Acerba (potio)

Potio acerba, saepissime vocabulo Anglico sour nuncupata, est temetum e variis aquis vitae, suco aut limoniorum aut lumiarum, saccharo, glacie concisa mixtum.^[1] Acerba e vischio, potio huius generis notabilissima, in Civitatibus Foederatis ante annum 1870 inventa est. Haec aliaeque tales acerbae mox sub familia gallicaudae comprehensae sunt. Mixtura autem aquae vitae et sucorum fructuum, quae in potionibus generis sour adhibetur, iam antea inventa est. Eduardus Vernon classis Britannicae admiralis vicarius, ad inebrietatem nautarum diminuendam, potionem mixtam huius generis e rhomio anno 1740 illis ordinavit, grog nuncupatum.^[2]

Praecepta antiquissima potionum sour a Jerry Thomas cauponario Neo-Eboracensi anno 1887 dantur, qui iam Santa Cruz sour e rhomio, Gin sour, Whiskey sour, Brandy sour, Jersey sour e spiritu pomacii, etiam Egg sour enumerat. Philologus linguae Americanae H. L. Mencken potiones acerbas tam ex ovis quam elixiribus artificiose compositas relatus est, sed a veris amatoribus deprecatas: annis suae iuventutis bibuli assidue acerbas postulavisse ut se mane reficerent: harum ope gastritidem, qua crebriter affecti essent, mederi censuisse.^[4]

Potiones mixtae acerbae

Ex aquis ardentibus

Applejack sour
Brandy sour
Caipirinha
Daiquiri sour
Gin sour
Pisco sour
Tequila sour
Whisky sour

Ex aquis ardentibus et elixiribus

Amaretto sour
Kamikaze
Margarita
Midori sour
Sidecar
White lady^(en)

Notae

↑ The sour is simply a mixture of a hard liquor, sugar, lemon and/or lime juice, and chopped ice, and is usually served strained: Mencken (1945) p. 255
↑ Paul Senft, "Rum and the Sea: the history of the grog" (25 Februarii 2018)
↑ "What a weekend"
↑ There are fancy forms that contain liqueurs and even eggs, but they are not favored by connoisseurs. In my early days the sour was in great request among bibuli as a morning pick-up: it was supposed to allay the gastritis that so often beset them: Mencken (1945) p. 256

Bibliographia

Historica

H. L. Mencken, The American Language: supplement 1 (Novi Eboraci: Knopf, 1945) pp. 255-256
David Wondrich, Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar (2a ed. Novi Eboraci: Perigee, 2015. ISBN 978-0-399-53287-0) (editio 1a: 2007)
David Wondrich, "Sour" in David Wondrich, Noah Rothbaum, edd., The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Novi Eboraci: Oxford University Press, 2021. ISBN 978-0-19-931113-2) pp. 657-658

Praecepta

1867 : The American barkeeper pp. 11, 14 ("Gin sour, Rum sour")
1869 : Haney's Steward & barkeeper's manual. Novi Eboraci p. 28 ("Brandy sour, Santa Cruz sour, Gin sour, Bourbon sour")
1871 : E. Ricket, C. Thomas, The gentleman's table guide. Londinii p. 41 ("Brandy sour ... any other spirits can be used")
1874 : The American bar tender. Novi Eboraci: Manhattan Publishing Company p. 10 ("The brandy sour is made the same as the brandy fix"; "Santa Cruz sour, Whiskey sour, Egg sour, Gin sour")
1884 : O. H. Byron, The modern bartender's guide pp. 64-67 ("Apple jack sour, Brandy sour, Champagne sour, Continental sour, Egg sour, Gin sour, Jamaica rum sour, Medford rum sour, St. Croix sour, Whisky sour")
1885 : New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef. Londinii: Nicholson Textushttps://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1885-New-Guide-Hotel-Bar-Restaurant/140/ p. 140 ("Bourbon sour ... Santa Cruz rum, gin, and other sours are made as above")
1887 : Jerry Thomas [et al.], The bar-tender's guide, or How to mix all kinds of plain and fancy drinks. Nova ed. (Novi Eboraci: Dick & Fitzgerald) pp. 39-41 ("Santa Cruz sour, Gin sour, Whiskey sour, Brandy sour, Jersey sour, Egg sour")
1891 : William T. Boothby, Cocktail Boothby's American bar-tender. Franciscopoli no. 289 ("Sours: Brandy sour ...")
1895 : George J. Kappeler, Modern American drinks; how to mix and serve all kinds of cups and drinks (Novi Eboraci: Merriam) pp. 103-104 apud Internet Archive
1896 : Fancy drinks and popular beverages, by the only William (Novi Eboraci: Dick & Fitzgerald) pp. 21-22
1917 : Tom Bullock, The Ideal Bartender s.v. "Applejack Sour" etc.
post 1937 : [William J. Tarling], Approved Cocktails: United Kingdom Bartenders Guild (Londinii: Pall Mall) s.v. "Whisky, Sour" etc.
1948 : Ron Daiquiri coctelera cocktail book (Havanae, 1948) p. 24 ("Sours ... here's how a Daiquiri sour is made")

[1] The sour is simply a mixture of a hard liquor, sugar, lemon and/or lime juice, and chopped ice, and is usually served strained: Mencken (1945) p. 255

[2] Paul Senft, "Rum and the Sea: the history of the grog" (25 Februarii 2018)

[3] "What a weekend"

[4] There are fancy forms that contain liqueurs and even eggs, but they are not favored by connoisseurs. In my early days the sour was in great request among bibuli as a morning pick-up: it was supposed to allay the gastritis that so often beset them: Mencken (1945) p. 256

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