A Prohibition-era trio of rye, rum, and brandy softened with grenadine and lemon, named for the smuggler's boundary and tasting as mischievously layered as its history suggests.

12 Mile Limit

An almond-driven whiskey sour with amaretto and bourbon shaken over egg white, creating a frothy, nutty drink crowned by a few drops of Angostura.

Amaretto Sour

A Scandinavian twist on the egg-white sour that frames aquavit's caraway and dill character with lemon and simple syrup, yielding a savory-herbal foam-capped pour.

Aquavit Sour

A military-named gin sour enriched with orgeat, the almond syrup rounding lemon's sharp edges into a nutty, silky take on the classic template.

Army and Navy

A pink-hued Havana classic so protective of its name that a 1936 court ruling required genuine Bacardí rum, shaken with lime and grenadine into a tart, rose-colored daiquiri cousin.

Bacardi Cocktail

A 1950s riff on the classic daiquiri that trades simple syrup's neutrality for banana liqueur, giving the rum-lime spine a creamy, tropical yellow-fruit note.

Banana Daiquiri

A Don the Beachcomber creation that dresses up a daiquiri with orange and maraschino liqueurs, landing somewhere between a classic sour and a tiki-era curio.

Beachcomber

A roaring-twenties riff on the Sidecar that splits the base between cognac and light rum, adding depth and heat to a bright citrus-and-orange-liqueur build.

Between the Sheets

A pre-Prohibition rye cooler leaning on fresh grapefruit juice and raspberry syrup for a bittersweet, berry-kissed whiskey sour that feels unexpectedly modern.

Blinker

A winter-season margarita washed crimson with blood-orange juice, where the fruit's berry-kissed citrus character adds depth and color to the tequila-lime-triple sec template.

Blood Orange Margarita

A porch-ready smash that muddles ripe peach and mint into bourbon with lemon and sugar, pairing stone-fruit sweetness with oak and mint lift for a Southern-summer sipper.

Bourbon Peach Smash

Jeffrey Morgenthaler's cassis-laced bourbon sour layers dark berry sweetness over lemon and Angostura, drinking like a whiskey sour with a deeper, wine-stained finish.

Bourbon Renewal

Dick Bradsell's 1980s London gin sour drizzled with crème de mûre so it bleeds purple through crushed ice, drinking like a tart, jammy English hedgerow in a glass.

Bramble

Joseph Santini's 1850s New Orleans ancestor of the Sidecar, with a sugared rim and long lemon peel twist wrapping a cognac sour lifted by maraschino and orange liqueur.

Brandy Crusta

A plush classic sour in which cognac's raisined warmth is brightened by lemon and sugar, garnished with orange and a Luxardo cherry for a fruit-kissed, amber finish.

Brandy Sour

Salvatore Calabrese's London invention stirring gin with Cointreau, lemon, and a bar spoon of orange marmalade for a tart, toast-like citrus sipper.

Breakfast Martini

A Prohibition-repeal Hollywood creation of bourbon, fresh grapefruit, and honey syrup, where the grapefruit's gentle bitterness meets honey's floral depth over rye-sweet whiskey.

Brown Derby

Brazil's national cocktail of muddled lime and sugar lengthened with grassy, funky cachaça, drinking raw, bracingly tart, and unmistakably vegetal from the sugarcane spirit.

Caipirinha

A Normandy-accented egg-white sour where baked-apple Calvados takes the whiskey's seat, framed by lemon and simple syrup for a frothy, orchard-forward pour.

Calvados Sour

A Savoy-era sour splitting Scotch and Irish whiskey over lemon and almond orgeat, giving a malty, nutty spin on the whiskey sour template with surprising elegance.

Cameron's Kick

The original vodka-cranberry highball, named for the Massachusetts bogs that supply the juice, delivering tart berry sweetness with a bright lime squeeze.

Cape Codder

A cognac sour rounded out with green Chartreuse's fierce herbal kick, producing a silky, boulevard-elegant drink where grape richness meets alpine-botanical sparkle.

Champs-Élysées

A Prohibition-era equal-parts oddity pairing tart sloe gin, apricot brandy, and lime into a ruby, jammy sour that plays stone-fruit sweetness against sharp plum and citrus.

Charlie Chaplin

A ruby-hued sour shaking Danish Cherry Heering with lemon and egg white into a frothy, jammy sip where stone-fruit sweetness meets bright citrus acidity.

Cherry Sour

A Philadelphia-born Victorian gin sour shaken with raspberry syrup and egg white, drinking pink, plush, and foamy with tart berry lift over a clean gin base.

