Stone Sour

History

The first known recipe for a "Stone Sour" appears in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks, but that first iteration is a gin-based Stone Sour without the orange juice that in later decades became part of this cocktail's DNA. Straub's Stone Sour is also differentiated from later renditions by its being frappé.

Stone Sour
1 jigger Plymouth gin.
Juice of 1 lemon.
Sweeten with plain syrup.
Frappé well; strain into goblet filled with fine cracked ice. Serve.

acques Straub, Drinks, 1914

The earliest Stone Sour recipe with orange juice is in Tom Bullock's 1917 book The Ideal Bartender, and this is credited with being this cocktail's turning point.

Stone Sour
Use a tall, thin glass; fill with fine Ice.
½ pony Lemon Juice.
1/2 pony Orange Juice.
2 dashes Rock Candy Syrup.
1 jigger Old Tom Gin.
Leave in Ice; stir well and serve.

Tom Bullock, The Ideal Bartender, 1917

Thanks to Prohibition, the Stone Sour faded into obscurity until its resurrection in the 1980s, making a notable appearance in Vincent Sardi's 1988 Sardi's Bar Guide, which says, "A stone sour is, of course, a sour with the addition of orange juice."

Sardi's Bar Guide lists a "Bourbon Stone Sour" and six further Stone Stones, each distinguished by a different base spirit or liqueur.

BOURBON STONE SOUR
A stone sour is, of course, a sour with the addition of orange juice.
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 ounce lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed
2 ounces bourbon
2 ounces orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
½ slice orange or lemon for garnish
1 maraschino cherry for garnish
Combine ingredients with ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into cocktail glass, or empty contents, ice cubes and all, into an Old-Fashioned glass and serve on the rocks. Garnish with ½ slice orange or lemon and a maraschino cherry.

Vincent Sardi & George Shea, Sardi's Bar Guide, 1988

In his 2002 The Craft of the Cocktail, Dale DeGroff includes a bourbon-based "Bourbon Stone Sour" and a rye whiskey-based "Stone Sour", above which he says, "I don't know who coined the name first, but it came from California. As a matter of fact, Stone Sours were also called California Sours. Stone Sour just indicates the addition of a little fresh orange juice." In his 2020 Revised Edition, Dale's "Stone Sour" is bourbon-based.

Stone Sour
I don't know who coined the name first, but I suspect it came from California. As a matter of fact, Stone Sours were also called California Sours. Stone Sour just indicates the addition of a little fresh orange juice.
1½ ounces Bulleit bourbon
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce Simple Syrup (page 225)
1 ounce fresh orange juice
Orange slice, for garnish
Bordeaux cherry, for garnish
Shake all the ingredients (except garnishes with ice and serve in rocks glass over ice. Garnish with the orange slice and cherry.

Dale DeGroff, The Craft of the Cocktail, 2020