Whiskey Sour, the 1887 Bar Recipe
Reader ratingsA wine-glass of bourbon or rye, half a small lemon and a large teaspoon of sugar dissolved in Seltzer, shaken with shaved ice and strained into a claret glass with berries: the Whiskey Sour of 1887.
- Recipe makes
- 1 drink, about 4 fl oz
- Prep
- Total
Whiskey sour strained into a small stemmed claret glass, topped with a few raspberries, beside a bar shaker.
The story behind the recipe
Jerry Thomas’s first bar book had no whiskey sour at all. By 1887 his Bar-Tender’s Guide gives one: a wine-glass of bourbon or rye shaken with the juice of half a small lemon and a large teaspoon of sugar, the sugar first dissolved in a splash of Seltzer or Apollinaris water. It is shaken with shaved ice, strained into a claret glass and topped with berries. There is no egg. That edition was printed two years after his death.
The sour that came late
The 1862 How to Mix Drinks has only a Brandy Sour, a Gin Sour and a Santa Cruz Sour. In 1887 the whiskey version shares a page with the Brandy and Jersey sours. A claret glass was a small stemmed wine glass, and berries “ornament” the top.
It is a drink from a New York bar book. On the frontier, men mostly drank their whiskey straight, and shaved ice in a mining camp was an imported luxury, as the story What Did People Drink in a Wild West Saloon? shows.
Read more about this recipe
Strength and sugar
Thomas’s wine-glass is 2 fluid ounces, about 59 ml. “A little” Seltzer is taken here as a tablespoon, and half a small lemon as half an ounce of juice. As for strength: 2 fl oz of 90-proof whiskey holds about 27 ml of alcohol, and shaking with crushed ice brings the drink to about 4 fl oz, so it comes out near 22% ABV, from 20% with 80-proof whiskey to 24% with 100-proof. That is about one and a half US standard drinks. Thomas’s sugar is a single large teaspoon; add a little more if you want it sweeter.
The later New York Sour floats red wine on top; TuneMyRecipe (opens in a new tab) has it. Without the whiskey, the sharp-and-sweet idea survives in the Lemon Egg Phosphate, soured with acid phosphate and shaken with a whole egg.
(Use small bar-glass.)
Take 1 large tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar, dissolved in a little Seltzer or Apollinaris water.
The juice of half a small lemon.
1 wine-glass of Bourbon or rye whiskey.
Fill the glass full of shaved ice, shake up and strain into a claret glass. Ornament with berries.
Recipe makes: 1 drink, about 4 fl oz
Ingredients
For 1 drink, about 4 fl oz. Quantities are shown as written.
Quantities as written here, for 1 drink, about 4 fl oz.
- Superfine sugar1 1/2 tsp
- Soda water1 tbsp
- Fresh lemon juice1/2 fl oz
- Bourbon2 fl oz
- Crushed ice1 cup
- A few fresh berries, to garnish
Measurement notes
Ingredients as written here
- 1 1/2 tsp superfine sugar
- 1 tbsp soda water
- 1/2 fl oz fresh lemon juice
- 2 fl oz bourbon
- 1 cup crushed ice
- a few fresh berries, to garnish
Equipment
Cocktail shaker and strainer
Citrus juicer
Bar spoon
Small stemmed wine glass or claret glass
Instructions
Stir the superfine sugar into the soda water in the shaker until it dissolves.
Add the fresh lemon juice and the bourbon.
Fill the shaker with the crushed ice, close it and shake hard for about 10 seconds.
Strain into a small stemmed wine glass or claret glass, with no ice in the glass.
Top with a few fresh berries and serve.
Nutrition
170calories per serving
- Recipe makes
- 1 drink, about 4 fl oz
Estimated from USDA FoodData Central values for 90-proof whiskey, fresh lemon juice and granulated sugar.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
This is one drink. Shake no more than two at a time so each gets enough ice.
Notes
Quantities mentioned in these notes don’t change when you adjust the batch.
Rye whiskey works just as well; Thomas gives either. Any sparkling mineral water can stand in for the Seltzer or Apollinaris.
In place of the sugar and soda water, 2 tsp of rich simple syrup (two parts sugar to one of water) does the same job.
Thomas names no berry. Raspberries, blackberries or a few small strawberries all suit the drink in season.
The soda fountain’s sour was the Lemon Egg Phosphate: lemon syrup and a whole egg, shaken and topped with soda.
Scaling changes the ingredients only; glassware, ice and timings need their own judgment.
Sources and attribution
Jerry Thomas, The Bar-Tender’s Guide, or, How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks (New York, 1887), “Whiskey Sour”, p. 40
See the original pages (scan at Internet Archive) (opens in a new tab)
Recipe details
- Drink family
- Cocktails & Mixed Drinks
- Region
- American
- Era
- 19th century
- Source decade
- 1880s
- Base
- Whisky
- Difficulty
- Easy