Clover Club

A Clover Club garnished with mint, pairing gin's botanicals with raspberry and lemon over a silken egg-white foam for a pink, garden-fresh sour.

Clover Leaf

A creamy tropical margarita where coconut cream rounds tequila, orange liqueur, and lime into a silky, beachside sipper that reads half-margarita, half-piña colada.

Coconut Margarita

The pink-hued 1990s icon of vodka, orange liqueur, cranberry, and lime, shaken sharp and served up — tart, fruity, and forever tied to Manhattan martini glasses.

Cosmopolitan

The Cuban three-ingredient benchmark of rum, lime, and sugar, shaken hard until it drinks crisp, tart, and bracingly clean — the blueprint every bartender measures themselves against.

Daiquiri

Phil Ward's modern smoky sour pairing mezcal with Aperol, maraschino, and lime for a rippling, bittersweet tug-of-war between fire, fruit, and nutty cherry.

Division Bell

A three-ingredient Scotch sour of whisky, lime, and honey — a cousin to the Gold Rush and the Bee's Knees — balancing peat and smoke against floral sweetness.

Doctor

A tiki-house Daiquiri from Don the Beachcomber pairing dark and light rums with passion fruit and honey, yielding a lush, tart-sweet tropical sour with golden depth.

Don's Special Daiquiri

A modern gimlet update softened with elderflower liqueur, letting floral sweetness smooth gin's juniper edge against fresh lime for a delicate, perfumed sour.

French Gimlet

A pre-Prohibition whiskey sour perfumed with Bénédictine, where rye's spice and the liqueur's honeyed herbs meet lemon and lime for a bright, subtly monastic finish.

Frisco Sour

A blender-spun take on the Cuban classic where light rum, lime, and sugar whir into a slushy, snow-white cooler that hits bright, tart, and icy without ever tipping into slushie-sweet.

Frozen Daiquiri

A spare, bracing gin sour of juice, sugar, and spirit, built originally on lime cordial to ward off scurvy and still prized for its clean, tart simplicity.

Gimlet

A modern Hamburg creation from Jörg Meyer that muddles fresh basil with gin, lemon, and simple syrup, yielding a vividly green, herbaceous sour with peppery-sweet aroma.

Gin Basil Smash

An 1880s long drink that shakes gin, lemon, and simple syrup before topping with soda, producing a snappy, juniper-bright sour with a lively sparkling lift.

Gin Fizz

A pre-Prohibition template where gin's botanicals are framed by lemon, sugar, and a silky egg-white foam, yielding a bright, perfumed sour with a plush cloud on top.

Gin Sour

A plush sour variation on the Godfather that shakes Scotch and amaretto with lemon and egg white, yielding a silky, almond-rich foam over a lightly smoky whisky base.

Godfather Sour

A modern Milk & Honey creation swapping simple syrup for honey in a bourbon sour, giving the drink a rich, floral, almost buttery sweetness against bright lemon.

Gold Rush

Sam Ross's modern classic shaking bourbon with honey syrup, lemon juice, and egg white into a silky, golden sour where floral honey rounds the whiskey's edges.

Gold Rush Sour

A richer take on the Margarita that swaps standard triple sec for Grand Marnier, pushing the drink toward cognac-kissed orange depth over tequila's agave spine and a salt-rimmed lime bite.

Grand Margarita

A Paloma-adjacent margarita swapping in fresh grapefruit juice for a bittersweet citrus bite that balances tequila, orange liqueur, and lime into a crisp, pink-tinged sour.

Grapefruit Margarita

The writer's personal daiquiri spec from Havana's El Floridita, trading simple syrup for grapefruit juice and maraschino, drinking bone-dry, tart, and bracingly citrus-driven.

Hemingway Special

A Prohibition-era three-ingredient classic where light rum is softened by honey syrup and brightened with lemon for a rounded, golden little sour.

Honey Bee

A smoky, spiced riff on the Daiquiri built on mezcal and dark rum with falernum and maraschino, balancing lime and sugar against campfire smoke and clove-like warmth.

Illegal

A bartender's shift drink of rye, lemon, and Fernet-Branca sweetened just enough to tame the amaro, pouring inky, minty-bitter, and bracingly herbal.

Industry Sour

An Italian-leaning sour shaking amaretto and limoncello with fresh lemon, simple syrup, and egg white for a frothy, almond-and-lemon-drop sipper with dessert-like sweetness.

Italian Sour

A Prohibition-era classic of apple brandy, lime, and grenadine, named for its rose color and delivering a tart-sweet orchard snap around Calvados' woody apple core.

