Frisco Sour cocktail

The Frisco Sour is an old classic. The usual recipe for a sour is your main ingredient + lemon + simple syrup or sugar. But this drink uses Benedictine for sweetening.

Benedictine is technically a brandy, but it has a flavor that’s hard to convey in words. It’s sweet – too sweet for many palates – with notes of flowers, herbs and spices. Kind of like “sugar, but more interesting.”

The original Frisco Sour recipe called for rye, which tends to be drier than bourbon. Rye was hard to find in the US for decades, so bartenders substituted bourbon.

Given how much mouth-puckering citrus juice this recipe contains, I don’t think the bourbon is too sweet at all. While a standard blended bourbon will work just fine in this recipe, it is actually worth your while to bump it up to something like Gentleman Jack – still an affordable bottle, but smoother due to the second filtration process.

If the drink is too dry or sour for you, you can bump up the amount of Benedictine – just a tiny amount, a dash or two at a time, until you find the right blend. You can also reduce the amount of citrus juice.

If you find you like the flavors in this cocktail, you may also want to check out the Whiskey Sour and the Amaretto Sour. They both feature the same combination of a liquor or liqueur mixed with sweet and sour, or a combination of citrus juice and a sweetener.

The Frisco Sour goes well with bold, savory dishes like carne asada. The spices contrast with the sweetness of the drink, and the appearance of citrus in both the meat and the drink make the two complimentary.

 It also works well with barbecue recipes.