Trinidad Sour Recipe: Angostura by the Ounce, Orgeat & Rye

The Trinidad Sour breaks the one rule every other drink in this corner obeys. Angostura bitters — the bottle you dash into a Manhattan two drops at a time — is the base here, poured by the ounce and a half, with orgeat to sweeten it, lemon to sharpen it and a half-ounce of rye to hold it together. On paper it should be undrinkable. In the glass it is one of the most copied modern classics of the last two decades.

Giuseppe González created it at Clover Club in Brooklyn. Difford's dates it to 2009; PUNCH says he created it during his brief stint at Clover Club, which opened in 2008. His cue was Valentino Bolognese's competition-winning Trinidad Especial. Below: the spec exactly as PUNCH and Difford's print it, why the ounce-and-a-half measure is not a misprint, how the drink sits against the classic rye Whiskey Sour, and which rye earns the half-ounce.

Why an Ounce and a Half of Bitters Works

Bitters are built to be used in dashes, so the measure looks like an error. It is not. Both PUNCH and Difford's print 1½ oz of Angostura; the only dissent in the record is a Difford's commenter who preferred a single ounce, which gives a gentler, more orgeat-led drink. The full measure is the drink as González wrote it, and it is the version to make first.

What makes it work is that nothing in the glass is doing what it usually does. Angostura's clove-and-cinnamon bitterness is the flavor you are drinking, not an accent on it. Orgeat's almond sugar is heavy enough to stand up to that bitterness where a simple syrup would vanish. Lemon cuts both. The rye is the modifier — a half-ounce of spirit that gives the drink a backbone and a dry finish — which is why its proof matters more here than in any other sour.

The result is intensely spiced — clove-and-cinnamon bitters tamed by almond sweetness and lemon. It is dark red-brown, opaque and aromatic from a foot away.

Trinidad Sour vs the Classic Rye Whiskey Sour

Read down the right-hand column and the inversion is complete: whiskey and bitters have traded places, sugar syrup has become almond syrup, and only the lemon is unchanged. The classic rye Whiskey Sour is 2 : ¾ : ¾; the Trinidad Sour is closer to 1½ : 1 : ¾ with a half-ounce of rye bolted on. How the family's proportions move from one drink to the next is covered in Whiskey Sour ratios.

Clover Club and the Trinidad Especial

González built the drink from an idea rather than from nothing. Valentino Bolognese's Trinidad Especial — a competition winner that also used Angostura as a base — gave him the premise; the Trinidad Sour is his sour-format answer to it. The date is loosely pinned: Difford's says 2009, while PUNCH says only that he created it during his brief stint at Clover Club, which opened in 2008. Either way it belongs to the same Brooklyn room that produced Brad Farran's Prospect Park Sour, the drink behind RyeCentral's Maple Whiskey Sour.

It sits in the same corner of the family as the Scofflaw and the Blinker: rye sours where something other than sugar does the sweetening and something other than whiskey sets the tone. The rest of the family is mapped in Whiskey Sour variations.

Choosing the Rye

Half an ounce has to be heard through an ounce and a half of Angostura and an ounce of orgeat, so this is a drink for the loudest rye you own. Proof first, then spice. Anything under 100 proof disappears; a barrel-proof bottle is not wasted here, because you are using so little of it.

Every bottle above sits in the Bottle Library, with full reviews behind each link. If you are choosing between a higher-proof and a higher-priced rye for this drink, take the proof: the premium rye guide explains why a long-aged bottle's subtlety is lost under this much bitters.

Orgeat and Lemon

Orgeat is almond syrup — sugar, almond and usually a little orange-flower water — and it is doing the sweetening and most of the balancing, so this is not the drink to improvise with. Use a proper orgeat. Simple syrup in its place loses the almond that makes the bitters drinkable; the relationship between syrups and sours is laid out in the syrup guide.

The lemon must be fresh, as it is in every Whiskey Sour spec in the record. America's Test Kitchen found juice rested about four hours in the fridge was preferred to just-squeezed, but past roughly six hours bitterness takes over — and this drink has bitterness enough. More in the fresh lemon juice guide.

Serving and Technique

Shake it hard, with plenty of ice, until the tin frosts; orgeat is thick and needs the agitation. Fine strain — a Hawthorne strainer with a fine mesh held under it — as Difford's does for every up serve, to catch ice shards and pulp. Serve in a chilled coupe with no garnish. A twist adds citrus oil to a drink that already has enough aroma, and a cherry sinks into something opaque. Which glass and why is in best Whiskey Sour glass.

Two practical notes. Angostura stains: wipe the rim and the counter as you go. And measure the bitters with a jigger, not by counting dashes from the dasher top — 1½ oz is a few dozen dashes and you will lose count.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Trinidad Sour?

A modern sour that uses Angostura bitters as the base: 1½ oz Angostura, 1 oz orgeat, ¾ oz fresh lemon juice and ½ oz rye whiskey, shaken with ice, fine strained into a chilled coupe and served without garnish.

Is it really an ounce and a half of Angostura bitters?

Yes. Both PUNCH and Difford's print 1½ oz. A Difford's commenter preferred 1 oz, which makes a gentler, more orgeat-led drink, but the full measure is the recipe as González wrote it.

Who created the Trinidad Sour, and when?

Giuseppe González at Clover Club in Brooklyn, inspired by Valentino Bolognese's competition-winning Trinidad Especial. Difford's dates it to 2009; PUNCH says he created it during his brief stint at Clover Club, which opened in 2008.

What is orgeat, and can I substitute simple syrup?

Orgeat is an almond syrup. It supplies the sweetness and the almond richness that balance an ounce and a half of bitters, so simple syrup is not a substitute here — the drink turns thin and harsh without it.

Which rye works best in a Trinidad Sour?

The highest-proof rye you have. At a half-ounce the whiskey has to be heard through the bitters and orgeat; Sazerac Rye Full Proof (125 proof) is the first choice, with Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye and Pikesville Straight Rye close behind. A 100-proof bonded rye is the floor.

Why is there no garnish on a Trinidad Sour?

Because the drink does not need one. It is opaque, dark and intensely aromatic on its own; Difford's instruction is to 'serve naked,' and PUNCH lists no garnish either.