London Sour

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (142 ratings)

Serve in a Collins glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Blended Scotch whisky
2 12 oz Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
12 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
16 oz Monin Almond (Orgeat) Syrup
16 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange slice wheel and mint sprigs.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into ice-filled glass.
  5. Garnish with orange slice and mint sprigs bouquet.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

  • Orgeat (almond) sugar syrup (2:1) - Nuts

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
Cocktail of the day:

30th June 2025 is It's Tower Bridge's birthday

Review:

Our thanks to Brent Evans for pointing us towards this tasty cocktail which he describes as "Scotch whisky blended with fresh oranges, lemons and a whisper of almond." We tried with egg white, usually our preference in a sour, but prefer this one without the resulting foam. We also found upping the orange juice and serving long preferable.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created by Trader Vic himself for the opening of the Hyde Park Hilton, London branch of his eponymous restaurant chain in 1963. This cocktail features in his 1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide.

London Sour
½ Orange
½ Lemon
1 dash rock candy syrup
1 dash orgeat
2 ounces scotch
Squeeze orange juice into 10-ounce double old fashioned glass over half scoop shaved ice; save orange shell. Squeeze lemon juice into glass; drop in spent shell. Add syrup, orgeat, and scotch. Add shaved ice to fill glass ¾ full. Shake. Decorate with fresh mint and with American and British flag sticks on orange shell.

Victor J. Bergeron, 1972

Nutrition:

One serving of London Sour contains 202 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 11.03% alc./vol. (11.03° proof)
  • 17.6 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 London Sour.
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Cass Lawson’s Avatar Cass Lawson
30th June 2024 at 17:54
Trying to figure out why a 'London' sour would feature Whisky rather than Gin...
Michelle Bell’s Avatar Michelle Bell
12th April 2024 at 20:19
Very refreshing drink. I used Cara Cara Navel Orange which is less sweet than regular oranges. Agreed with other members regarding using Orgeat only.
Yorey C’s Avatar Yorey C
30th April 2024 at 09:45
i disagree i think the orgeat overpowers and simon was right with the finnicky ratio
Kym Harding’s Avatar Kym Harding
24th February 2024 at 07:41
One of my go-tos. I usually make it with something like Monkey Shoulder, but a variation with Wild Turkey Rare Breed, upping the orgeat, and a dash or two of Scrappy’s Fire Tincture really improved the booziness/complexity and could be my new favorite version.
Jose Cruz’s Avatar Jose Cruz
12th February 2024 at 06:00
hate sours ? me too ! 15ml Orgeat .. no simple syrup. Delicious balanced tiki.
Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
30th June 2023 at 22:43
Not the most complex drink in the world, but very good and eminently drinkable. I've also made a "Dublin Sour", obviously with Irish Whiskey, that was even less complex but equally more dangerous.
Stephen Curtin’s Avatar Stephen Curtin
5th May 2023 at 22:49
Made one of these bit using Erick Castro's ratio. 2 ounces Scotch 3/4 ounce orange juice 3/4 ounce lemon juice 3/4 ounce orgeat. Absolutely delicious.
jason keane’s Avatar jason keane
25th April 2023 at 06:46
This is a good drink. I was a bit dubious about orange and scotch- but it’s very good and refreshing. A real sunny afternoon drink.
John Champion’s Avatar John Champion
30th June 2023 at 17:01
Orange juice and scotch is actually a surprisingly good combo if paired correctly. Another recipe that does it well in my opinion is the Space Monkey:
1.5 oz scotch
1 oz coconut water
.5 oz orange juice
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters
The original recipe doesn't call for lime but I like to add it in mine to keep it from getting too sweet. Another refreshing, afternoon long sour to enjoy in hotter months.
1st October 2022 at 19:36
You can’t really taste the orgeat syrup, haven’t tried but maybe replacing the sugar syrup with orgeat can get you there while keeping the sweetness around the same level.
David Brockley’s Avatar David Brockley
17th December 2021 at 15:21
Simon - can you expand on your reasoning for frequently splitting your orgeat with plain simple syrup? It seems counterintuitive. I honestly can't taste the orgeat in such small quantities. Why not just have 10ml of orgeat since it's essentially flavoured simple? Seems unlikely to bully anything.
Jose Cruz’s Avatar Jose Cruz
27th December 2023 at 03:19
haha i feel the same way, typical trade vic, no simple syrup on any orgeat cocktails for me, specially on my mai tais
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
17th December 2021 at 16:40
I was led by Trader Vic's original recipe which calls for orgeat and "rock candy syrup" (rich 2:1 sugar syrup). I've added his recipe above for reference.
Nick Navro’s Avatar Nick Navro
13th November 2021 at 01:31
Didn't have any blended scotch whisky around, so used single malt. 12 year aberlour. Enjoyed it. Will try this with a blended to see what difference it makes!
István GT’s Avatar István GT
21st September 2024 at 20:13
I used Finlaggan's old reserve and I found it a bit too characteristic for the cocktail..that was a peaty Islay though, I guess a Speyside or a blended would be more mellow and let other flavors come through better