Jack Rose

A sharp, stripped-down vodka sour of equal parts vodka, orange liqueur, and lime that drinks clean, tart, and neutral — a shot-style classic built around citrus snap.

Kamikaze

A Prohibition-era equal-parts stunner where green Chartreuse's herbal punch, maraschino's cherry sweetness, gin's backbone, and lime's acid collide into something improbably harmonious and vividly green.

Last Word

A sugar-rimmed martini-glass sour born in 1970s San Francisco, balancing vodka and orange liqueur against fresh lemon for a candied, tart sip that reads like liquid lemon meringue.

Lemon Drop

A San Francisco-born sugar-rimmed vodka sour that brightens orange liqueur and lemon into a candy-sweet, lip-puckering dessert martini reminiscent of a liquid lemon drop.

Lemon Drop Martini

A rare Prohibition-era bourbon sour spiked with pimento dram, the Jamaican allspice liqueur giving the drink a distinctly tropical baking-spice warmth alongside lime.

Lion's Tail

A pink 19th-century gin sour tinted with grenadine and orange liqueur, tart-sweet and rosy-cheeked with a light pomegranate-berry finish.

Maiden's Blush

A tropical daiquiri turn where mango's honeyed fruit leads rum and lime, producing a sunset-orange sour with lush, jammy body and just enough lime to keep it lively.

Mango Daiquiri

A ripe-fruit margarita folding mango purée or juice into tequila and lime for a golden, jammy sour whose tropical sweetness gets a lift from agave bite and a salt rim.

Mango Margarita

The canonical tequila sour, where agave's earthy bite cuts through orange liqueur and fresh lime over a salted rim that sharpens every sip into something bright and moreish.

Margarita

A tequila-and-pineapple sour that crosses a margarita with a daiquiri, blending agave's earthiness with sweet-tart pineapple and a sharp squeeze of lime for a sunny, tropical sip.

Matador

A Charles H. Baker-collected tequila cooler shaking lime, grenadine, and Angostura into a tart, rosy pour with bitter spice cutting through pomegranate sweetness.

Mexican Firing Squad

A smoky rework of the Prohibition-era Last Word, swapping gin for mezcal so that green Chartreuse, maraschino, and lime meet campfire smoke in an herbal, balanced sour.

Mezcal Last Word

A smoky swap on the classic Margarita, trading tequila for mezcal so wood-fire and earth notes lean against sharp lime and orange liqueur sweetness.

Mezcal Margarita

A smoky twist on the New York Sour where mezcal replaces whiskey, frothed with lemon, syrup, and egg white before a red wine float lays a dark, fruity cap across the top.

Mezcal New York Sour

A smoke-kissed take on the whiskey sour, swapping in mezcal and agave for a frothy, campfire-scented drink where lemon and egg white soften the embers.

Mezcal Sour

A neon-green 80s revival pairing honeydew-forward melon liqueur with a classic sour build and an egg-white foam, delivering candy-like fruit over a frothy, tart base.

Midori Sour

A pre-Prohibition Havana daiquiri variant where apricot brandy and pineapple juice sweeten and round out light rum and lime, conjuring a warm, orchard-meets-island fruitiness.

National

A Prohibition-era rye sour stained red with grenadine and brightened by lime, finishing with a flamed orange peel for a tart, pomegranate-tinged whiskey sip.

New York Cocktail

A whiskey sour crowned with a floated layer of red wine that gives the drink a jammy, tannic top half and a bright, frothy citrus base — visually striking and subtly complex.

New York Sour

A tart, aromatic daiquiri where passion fruit's tangy perfume and seedy richness tangle with rum and lime, giving the drink a honeyed, exotic edge and a long, fragrant finish.

Passion Fruit Daiquiri

The London club classic, aka the Pornstar Martini's cousin, shaking vodka with passion fruit liqueur and juice, lime, and simple syrup into a tart, perfumed tropical sipper.

Passion Fruit Martini

A Southern-leaning daiquiri built on ripe peach purée, where stone-fruit sweetness softens rum and lime into a peachy, golden sour that drinks like summer in a coupe.

Peach Daiquiri

A Louisville club creation shaking gin with apricot brandy, lime, and Angostura, producing a tart, stone-fruited gin sour with a spiced aromatic edge.

Pendennis

Sam Ross's modern classic pairing blended Scotch, honey-ginger syrup, and lemon with a peated Islay float, producing a warming, smoky, cold-remedy-styled whisky sour.

Penicillin

A Cuban journalist's drink of light rum, apricot brandy, orange liqueur, and lime — sometimes called the "reporter" — that reads as a daiquiri with stone-fruit and orange depth.

