Midori Sour

Midori melon liqueur and fresh lemon — Suntory's Yubari King muskmelon liqueur debuting at Studio 54 in June 1978, one of the 1980s' most ordered gateway cocktails.

The Midori Sour is a bright green cocktail built on Midori melon liqueur that became one of the most ordered drinks in American bars through the 1980s, its vivid color and accessible sweetness making it a gateway cocktail for a generation of new drinkers. Midori — the Japanese word for green — is a melon liqueur produced by Suntory, the Osaka-based spirits company founded in 1899 by Shinjiro Torii, using two premium varieties of Japanese muskmelon: the Yubari King, grown in Hokkaido and one of the most expensive fruits in Japan, and the Earl's Favorite. Midori's North American launch on June 1978 was held at Studio 54, the Manhattan discotheque co-owned by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager that had become the world's most famous nightclub following its April 1977 opening. The launch party, attended by celebrities and photographed extensively, positioned Midori within the era's most glamorous social context. The Midori Sour applies the standard three-part sour structure — spirit, citrus, sweetener — to the melon liqueur base, with fresh lemon juice providing the acid and simple syrup balancing the sweetness. The combination of Midori's sweet honeydew character with lemon's brightness and carbonation (when served with soda water) produces a drink that is genuinely refreshing despite its candy-green color, and the Midori Sour's commercial success through the 1980s reflected both the marketing effectiveness of the Studio 54 launch and the drink's genuine accessibility.