New York Sour cocktail recipe

Tried and loved a Whiskey Sour? Well, you’re in luck because the New York Sour takes the classic Sour cocktail, adds a red wine float and the result, we have to say, is spectacular. It’s believed to have been created in the late 1800s, quite likely in Chicago, and travelled around under a number of aliases before being enshrined as the New York Sour.

The Sour family of cocktails are made using a spirit, sugar, citrus and ice. They’re some of the oldest recorded cocktails in history, dating back to the mid-1800s, and remain some of the world’s most popular today. Because really, what’s not to love? Citrus, sugar and spirit is the Holy Trinity – three elements working perfectly together. But the New York Sour ups the stakes, adding a red wine float at the end of the mix.

It sounds, at first, like a strange combination, but the wine adds a lovely fruity flavour as well as some visual flair. Which wine to use? We like a dry, fruit-forward shiraz, red blend or even a pinot, which all bring that essential bright red colour as well as their own distinctive flavours, so use what you love best. Meanwhile, bourbon adds caramel and vanilla notes to the mix, providing a nice counterpoint to both the wine and the zing from the lemon juice.

So, you want to make red wine float? We have a load of detail on that fancy trick. But first, let’s go through the science behind a float. Essentially, some liquids are heavier than others, and you can layer your ingredients to create the effect that you want. Anything with high amounts of sugar, like syrup, will be heavier, while spirits tend to be lightest. If you wanted to create separate layers in your drink, you’d add the heaviest ingredients first and layer lighter ingredients on top. But the idea of the float is to have the liquid – wine, in this case – sit on top of the drink before eventually mixing with the rest. Think of it like oil sitting on water, but in this case, it’s drinkable.

The easiest way to float your wine is by pouring your wine over the back of a spoon. This spreads the wine across a greater surface area, meaning it shouldn’t sink into the glass. Be sure to have the spoon sitting as close to the liquid as possible when you pour, so the wine has as small a distance as possible to fall. Try practising before having to make the cocktail for guests, so when your moment finally comes, you pour the perfect float (and receive plenty of kudos for your efforts).