New York Sour may be but one of several names that have been applied to a Whisky Sour with a float of red wine layered on top, but it is the most enduring one and the one in general use today. See Whisky Sour and float. The drink itself dates to the 1880s and is first attested to Chicago, when a bartender in one of the city’s top bars shook up a “pleasant-looking, red-headed” Whisky Sour, explaining to the reporter watching him that the “claret [i.e., red wine] ‘snap’ … makes the drink look well and … gives it a better taste.” He did not mention a name for the drink, but elsewhere it was known as a “Southern” or “Continental” Sour. In Boston, however, it was called a “New York” Sour, a name attested there as early as 1885 and perpetuated by two works of Boston mixography, the Cocktail Book from 1900 and Leo Cotton’s hugely influential 1934 Old Mr. Boston Official Bar-Tenders’ Guide. The New York Sour is one of the drinks that has benefited from the cocktail renaissance, although many young bartenders diminish the visual impact of the crimson float upon the tawny drink by adding egg white and serving the drink over ice, both of which serve to blur the sharp line that otherwise separates the components. See cocktail renaissance.
Recipe: Shake with ice 60 ml straight rye whisky, 15 ml lemon juice, 15 ml simple syrup, and (optional but recommended) 7 ml orange juice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and carefully float 15 ml of dry red wine on top. Gently spin the glass along its axis to firm up the layering and serve.
“Local Miscellany: The Barkeeper.” Chicago Tribune, November 25, 1883, 11.
“Set Em’ Up Again, Please!” Boston Herald, December 13, 1885, 18.
By: David Wondrich