New York Sour
A whiskey sour with a float of dry red wine on top. The 1880s Chicago drink that was renamed for New York, and the prettiest sour in the book.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the rye, lemon juice, syrup and egg white to a shaker and dry shake without ice for 10 seconds.
Add ice and shake hard for another 12 seconds.
Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, or into a chilled coupe.
Pour the red wine slowly over the back of a bar spoon so it floats on the surface. Do not stir.
A thoughtful finish
- Pour the wine over a spoon held just above the surface. It spreads and floats; poured straight in, it sinks and the drink turns purple.
- A fruity, low-tannin red floats best and tastes best. A heavy, oaky wine fights the whiskey.
- Rye gives a drier, spicier sour under the wine; bourbon a sweeter one. Both are traditional.
Common mistakes
- Stirring the float in. The layering is the drink.
- Too much wine. Half an ounce is a float; an ounce is a wine cocktail.
- A sweet red. The wine should be dry; the syrup already sweetens the sour.
A few good questions.
What is the red wine for?
Aroma and a bitter-tannic edge against the sour, and the look — the drink is sipped through the wine layer so each mouthful starts with it.
Which red wine?
Dry and fruity: a Malbec, a Shiraz, a young Rioja or Côtes du Rhône. Anything you would drink; anything cheap you would still drink.
Why is it called New York?
Nobody knows. It was a Chicago drink called the Continental Sour in the 1880s and acquired the New York name around 1900.
Egg white or not?
Optional, but the foam gives the wine a cushion to float on and makes the layering easier. Without it, pour very gently.
Variations
- Whiskey Sour — Without the wine.
- Boston Sour — A whiskey sour with egg white.
- Continental Sour — The same drink under its older name.
- Trinidad Sour — Angostura bitters as the base.
Where it comes from
c. 1880s · Chicago; named for New York c. 1900s
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
A whiskey sour with a red wine float was being served in Chicago in the 1880s as the Continental Sour or the Southern Whiskey Sour, according to the bartenders’ manuals of the time; the New York name attached itself in the early 1900s for reasons nobody has traced. The float is claret — a dry Bordeaux-style red — poured over the back of a spoon so it sits on the foam, and the drink is sipped through it, so that each mouthful starts with wine and ends with whiskey. It was revived in the 2000s and is now a standard, usually made with rye and with egg white for the foam the wine needs to float on.
Sources
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
- Harry Johnson, Bartenders' Manual, 1888 (book)
- Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, 2016 (book)
Strength. About 1.61 US standard drinks at an estimated 15.4% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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