The Eastern Sour Cocktail

A bourbon-fueled Tiki classic from Trader Vic

It’s a new year, so time to discover a new drink. Allow us to present the Eastern Sour Cocktail.

This one is a tasty mix of bourbon, orange juice, lemon juice, and orgeat syrup. Which makes it perfect for winter, we think. All that citrus has to be great for combating colds and flu.

To your health!

Recipe: The Eastern Sour Cocktail

Tiki drinks tend to be rum based. But when Polynesian-themed restaurants were reaching the height of their popularity after World War II, most drinkers in the US preferred whiskey and gin. So Tiki bars always included some drinks featuring those spirits. Hence, the Eastern Sour Cocktail.

This recipe takes about 5 minutes to prepare, and serves one.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bourbon
• 2 ounces orange juice (fresh squeezed is best, but bottled works)
• 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ ounce orgeat syrup
• ¼ ounce Simple Syrup 
• garnish of orange or lemon wedge/twist (optional)

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients (except garnish) in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. Cover and shake hard until the contents are well chilled (about 20 seconds).
2. Strain into an ice-filled rocks (Old-Fashioned) glass or a cocktail glass. Add garnish, if desired, and serve.

Notes

• Many drinkers like to serve the Eastern Sour in a cocktail glass. We prefer it on the rocks. But feel free to try it both ways.
• You can use any decent brand of bourbon for this drink. 
• Fresh-squeezed lemon juice tastes way better than bottled, so we always recommend it.
• Fresh-squeezed OJ tastes better than the commercial stuff, too. But bottled works fine in this drink.
• Some versions of this drink substitute lime juice for lemon. We prefer lemon, but you may want to try the lime option.
• You can use more or less OJ than we call for (+/- ½ ounce or so). Feel free to experiment.
• You can buy bottled simple syrup, but it’s really easy to make your own Homemade Simple Syrup. And it costs only pennies, rather than dollars. 
• Trader Vic (Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr) founded a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants bearing his name. He and his great competitor, Donn Beach (founder of Don the Beachcomber restaurants), created most of the Tiki drinks we know today.

The picture of health

“Big drink,” said Mrs. Kitchen Riffs. “I’d call this one healthy pour.”

“Yup,” I said. “We’re getting our quotient of Vitamin C.”

“This should ward off colds until next year,” said Mrs K R.

“And it’s much tastier than a kale smoothie,” I said. “My kind of health drink.”

“Maybe you should refill my prescription for this,” said Mrs K R, handing me her glass.

Glad to! It’s just what the witch doctor ordered.

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Simple Syrup
Royal Hawaiian Cocktail
Mai Tai Cocktail
Paradise Cooler Cocktail
Planter's Punch Cocktail
Singapore Sling Cocktail
Vicious Virgin Cocktail
Cocktal Basics
Or check out the index for more