Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour officially dates back to the 1860s, but sailors in the British Navy had been drinking something very similar long before that. On long sea journeys, water was not always dependable, so to combat that, spirits were often used. Scurvy, too, was another danger on these journeys, so lemons and limes were consumed to help prevent the disease. Finally, sugar and water were added for taste. At this point, the drink is probably starting to sound familiar.
When it comes to the official record, there are three main points of reference for the Whiskey Sour. The first written record comes in the seminal 1862 book The Bartender’s Guide: How To Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas. The next reference comes from, of all places, an 1870 edition of the Waukesha Plainsdealer, a Wisconsin newspaper. The final reference to the drink comes two years later, in 1872. A former ship steward, Elliot Staub, “invented” a drink — the whiskey sour — in a bar in Iquique (then part of Peru). Through these three origins, we come to, more or less, what we have today–a cocktail that mixes a spirit, a sour, and a sweet.