Hawaiian Stone Sour
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 13.7% ABV ∙
The Hawaiian Stone Sour is a bourbon sour built with pineapple and lemon juice, sugar syrup, and a dash of pimento bitters, shaken and served over ice. Frothy from the shake, it lands silky and tart with a warm, spiced whisper trailing behind the fruity sweetness on the finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Bourbon 45 mlPineapple juice 30 mlLemon juice 20 mlSugar syrup 15 mlPimento bitters 1 dash
- Fine strain into the ice-filled glass
- Garnish with a pineapple wedge or slice and a maraschino cherry on a skewer
Tips
- Shake hard and long enough to fully emulsify the pineapple juice — a short shake leaves it thin and separated.
- Pre-chill the glass so the fresh ice inside doesn't melt fast and dilute the drink before it's finished.
- Add the pimento bitters as a single dash before shaking; too heavy a hand turns the peppery note bitter and sharp.
History
The Hawaiian Stone Sour is a tropical riff created in 2000 by Dale DeGroff as a poolside drink for a regular guest at the Rainbow Room's Promenade Bar in New York City. DeGroff took the Stone Sour, a bourbon or rye sour built with orange juice, and swapped in pineapple juice, giving the drink its tiki-leaning character and Hawaiian name.
The Stone Sour name itself first appears in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks, and Tom Bullock's 1917 The Ideal Bartender contains the earliest known recipe to add orange juice, made with Old Tom gin, orange and lemon juice; that recipe is regarded as the style's turning point toward the citrus-forward sour it later became. DeGroff himself has said he was unsure who coined the "Stone Sour" name first, suspecting it originated in California, where the drink was also known as a California Sour.
FAQ
What is in a Hawaiian Stone Sour?
Bourbon, pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice, and sugar syrup with a dash of pimento bitters, shaken and fine-strained over ice, garnished with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.
How do you make a Hawaiian Stone Sour?
Shake the bourbon, pineapple juice, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and a dash of pimento bitters hard with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass over fresh ice. Finish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry on a skewer.
What is the difference between a whiskey sour and a Hawaiian Stone Sour?
A whiskey sour is spirit, lemon, and sugar. A stone sour adds fruit juice on top of that base, and this Hawaiian version uses pineapple, which rounds the lemon out and pushes the drink tropical rather than sharply tart. A dash of pimento bitters adds a warm spice note the plain sour does not have.
