (liquid from a can of unseasoned chickpeas)
- 2 dashes vanilla bitters (non-alcoholic)
- Ice
- 2 extra drops vanilla bitters to garnish, expressed lemon peel
How to make it
- Add all ingredients except ice and the garnish to a shaker. Dry shake for 15 seconds.
- Add ice. Shake hard for 10 more seconds.
- Double strain into a coupe. No ice.
- Let the foam settle for 15 seconds.
- Place 2 drops of vanilla bitters on the foam — they'll bloom outward. Express a lemon peel over the glass and discard it.
Made with Dry Shot Spiced Vanilla Spirit — dark spice, rich vanilla, for the serious pour.