Name: Maple Leaf
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 60 ml Bourbon whiskey; 15 ml Lemon juice; 12.5 ml Maple syrup

Maple Leaf
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Glass:

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
2 fl oz	Bourbon whiskey
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
⁵⁄₁₂ fl oz	Maple syrup

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

15th February 2026 is Canada Flag Day

Review:

Anything from 10ml (1/3oz) to 15ml (1/2oz) maple syrup works in this recipe, depending on your maple syrup, lemons and personal taste. I've gone for the middle of the road at 12.5ml as for me the trio combines wonderfully with the maple syrup still in something of a supporting role.

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History:

The Maple Leaf cocktail first appeared in Frank Meier's 1936 book The Artistry of Mixing Drinks and I suspect it originated in the USA or even the UK due to its being based on bourbon whiskey. If it had been created by a Canadian, where the maple leaf is very much a national symbol, then it's likely a Canadian rye whisky, arguably more appropriate, would have been used.

MAPLE LEAF
In shaker: the juice of one-half lemon, one-half glass of Bourbon Whiskey, a teaspoon of Maple syrup: shake well and serve.
Frank Meier, The Artistry of Mixing Drinks, 1936

Nutrition:

One serving of Maple Leaf contains 198 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
22.69% alc./vol. (45.38° proof)
21.3 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 14 comments for Maple Leaf.
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Michael Cronin

15th February at 20:43

I also used Crown Royal as the base instead of an American whiskey in the spirit (pun intended) of the cocktail. At 80 proof it just didn't have backbone. I have not tried any other Canadien Whiskeys so perhaps that is the issue; perhaps I diluted to much when shaking as well.

Tuber Magnatum

5th May 2025 at 22:09

Curiously, the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) in its quarterly publication promoting its products, attributes the "Maple Leaf Cocktail" to a barman at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto for a party celebrating the promotion of new Executive Chef Robert Bartley: https://www.lcbo.com/en/recipe/maple-leaf-cocktail/200705070. However this is clearly different from the cocktail Frank Meier described in his 1936 book "The Artistry of Mixing Drinks" which used Bourbon rather than Canadian Rye. The origin remains a mystery!

Chris Brislawn

23rd April 2025 at 04:31

No idea who created it, but if you're gonna use it as drink-of-the-day for Canadian Flag Day then you should probably make it with Canadian whisky (I used Crown Royal) rather than Kentucky bourbon. I also cut 3 thin slices of lemon and muddled them well to get more of the bitterness from the pith and oil from the zest, making the drink a bit cloudier and seemingly more complex than it would have been with squeezed juice. Rounded the Whistle Pig maple syrup up to 1/2 oz without making it too sweet. Simple (just 3 ingredients), smooth, and very good.

Peter McCarthy

7th February 2024 at 03:43

This is nice! I'm getting the Bourbon up front, then lemon, then maple lingers after. I like that you can play around with the amount of maple syrup, to taste. Might be fun to try it with different "fancy" syrups, especially the barrel aged ones, etc.

G. M. Genovese

9th September 2023 at 12:23

Solid 4.25 stars. I used a bonded bourbon (of course) and a slightly to saccharine maple syrup (Steve & Ed's)... Overall, good balance of flavors. Made its mark.

Elizabeth Appel

2nd May 2023 at 03:14

This was wonderful. It was a smooth sour. Not so sweet.

Andre Derailleur

1st July 2022 at 05:53

With Canadian whiskey and aromatic bitters this would be an "Habitant" from Quebec: n'est pas?

Helen Selucky

5th February 2022 at 07:40

I recently discovered the Old Fashioned. Then the salted maple Old Fashioned. This is a delicious addition to the family. A lovely balance of tart, sweet and booze. Yum! I've seen other recipes include a pinch of cinnamon, which I tried and is also very good.

Jay Longy D.

27th December 2021 at 18:46

I realy love this cocktail. I tried with some burbon, but i tried also with scotch and irish whisky and make nice decent different tones. Last time I tried add 10ml Grand Marnier liquer and make my happy with light citrus tones. And Japan maple leaf twist with egg white Is nice foamy and light.

Nick Navro

7th November 2021 at 21:57

I upped the maple syrup being a Canadian and damn, soooo much better! But this still is a great drink

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