Periodista

A frothy agave sour where pineapple juice, lime, and agave meet tequila and egg white, shaken to a pillowy foam with a tropical, lightly vegetal edge and a bright finish.

Pineapple Tequila Sour

A 1930s gin-and-apple-brandy sour stained rosy with grenadine and shaken silky with egg white, drinking frothy, fruity, and much sharper than its demure name suggests.

Pink Lady

Peru's national cocktail shakes pisco with lemon, sugar, and egg white before crowning the foam with Angostura drops, yielding a frothy, grape-bright South American sour.

Pisco Sour

A jewel-toned margarita variation where pomegranate's tart-sweet juice deepens the usual tequila, lime, and agave build, finished with a salt rim for saline contrast.

Pomegranate Margarita

A berry-forward daiquiri with fresh raspberries shaken into rum and lime, turning the classic sour ruby-pink with tart-sweet jam character and a clean citrus finish.

Raspberry Daiquiri

A tart-leaning margarita muddled with fresh raspberries that sharpens tequila and lime into a ruby-hued sour, where berry jam and salt play against bright agave backbone.

Raspberry Margarita

A silver whiskey sour by Harry Craddock kissed with absinthe and egg white, shaking up cloudy, frothy, and coiled with a licorice sting beneath the lemon.

Rattlesnake

A Caribbean-leaning variation on the classic sour where aged rum's vanilla and caramel warmth meet lemon and sugar, capped with a silky egg-white foam.

Rum Sour

A Prohibition-era Paris invention that christened America's newly outlawed drinkers, pulling rye, dry vermouth, lemon, and grenadine into a pink, tart, low-sugar sour.

Scofflaw

A Scotch-based take on the classic sour, where malty whisky is softened by lemon, sugar, and silky egg white foam for a smoky-edged, balanced sipper.

Scotch Sour

A Parisian post-war classic where cognac, orange liqueur, and fresh lemon balance on a sugared rim, drinking bright, boozy, and polished — the benchmark brandy sour.

Sidecar

Katie Stipe's modern tequila riff on the Hemingway Daiquiri adds Campari to grapefruit and lime, yielding a pink, bitter-bright sour with unmistakable agave backbone.

Siesta

A late-Victorian highball built on tart sloe gin, lemon, and soda water, giving a blush-hued, berry-driven fizz that reads somewhere between a sour and a spritz.

Sloe Gin Fizz

A British classic shaking sloe gin with lemon, sugar, and egg white into a rosy, frothy sour where tart berry and almond notes meet the blackthorn fruit's bittersweet bite.

Sloe Gin Sour

A Prohibition-era gin sour brightened with muddled mint — essentially a gin mojito without the rum or soda — drinking crisp, herbaceous, and country-club clean.

South Side

A jalapeño-muddled margarita where fresh chili heat rides on agave and lime, with a salted rim framing the tequila's bright, peppery bite.

Spicy Margarita

A summer pool favorite that folds strawberry purée into tequila, orange liqueur, and lime, yielding a candy-red sour with ripe-berry sweetness balanced against a salt rim.

Strawberry Margarita

A blanco-tequila take on the sour template where agave's pepper and earth meet lemon and sugar, softened into a plush pour by a shake of egg white.

Tequila Sour

Julio Bermejo's San Francisco reinvention of the Margarita, ditching orange liqueur for a direct pour of agave nectar to let blanco tequila sing over fresh lime.

Tommy's Margarita

A pre-war sour matching tequila with apricot brandy and lime, yielding a short, tart, stone-fruited drink that shows off agave against orchard sweetness.

Toreador

A clean, pared-back riff on the gin gimlet that lets vodka's neutrality step back while fresh lime and sugar do the work, landing crisp, cold, and unfussy.

Vodka Gimlet

A pared-back sour in which vodka's clean slate lets lemon and sugar take the spotlight, lifted by an egg-white foam into a soft, citrus-forward cocktail anyone can approach.

Vodka Sour

A 1898 Boston political drink of rye with lemon, orange, and grenadine, drinking like a whiskey sour gone sunset — fruity, tart, and pleasantly old-fashioned.

Ward Eight

A pool-party margarita built on fresh watermelon juice so tequila and lime land with cooling, candy-pink fruit sweetness, rimmed in salt to play off the melon's hint of savor.

Watermelon Margarita

A muddled-mint Mint Julep cousin shaken with lemon and simple syrup, turning bourbon bright and herbal without any of the stirred Julep's stately reserve.

Whiskey Smash

Cocktails built around fresh citrus acidity, typically lemon or lime juice. Sours are bright, tart, and often balanced by simple syrup or a sweet liqueur.