Frisco Sour
Rye, Bénédictine, and lemon — documented by Boothby in 1934 and the Stork Club Bar Book in 1946, the Bénédictine's honeyed herb transforming the sour format.
- 2 ozrye whiskey
- ½ ozbenedictine
- ¾ ozfresh lemon juice
- lemon wheelgarnish
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The Frisco's roots stretch back to at least 1934, when William Boothby documented a rye-and-Benedictine combination in his World Drinks and How to Mix Them. The drink takes its name from San Francisco, a city with a long love affair with rye-based cocktails. When lemon juice was added and it became a sour format, it became the Frisco Sour. Lucius Beebe included a rye-and-Benedictine version in The Stork Club Bar Book in 1946, and by Stanley Jones's 1977 Complete Bar Guide, the lemon sour variation was formally documented. The drink gained renewed popularity in London's bar scene during the 1990s, where bartenders added egg white for a silky, frothy finish. Benedictine's honeyed, herbal complexity transforms a standard sour into something far more layered and distinctive.
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